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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 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2779 @cindex visible group parameter
2780 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2781 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2782 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2783 get the same effect.
2785 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2786 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2787 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2788 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2789 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2792 @node Sorting Groups
2793 @section Sorting Groups
2794 @cindex sorting groups
2796 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2797 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2798 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2799 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2800 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2801 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2806 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2807 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2808 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2810 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2811 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2812 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2814 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2815 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2816 Sort by group level.
2818 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2819 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2820 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2822 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2823 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2824 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2825 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2827 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2828 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2829 Sort by number of unread articles.
2831 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2832 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2833 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2838 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2839 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2843 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2844 some sorting criteria:
2848 @kindex G S a (Group)
2849 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2850 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2851 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2854 @kindex G S u (Group)
2855 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2856 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2857 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2860 @kindex G S l (Group)
2861 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2862 Sort the group buffer by group level
2863 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2866 @kindex G S v (Group)
2867 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2868 Sort the group buffer by group score
2869 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2872 @kindex G S r (Group)
2873 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2874 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2875 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2878 @kindex G S m (Group)
2879 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2880 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2881 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2885 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2886 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2888 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2889 commands will sort in reverse order.
2891 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2895 @kindex G P a (Group)
2896 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2897 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2898 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2901 @kindex G P u (Group)
2902 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2903 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2904 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2907 @kindex G P l (Group)
2908 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2909 Sort the groups by group level
2910 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2913 @kindex G P v (Group)
2914 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2915 Sort the groups by group score
2916 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2919 @kindex G P r (Group)
2920 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2921 Sort the groups by group rank
2922 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2925 @kindex G P m (Group)
2926 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2927 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2928 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2934 @node Group Maintenance
2935 @section Group Maintenance
2936 @cindex bogus groups
2941 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2942 Find bogus groups and delete them
2943 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2947 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2948 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2949 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2950 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2951 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2955 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2956 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2957 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2958 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2961 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2962 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2963 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2964 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2969 @node Browse Foreign Server
2970 @section Browse Foreign Server
2971 @cindex foreign servers
2972 @cindex browsing servers
2977 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2978 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2979 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2980 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2983 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2984 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2985 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2986 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2988 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2993 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2994 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2998 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2999 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3002 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3003 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3004 Enter the current group and display the first article
3005 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3008 @kindex RET (Browse)
3009 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3010 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3014 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3015 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3016 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3022 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3023 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3027 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3028 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3029 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3034 @section Exiting gnus
3035 @cindex exiting gnus
3037 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3042 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3043 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3044 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3045 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3049 @findex gnus-group-exit
3050 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3051 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3055 @findex gnus-group-quit
3056 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3057 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3060 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3061 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3062 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3063 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3064 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3069 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3070 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3071 trying to customize meta-variables.
3076 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3077 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3078 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3084 @section Group Topics
3087 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3088 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3089 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3090 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3091 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3092 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3096 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3097 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3108 2: alt.religion.emacs
3111 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3113 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3114 13: comp.sources.unix
3117 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3119 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3120 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3121 is a toggling command.)
3123 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3124 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3125 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3126 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3129 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3130 the hook for the group mode:
3133 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3137 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3138 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3139 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3140 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3141 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3145 @node Topic Variables
3146 @subsection Topic Variables
3147 @cindex topic variables
3149 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3150 really neat, I think.
3152 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3153 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3154 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3167 Number of groups in the topic.
3169 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3171 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3174 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3175 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3176 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3179 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3180 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3182 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3183 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3184 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3187 @node Topic Commands
3188 @subsection Topic Commands
3189 @cindex topic commands
3191 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3192 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3193 definitions slightly.
3199 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3200 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3201 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3205 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3206 Move the current group to some other topic
3207 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3208 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3212 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3213 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3217 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3218 Copy the current group to some other topic
3219 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3220 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3224 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3225 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3226 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3227 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3228 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3229 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3230 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3233 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3234 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3238 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3239 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3240 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3244 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3245 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3246 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3250 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3251 Toggle hiding empty topics
3252 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3256 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3257 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3258 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3261 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3262 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3263 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3264 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3268 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3270 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3271 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3272 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3273 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3276 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3277 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3278 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3279 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3283 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3285 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3286 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3287 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3288 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3289 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3290 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3293 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3294 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3295 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3296 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3300 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3301 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3302 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3306 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3307 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3308 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3313 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3314 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3317 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3318 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3319 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3323 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3324 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3325 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3329 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3330 @cindex group parameters
3331 @cindex topic parameters
3333 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3334 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3340 @subsection Topic Sorting
3341 @cindex topic sorting
3343 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3349 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3350 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3351 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3352 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3355 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3356 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3357 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3358 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3361 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3362 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3363 Sort the current topic by group level
3364 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3367 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3368 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3369 Sort the current topic by group score
3370 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3373 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3374 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3375 Sort the current topic by group rank
3376 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3379 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3380 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3381 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3382 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3386 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3389 @node Topic Topology
3390 @subsection Topic Topology
3391 @cindex topic topology
3394 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3400 2: alt.religion.emacs
3403 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3405 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3406 13: comp.sources.unix
3409 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3410 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3411 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3416 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3417 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3421 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3422 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3423 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3424 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3425 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3426 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3428 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3429 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3430 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3433 @node Topic Parameters
3434 @subsection Topic Parameters
3435 @cindex topic parameters
3437 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3438 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3439 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3441 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3446 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3447 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3448 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3453 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3454 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3455 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3456 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3462 2: alt.religion.emacs
3466 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3468 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3469 13: comp.sources.unix
3473 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3474 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3475 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3476 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3477 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3478 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3480 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3481 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3482 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3483 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3484 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3486 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3487 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3488 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3489 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3490 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3491 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3492 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3493 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3496 @node Misc Group Stuff
3497 @section Misc Group Stuff
3500 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3501 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
3502 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3503 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3510 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3511 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3512 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3516 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3517 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3518 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3522 @findex gnus-group-mail
3523 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3527 Variables for the group buffer:
3531 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3532 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3533 is called after the group buffer has been
3536 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3537 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3538 is called after the group buffer is
3539 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3542 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3543 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3544 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3545 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3547 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3548 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3549 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3550 whether they are empty or not.
3555 @node Scanning New Messages
3556 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3557 @cindex new messages
3558 @cindex scanning new news
3564 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3565 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3566 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3567 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3568 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3569 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3574 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3575 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3576 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3577 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3578 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3579 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3580 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3582 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3583 @cindex activating groups
3585 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3586 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3591 @findex gnus-group-restart
3592 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3593 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3594 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3598 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3599 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3601 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3602 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3606 @node Group Information
3607 @subsection Group Information
3608 @cindex group information
3609 @cindex information on groups
3616 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3617 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3620 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3621 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3622 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3623 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3624 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3625 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3626 for fetching the file.
3628 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3629 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3633 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3635 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3636 @cindex describing groups
3637 @cindex group description
3638 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3639 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3640 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3644 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3645 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3646 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3653 @findex gnus-version
3654 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3658 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3659 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3662 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3665 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3666 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3670 @node Group Timestamp
3671 @subsection Group Timestamp
3673 @cindex group timestamps
3675 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3676 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3677 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3680 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3683 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3685 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3686 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3689 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3690 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3693 This will result in lines looking like:
3696 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3697 0: custom 19961002T012713
3700 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3701 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3705 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3706 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3711 @subsection File Commands
3712 @cindex file commands
3718 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3719 @vindex gnus-init-file
3720 @cindex reading init file
3721 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3722 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3726 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3727 @cindex saving .newsrc
3728 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3729 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3730 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3733 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3734 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3735 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3740 @node The Summary Buffer
3741 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3742 @cindex summary buffer
3744 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3745 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3747 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3748 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3750 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3753 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3754 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3755 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3756 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3757 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3758 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3759 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3760 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3761 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3762 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3763 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3764 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3765 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3766 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3767 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3768 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3769 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3770 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3771 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3772 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3773 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3774 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3775 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3776 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3777 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3778 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3779 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3780 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3784 @node Summary Buffer Format
3785 @section Summary Buffer Format
3786 @cindex summary buffer format
3790 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3791 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3792 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3798 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3799 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3800 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3801 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3804 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3805 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3806 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3807 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3808 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3809 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3810 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3811 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3812 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3813 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3814 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3815 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3816 other function instead:
3819 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3820 'mail-extract-address-components)
3823 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3824 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3825 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3826 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3829 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3830 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3832 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3833 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3834 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3835 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3836 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3838 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3840 The following format specification characters are understood:
3846 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3847 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3849 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3850 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3851 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3853 Full @code{From} header.
3855 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3857 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3858 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3860 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3861 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3862 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3863 may be more thorough.
3865 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3868 Number of lines in the article.
3870 Number of characters in the article.
3872 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3874 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3875 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3877 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3878 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3880 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3881 for adopted articles.
3883 One space for each thread level.
3885 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3890 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3891 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3895 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3897 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3898 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3899 default level. If the difference between
3900 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3901 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3909 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3911 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3917 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3918 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3920 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3921 article has any children.
3927 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3928 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3929 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3930 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3931 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3932 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3935 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3936 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3937 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3938 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3939 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3940 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3942 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3943 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3945 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3948 @node To From Newsgroups
3949 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3953 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3954 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3955 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3956 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3957 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3961 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3962 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3963 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3967 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3968 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3971 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3972 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3975 @findex gnus-extra-header
3976 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3977 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3978 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3981 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3985 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3986 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3987 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3988 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3989 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3990 headers are used instead.
3994 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3995 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3996 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3997 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4000 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4001 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4002 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4003 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4005 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4008 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4010 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4011 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4012 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4013 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4017 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4018 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4025 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4026 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4029 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4030 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4032 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4033 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4034 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4035 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4037 Here are the elements you can play with:
4043 Unprefixed group name.
4045 Current article number.
4047 Current article score.
4051 Number of unread articles in this group.
4053 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4056 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4057 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4058 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4059 and no unselected ones.
4061 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4062 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4064 Subject of the current article.
4066 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4068 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4070 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4072 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4074 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4076 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4080 @node Summary Highlighting
4081 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4085 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4086 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4087 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4088 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4089 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4091 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4092 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4093 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4094 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4096 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4097 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4098 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4099 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4101 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4102 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4103 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4104 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4105 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4106 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4109 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4110 ((> score default) . bold))
4112 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4113 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4117 @node Summary Maneuvering
4118 @section Summary Maneuvering
4119 @cindex summary movement
4121 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4122 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4124 None of these commands select articles.
4129 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4130 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4131 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4132 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4133 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4137 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4138 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4139 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4140 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4141 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4146 @kindex G j (Summary)
4147 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4148 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4149 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4152 @kindex G g (Summary)
4153 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4154 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4155 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4158 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4159 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4160 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4161 to the group buffer.
4163 Variables related to summary movement:
4167 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4168 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4169 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4170 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4171 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4172 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4173 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4174 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4175 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4176 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4177 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4178 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4179 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4180 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4182 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4183 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4184 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4185 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4186 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4187 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4188 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4190 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4192 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4193 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4194 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4195 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4196 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4198 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4199 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4200 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4201 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4202 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4203 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4204 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4205 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4208 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4209 the given number of lines from the top.
4214 @node Choosing Articles
4215 @section Choosing Articles
4216 @cindex selecting articles
4219 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4220 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4224 @node Choosing Commands
4225 @subsection Choosing Commands
4227 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4228 and they all select and display an article.
4232 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4233 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4234 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4235 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4240 @kindex G n (Summary)
4241 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4242 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4243 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4248 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4250 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4255 @kindex G N (Summary)
4256 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4257 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4262 @kindex G P (Summary)
4263 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4264 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4267 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4268 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4269 Go to the next article with the same subject
4270 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4273 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4274 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4275 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4276 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4280 @kindex G f (Summary)
4282 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4283 Go to the first unread article
4284 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4288 @kindex G b (Summary)
4290 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4291 Go to the article with the highest score
4292 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4297 @kindex G l (Summary)
4298 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4299 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4302 @kindex G o (Summary)
4303 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4305 @cindex article history
4306 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4307 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4308 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4309 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4310 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4311 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4315 @node Choosing Variables
4316 @subsection Choosing Variables
4318 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4321 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4322 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4323 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4324 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4325 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4326 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4328 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4329 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4330 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4331 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4333 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4334 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4335 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4336 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4337 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4338 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4339 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4340 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4341 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4342 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4343 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4344 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4345 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4346 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4351 @node Paging the Article
4352 @section Scrolling the Article
4353 @cindex article scrolling
4358 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4359 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4360 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4361 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4362 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4365 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4366 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4367 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4370 @kindex RET (Summary)
4371 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4372 Scroll the current article one line forward
4373 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4376 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4378 Scroll the current article one line backward
4379 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4383 @kindex A g (Summary)
4385 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4386 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4387 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4388 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4389 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4390 the way it came from the server.
4392 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4393 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4394 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4397 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4402 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4407 @kindex A < (Summary)
4408 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4409 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4410 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4415 @kindex A > (Summary)
4416 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4417 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4421 @kindex A s (Summary)
4423 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4424 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4425 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4429 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4430 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4435 @node Reply Followup and Post
4436 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4439 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4440 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4441 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4442 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4446 @node Summary Mail Commands
4447 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4449 @cindex composing mail
4451 Commands for composing a mail message:
4457 @kindex S r (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4460 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4461 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4462 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4463 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4468 @kindex S R (Summary)
4469 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4470 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4471 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4472 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4473 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4476 @kindex S w (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4478 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4480 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4481 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4484 @kindex S W (Summary)
4485 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4486 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4487 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4488 the process/prefix convention.
4491 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4492 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4493 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4494 Forward the current article to some other person
4495 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4496 headers of the forwarded article.
4501 @kindex S m (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4503 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4504 Send a mail to some other person
4505 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4508 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4509 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4510 @cindex bouncing mail
4511 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4512 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4513 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4514 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4515 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4516 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
4517 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4518 very well fail, though.
4521 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4523 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4524 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4525 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4526 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4527 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4528 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4529 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4530 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4532 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4533 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4534 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4535 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4536 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4538 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4539 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4542 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4543 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4544 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4545 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4546 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4549 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4550 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4551 @cindex crossposting
4552 @cindex excessive crossposting
4553 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4554 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4556 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4557 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4558 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4559 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4560 command understands the process/prefix convention
4561 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4565 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4568 @node Summary Post Commands
4569 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4571 @cindex composing news
4573 Commands for posting a news article:
4579 @kindex S p (Summary)
4580 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4581 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4582 Post an article to the current group
4583 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4588 @kindex S f (Summary)
4589 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4590 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4591 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4595 @kindex S F (Summary)
4597 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4598 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4599 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4600 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4601 process/prefix convention.
4604 @kindex S n (Summary)
4605 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4606 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4607 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4610 @kindex S N (Summary)
4611 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4612 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4613 message through mail and include the original message
4614 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4615 the process/prefix convention.
4618 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4619 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4620 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4621 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4622 headers of the forwarded article.
4625 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4626 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4628 @cindex making digests
4629 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4630 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4631 process/prefix convention.
4634 @kindex S u (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4636 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4637 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4638 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4641 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4644 @node Summary Message Commands
4645 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4649 @kindex S y (Summary)
4650 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4651 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4652 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4653 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4654 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4659 @node Canceling and Superseding
4660 @subsection Canceling Articles
4661 @cindex canceling articles
4662 @cindex superseding articles
4664 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4665 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4667 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4669 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4671 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4672 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4673 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4674 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4675 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4676 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4678 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4679 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4682 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4683 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4684 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4686 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4687 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4688 your original article.
4690 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4692 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4693 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4694 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4697 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4698 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4699 have posted almost the same article twice.
4701 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4702 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4703 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4704 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4705 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4706 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4707 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4708 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4709 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4710 canceled/superseded.
4712 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4715 @node Marking Articles
4716 @section Marking Articles
4717 @cindex article marking
4718 @cindex article ticking
4721 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4723 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4724 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4725 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4727 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4730 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4731 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4732 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4736 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4740 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4741 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4742 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4746 @node Unread Articles
4747 @subsection Unread Articles
4749 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4754 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4755 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4757 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4758 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4759 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4760 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4761 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4765 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4766 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4768 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4769 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4770 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4773 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4774 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4776 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4781 @subsection Read Articles
4782 @cindex expirable mark
4784 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4789 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4790 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4791 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4794 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4795 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4798 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4799 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4800 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4803 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4804 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4807 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4808 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4811 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4812 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4815 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4816 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4819 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4820 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4823 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4824 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4827 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4828 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4832 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4833 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4834 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4838 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4839 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4841 One more special mark, though:
4845 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4846 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4848 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4849 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4850 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4851 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
4857 @subsection Other Marks
4858 @cindex process mark
4861 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4867 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4868 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4869 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4870 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4871 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4874 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4875 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4876 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4877 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4880 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4881 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4882 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4885 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4886 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4887 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4888 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4891 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4892 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4893 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4894 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4895 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4898 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4899 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4900 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4901 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4902 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4903 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4907 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4908 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4909 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4911 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4912 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4913 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4917 @subsection Setting Marks
4918 @cindex setting marks
4920 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4925 @kindex M c (Summary)
4926 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4927 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4928 @cindex mark as unread
4929 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4930 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4936 @kindex M t (Summary)
4937 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4938 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4939 @xref{Article Caching}.
4944 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4945 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4946 Mark the current article as dormant
4947 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4951 @kindex M d (Summary)
4953 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4954 Mark the current article as read
4955 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4959 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4960 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4966 @kindex M k (Summary)
4967 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4968 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4969 and then select the next unread article
4970 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4974 @kindex M K (Summary)
4975 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4977 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4981 @kindex M C (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4983 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4984 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4987 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4989 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4990 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4993 @kindex M H (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4995 Catchup the current group to point
4996 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4999 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5001 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5005 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5007 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5008 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5012 @kindex M e (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5015 Mark the current article as expirable
5016 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5019 @kindex M b (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5021 Set a bookmark in the current article
5022 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5025 @kindex M B (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5027 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5028 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5031 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5033 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5034 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5037 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5038 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5039 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5040 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5043 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5045 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5046 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5047 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5050 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5051 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5052 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5053 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5054 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5055 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5056 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5057 The default is @code{t}.
5060 @node Generic Marking Commands
5061 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5063 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5064 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5065 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5066 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5067 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5070 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5071 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5074 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5075 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5076 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5077 to list in this manual.
5079 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5080 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5081 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5082 article, you could say something like:
5085 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5086 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5087 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5093 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5094 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5098 @node Setting Process Marks
5099 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5100 @cindex setting process marks
5107 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5108 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5109 Mark the current article with the process mark
5110 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5111 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5115 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5116 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5117 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5118 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5121 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5122 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5123 Remove the process mark from all articles
5124 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5127 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5128 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5129 Invert the list of process marked articles
5130 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5133 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5134 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5135 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5136 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5139 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5140 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5141 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5142 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5145 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5147 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5150 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5152 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5153 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5156 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5157 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5158 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5159 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5162 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5163 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5164 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5165 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5168 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5170 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5173 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5175 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5176 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5179 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5181 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5184 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5186 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5187 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5190 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5192 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5193 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5196 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5198 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5199 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5202 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5204 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5205 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5214 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5215 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5216 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5219 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5220 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5221 additional articles.
5227 @kindex / / (Summary)
5228 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5229 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5230 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5233 @kindex / a (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5235 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5236 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5239 @kindex / x (Summary)
5240 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5241 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5242 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5243 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5247 @kindex / u (Summary)
5249 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5250 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5251 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5252 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5253 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5256 @kindex / m (Summary)
5257 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5258 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5259 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5262 @kindex / t (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5264 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5265 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5266 articles younger than that number of days.
5269 @kindex / n (Summary)
5270 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5271 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5272 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5273 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5276 @kindex / w (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5278 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5283 @kindex / v (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5285 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5286 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5290 @kindex M S (Summary)
5291 @kindex / E (Summary)
5292 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5293 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5294 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5297 @kindex / D (Summary)
5298 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5299 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5300 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5303 @kindex / * (Summary)
5304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5305 Include all cached articles in the limit
5306 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5309 @kindex / d (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5311 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5312 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5315 @kindex / M (Summary)
5316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5317 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5320 @kindex / T (Summary)
5321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5322 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5325 @kindex / c (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5327 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5328 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5331 @kindex / C (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5333 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5334 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5335 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5343 @cindex article threading
5345 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5346 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5347 hierarchical fashion.
5349 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5350 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5351 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5352 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5353 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5354 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5355 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5357 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5361 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5364 A tree-like article structure.
5367 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5370 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5371 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5372 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5373 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5374 called loose threads.
5376 @item thread gathering
5377 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5379 @item sparse threads
5380 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5381 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5387 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5388 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5392 @node Customizing Threading
5393 @subsection Customizing Threading
5394 @cindex customizing threading
5397 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5398 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5399 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5400 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5405 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5408 @cindex loose threads
5411 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5412 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5413 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5414 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5415 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5416 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5418 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
5419 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
5420 There are four possible values:
5424 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5425 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5426 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5427 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5428 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5433 @cindex adopting articles
5438 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5439 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5440 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5441 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5444 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5445 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5446 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5447 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5448 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5449 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5450 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5453 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5454 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5455 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5459 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5460 display them after one another.
5463 Don't gather loose threads.
5466 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5467 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5468 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5469 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
5470 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5471 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5472 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5473 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5474 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5475 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
5476 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5478 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5479 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
5480 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5483 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5484 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5485 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5486 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5487 simplification is used.
5489 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5490 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5491 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5492 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5494 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5496 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5502 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5503 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5504 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5505 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5510 (mapconcat 'identity
5511 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5513 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5516 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5519 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5520 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5521 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5522 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5523 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5524 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5526 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5529 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5530 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5531 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5533 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5534 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5537 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5538 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5539 Remove excessive whitespace.
5542 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5545 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5546 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5547 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5548 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5549 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5550 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5551 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5552 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5554 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5555 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5556 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5557 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5558 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5559 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5560 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5561 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5562 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5566 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5567 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5568 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5569 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5571 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5572 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5573 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5576 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5580 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5581 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5587 @node Filling In Threads
5588 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5591 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5592 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5593 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5594 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5595 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5596 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5597 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5598 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5599 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5600 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5601 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5602 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5604 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5605 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5606 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5608 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5609 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5610 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5611 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5612 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5613 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5614 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5615 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5616 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5617 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5618 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5619 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5620 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5621 @code{nil} by default.
5626 @node More Threading
5627 @subsubsection More Threading
5630 @item gnus-show-threads
5631 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5632 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5633 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5634 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5635 slower and more awkward.
5637 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5638 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5639 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5642 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5643 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5644 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5645 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5646 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5647 threads are expunged.
5649 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5650 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5651 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5654 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5655 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5656 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5657 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5658 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5661 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5662 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5663 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5666 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5667 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5668 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5669 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5670 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5671 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5672 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5673 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5674 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5675 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5676 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5681 @node Low-Level Threading
5682 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5686 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5687 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5688 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5689 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5690 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5691 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5693 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5694 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5695 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5696 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5697 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5698 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5699 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5700 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5701 meaningful. Here's one example:
5704 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5706 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5707 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5709 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5711 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5718 @node Thread Commands
5719 @subsection Thread Commands
5720 @cindex thread commands
5726 @kindex T k (Summary)
5727 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5728 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5729 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5730 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5731 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5736 @kindex T l (Summary)
5737 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5738 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5739 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5740 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5743 @kindex T i (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5745 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5746 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5749 @kindex T # (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5751 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5752 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5755 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5757 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5758 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5761 @kindex T T (Summary)
5762 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5763 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5766 @kindex T s (Summary)
5767 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5768 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5769 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5772 @kindex T h (Summary)
5773 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5774 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5777 @kindex T S (Summary)
5778 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5779 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5782 @kindex T H (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5784 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5787 @kindex T t (Summary)
5788 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5789 Re-thread the current article's thread
5790 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5791 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5794 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5795 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5796 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5797 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5801 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5802 understand the numeric prefix.
5807 @kindex T n (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5809 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5812 @kindex T p (Summary)
5813 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5814 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5817 @kindex T d (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5819 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5822 @kindex T u (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5824 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5827 @kindex T o (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5829 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5832 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5833 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5834 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5835 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5836 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5837 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5838 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5839 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5840 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5841 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5842 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5843 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5850 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5851 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5852 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5853 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5854 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5855 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5856 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5857 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5858 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5859 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5860 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5862 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5863 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5864 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5865 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5866 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5868 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5869 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5870 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5872 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5873 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5875 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5876 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5877 ascending article order.
5879 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5880 by number, you could do something like:
5883 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5884 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5885 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5886 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5889 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5890 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5891 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5892 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5893 which the articles arrived.
5895 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5899 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5901 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5902 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5905 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5906 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5907 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5908 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5911 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5912 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5913 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5914 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5915 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5916 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5917 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5918 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5919 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5920 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5921 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5922 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5923 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5925 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5929 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5930 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5931 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5936 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5937 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5938 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5939 @cindex article pre-fetch
5942 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5943 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5944 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5945 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5946 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5948 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5949 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5951 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5952 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5953 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5954 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5955 connection is blocked.
5957 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5958 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5959 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5960 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5962 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5963 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5964 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5965 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5968 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5971 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5972 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5973 happen automatically.
5975 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5976 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5977 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5978 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5979 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5980 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5981 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5983 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5984 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5985 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5986 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5987 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5988 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5989 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5990 data structure as the only parameter.
5992 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5995 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5996 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5997 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5998 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6001 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6004 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6005 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6006 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6008 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6009 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6010 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6011 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6015 Remove articles when they are read.
6018 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6021 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6023 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6024 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6025 @c from the next group.
6028 @node Article Caching
6029 @section Article Caching
6030 @cindex article caching
6033 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6034 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6035 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6036 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6037 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6039 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6041 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6042 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6043 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6044 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6045 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6046 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6047 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6048 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6050 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6051 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6052 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6053 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6054 as dormant, and don't worry.
6056 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6058 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6059 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6060 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6061 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6062 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6063 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6064 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6065 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6066 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6067 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6069 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6070 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6071 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6072 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6073 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6074 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6075 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6076 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6077 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6078 not then be downloaded by this command.
6080 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6081 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6082 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6083 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6084 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6085 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6087 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6088 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6089 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6090 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6091 variables, the group is not cached.
6093 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6094 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6095 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6096 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6097 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6098 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6099 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6100 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6101 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6105 @node Persistent Articles
6106 @section Persistent Articles
6107 @cindex persistent articles
6109 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6110 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6111 useful in my opinion.
6113 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6114 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6115 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6116 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6117 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6118 the expiry going on at the news server.
6120 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6121 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6122 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6128 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6129 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6132 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6133 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6134 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6135 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6139 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6141 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6142 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6143 interested in persistent articles:
6146 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6150 @node Article Backlog
6151 @section Article Backlog
6153 @cindex article backlog
6155 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6156 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6157 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6158 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6159 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6160 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6161 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6162 increase memory usage some.
6164 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6165 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6166 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6167 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6168 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6169 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6170 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6172 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6175 @node Saving Articles
6176 @section Saving Articles
6177 @cindex saving articles
6179 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6180 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6181 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6182 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6183 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6185 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6186 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6187 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6189 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6190 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6191 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6192 deleted before saving.
6198 @kindex O o (Summary)
6200 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6201 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6202 Save the current article using the default article saver
6203 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6206 @kindex O m (Summary)
6207 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6208 Save the current article in mail format
6209 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6212 @kindex O r (Summary)
6213 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6214 Save the current article in rmail format
6215 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6218 @kindex O f (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6220 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6221 Save the current article in plain file format
6222 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6225 @kindex O F (Summary)
6226 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6227 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6228 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6231 @kindex O b (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6233 Save the current article body in plain file format
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6237 @kindex O h (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6239 Save the current article in mh folder format
6240 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6243 @kindex O v (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6245 Save the current article in a VM folder
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6249 @kindex O p (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6251 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6252 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6255 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6256 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6257 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6258 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6259 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6260 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6261 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6262 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6263 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6264 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6265 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6266 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6270 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6271 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6272 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6273 functions below, or you can create your own.
6277 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6278 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6279 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6280 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6281 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6282 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6283 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6285 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6286 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6287 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6288 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6289 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6290 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6292 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6293 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6294 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6295 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6296 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6297 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6298 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6300 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6301 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6302 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6303 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6304 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6306 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6307 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6308 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6309 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6310 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6313 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6314 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6315 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6316 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6317 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6319 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6320 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6321 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6322 reader to use this setting.
6325 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6326 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6327 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6328 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6331 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6332 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6333 available functions that generate names:
6337 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6338 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6339 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6341 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6342 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6343 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6345 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6346 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6347 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6349 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6350 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6351 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6354 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6355 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6356 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6357 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6358 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6362 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6363 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6364 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6365 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6368 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6369 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6370 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6371 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6372 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6373 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6374 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6375 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6376 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6378 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6379 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6380 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6381 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6383 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6384 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6385 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6388 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6389 lots of mail groups called things like
6390 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6391 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6392 following will do just that:
6395 (defun my-save-name (group)
6396 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6397 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6399 (setq gnus-split-methods
6400 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6405 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6406 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6407 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6408 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6409 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6410 all the files in the top level directory
6411 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6412 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6413 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6414 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6416 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6417 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6418 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6419 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6420 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6423 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6427 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6428 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6431 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6432 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6433 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6434 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6437 @node Decoding Articles
6438 @section Decoding Articles
6439 @cindex decoding articles
6441 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6442 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6445 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6446 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6447 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6448 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6449 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6450 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6454 @cindex article series
6455 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6456 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6457 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6458 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6459 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6461 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6462 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6463 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6465 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
6466 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6467 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6469 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6470 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6471 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6474 @node Uuencoded Articles
6475 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6477 @cindex uuencoded articles
6482 @kindex X u (Summary)
6483 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6484 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6485 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6488 @kindex X U (Summary)
6489 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6490 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6491 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6494 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6495 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6496 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6499 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6500 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6501 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6502 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6506 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6507 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6508 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6509 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6510 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6512 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6513 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6514 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6515 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6518 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6519 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6520 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6521 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6522 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6523 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6527 @node Shell Archives
6528 @subsection Shell Archives
6530 @cindex shell archives
6531 @cindex shared articles
6533 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6534 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6535 some commands to deal with these:
6540 @kindex X s (Summary)
6541 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6542 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6545 @kindex X S (Summary)
6546 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6547 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6550 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6551 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6552 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6555 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6557 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6558 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6562 @node PostScript Files
6563 @subsection PostScript Files
6569 @kindex X p (Summary)
6570 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6571 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6574 @kindex X P (Summary)
6575 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6576 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6577 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6580 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6581 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6582 View the current PostScript series
6583 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6586 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6587 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6588 View and save the current PostScript series
6589 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6594 @subsection Other Files
6598 @kindex X o (Summary)
6599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6600 Save the current series
6601 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6604 @kindex X b (Summary)
6605 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6606 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6607 doesn't really work yet.
6611 @node Decoding Variables
6612 @subsection Decoding Variables
6614 Adjective, not verb.
6617 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6618 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6619 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6623 @node Rule Variables
6624 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6625 @cindex rule variables
6627 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6628 variables are of the form
6631 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6638 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6639 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6641 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6642 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6645 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6646 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6649 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6650 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6651 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6652 user and default view rules.
6654 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6655 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6656 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6661 @node Other Decode Variables
6662 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6665 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6667 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6668 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6669 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6670 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6671 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6675 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6676 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6679 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6680 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6681 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6684 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6685 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6686 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6687 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6688 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6691 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6692 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6693 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6695 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6696 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6697 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6698 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6699 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6702 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6703 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6704 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6706 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6707 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6708 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6709 looking for files to display.
6711 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6712 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6713 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6716 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6717 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6718 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6721 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6722 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6723 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6726 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6727 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6728 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6731 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6732 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6733 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6734 decoded articles as unread.
6736 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6737 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6738 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6739 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6741 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6742 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6743 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6745 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6746 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6748 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6749 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6750 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6751 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6753 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6754 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6755 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6756 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6757 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6758 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6759 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6760 simply dropped them.
6765 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6766 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6770 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6771 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6772 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6773 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6774 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6775 for you when you post the article.
6777 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6778 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6779 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6780 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6782 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6783 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6785 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6786 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6787 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6788 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6790 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6791 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6792 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6793 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6794 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6795 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6796 Default is @code{t}.
6802 @subsection Viewing Files
6803 @cindex viewing files
6804 @cindex pseudo-articles
6806 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6807 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6808 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6809 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6810 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6811 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6812 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6814 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6815 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6816 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6817 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6819 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6820 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6821 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6823 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6824 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6825 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6826 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6827 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6829 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6830 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6831 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6832 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6833 a list of parameters to that command.
6835 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6836 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6837 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6839 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6840 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6841 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6844 @node Article Treatment
6845 @section Article Treatment
6847 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6848 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6849 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6850 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6851 these articles easier.
6854 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6855 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6856 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6857 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6858 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6859 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6860 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6861 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6865 @node Article Highlighting
6866 @subsection Article Highlighting
6867 @cindex highlighting
6869 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6870 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6875 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6876 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6877 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6878 Do much highlighting of the current article
6879 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6880 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6883 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6884 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6885 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6886 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6887 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6888 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6889 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6890 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6891 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6892 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6893 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6894 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6897 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6899 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6901 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6904 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6906 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6907 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6908 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6910 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6911 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6912 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6914 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6915 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6916 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6918 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6919 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6920 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6921 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6922 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6923 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6925 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6926 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6927 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6929 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6930 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6931 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6933 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6934 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6935 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6936 that it's a citation.
6938 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6939 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6940 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6942 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6943 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6944 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6946 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6947 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6948 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6949 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6955 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6956 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6957 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6958 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6959 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6960 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6961 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6962 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6967 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6970 @node Article Fontisizing
6971 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6973 @cindex article emphasis
6975 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6976 @kindex W e (Summary)
6977 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6978 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6979 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6980 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6982 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6983 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6984 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6985 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6986 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6987 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6988 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6989 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6993 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6994 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6995 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7004 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7005 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7006 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7007 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7008 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7009 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7010 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7011 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7012 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7013 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7014 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7015 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7016 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7018 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7019 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7020 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7024 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7027 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7029 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7030 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7031 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7032 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7034 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7037 @node Article Hiding
7038 @subsection Article Hiding
7039 @cindex article hiding
7041 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7042 too much cruft in most articles.
7047 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7048 @findex gnus-article-hide
7049 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7050 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7051 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7054 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7055 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7056 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7060 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7061 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7062 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7063 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7066 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7067 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7068 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7072 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7073 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7074 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7075 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}.
7076 These are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of
7077 all @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any
7078 leading @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping.
7082 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7083 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7084 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7085 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7090 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7091 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7092 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7093 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7094 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7095 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7096 articles that have signatures in them do:
7098 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7100 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7102 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7103 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7105 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7108 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7113 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7114 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7115 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7116 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7119 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7120 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7123 @cindex stripping advertisments
7124 @cindex advertisments
7125 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7126 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7127 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7128 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7129 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7130 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7131 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7132 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7133 signature should be removed.
7136 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7137 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7138 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7139 customizing the hiding:
7143 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7144 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7145 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7146 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7147 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7148 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7149 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7154 Starting point of the hidden text.
7156 Ending point of the hidden text.
7158 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7160 Number of lines of hidden text.
7163 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7164 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7165 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7166 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7167 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7172 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7173 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7175 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7176 following two variables:
7179 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7180 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7181 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7182 50), hide the cited text.
7184 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7185 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7186 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7191 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7192 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7193 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7194 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7195 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7196 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7200 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7201 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7202 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7204 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7205 citation customization.
7207 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7211 @node Article Washing
7212 @subsection Article Washing
7214 @cindex article washing
7216 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7217 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7219 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7220 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7226 @kindex W l (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7228 Remove page breaks from the current article
7229 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7233 @kindex W r (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7235 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7236 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7237 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7238 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7239 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7241 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7242 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7243 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7244 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7247 @kindex W t (Summary)
7248 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7249 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7250 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7253 @kindex W v (Summary)
7254 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7255 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7256 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7259 @kindex W m (Summary)
7260 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7261 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7262 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7265 @kindex W o (Summary)
7266 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7267 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7270 @kindex W d (Summary)
7271 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7272 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7274 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7276 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7277 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7278 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7279 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7283 @kindex W w (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7285 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7287 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7291 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7292 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7293 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7296 @kindex W C (Summary)
7297 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7298 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7299 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7302 @kindex W c (Summary)
7303 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7304 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7305 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7306 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7307 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7310 @kindex W f (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7313 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7314 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7315 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7321 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7322 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7323 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7324 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7325 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7326 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7327 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7328 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
7329 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
7330 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7331 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7332 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7333 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
7334 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7338 @kindex W b (Summary)
7339 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7340 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7341 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7344 @kindex W B (Summary)
7345 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7346 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7347 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7350 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7351 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7352 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7353 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7356 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7357 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7358 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7359 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7362 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7364 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7365 lines with a single empty line.
7366 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7369 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7370 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7371 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7372 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7375 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7376 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7377 Do all the three commands above
7378 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7381 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7383 Remove all blank lines
7384 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7387 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7388 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7389 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7390 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7393 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7395 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7396 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7400 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7403 @node Article Buttons
7404 @subsection Article Buttons
7407 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7408 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7409 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7410 button on these references.
7412 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7413 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7414 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7419 @item gnus-button-alist
7420 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7421 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7424 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7430 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7431 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7432 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7435 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7436 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7437 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7440 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7441 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7442 avoid false matches.
7445 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7448 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7449 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7453 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7456 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7459 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7460 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7461 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7462 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7463 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7466 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7469 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7471 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7472 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7473 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7474 default values of the variables above.
7476 @item gnus-article-button-face
7477 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7478 Face used on buttons.
7480 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7481 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7482 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7486 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7490 @subsection Article Date
7492 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7493 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7494 when the article was sent.
7499 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7500 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7501 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7502 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7505 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7506 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7508 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7509 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7512 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7513 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7514 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7517 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7518 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7519 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7520 @findex format-time-string
7521 Display the date using a user-defined format
7522 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7523 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7524 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7525 for a list of possible format specs.
7528 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7529 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7530 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7531 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7532 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7533 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7536 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7539 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7540 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7543 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7544 into wonderful absurdities.
7546 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7549 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7552 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7553 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7557 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7558 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7559 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7560 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7561 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7562 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7563 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7567 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7568 preferred format automatically.
7571 @node Article Signature
7572 @subsection Article Signature
7574 @cindex article signature
7576 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7577 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7578 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7579 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7580 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7581 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7582 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7583 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7584 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7587 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7588 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7589 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7590 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7591 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7592 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7593 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7594 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7597 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7600 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7601 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7602 signature when displaying articles.
7606 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7609 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7612 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7613 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7615 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7616 in question is not a signature.
7619 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7620 listed above. Here's an example:
7623 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7624 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7627 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7628 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7629 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7630 signature after all.
7633 @node Article Miscellania
7634 @subsection Article Miscellania
7638 @kindex A t (Summary)
7639 @findex gnus-article-babel
7640 Translate the article from one language to another
7641 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7647 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7648 @cindex MIME decoding
7650 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7651 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7657 @kindex K v (Summary)
7658 View the @sc{mime} part.
7661 @kindex K o (Summary)
7662 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7665 @kindex K c (Summary)
7666 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7669 @kindex K e (Summary)
7670 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7673 @kindex K i (Summary)
7674 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7677 @kindex K | (Summary)
7678 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7681 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7686 @kindex K b (Summary)
7687 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them. This is
7688 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7692 @kindex K m (Summary)
7693 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7694 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7695 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7696 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7697 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7700 @kindex X m (Summary)
7701 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7702 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7703 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7704 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7707 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7708 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7709 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7710 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7713 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7714 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7715 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7718 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7719 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7720 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7722 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7723 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7724 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7725 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7726 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7727 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7730 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7731 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7732 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7739 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7740 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7741 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7742 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7745 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7748 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7752 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7753 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7754 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7755 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7756 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7758 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7759 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7760 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7761 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7762 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7763 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7764 save all jpegs into some directory).
7766 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7769 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7770 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7772 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7773 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7774 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7775 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7776 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7779 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7780 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7781 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7790 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7791 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7792 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7793 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7794 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7795 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7796 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7798 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7799 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7800 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7801 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7803 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7804 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7805 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7806 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7807 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7808 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7809 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7810 something some agents insist on having in there.
7812 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7813 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7814 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7815 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7816 quoted-printable header encoding.
7818 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7819 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7820 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7824 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7827 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7828 means encode all charsets),
7830 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7831 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7832 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7839 @cindex coding system aliases
7840 @cindex preferred charset
7842 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7844 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7845 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7848 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7849 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7852 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7853 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7855 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7858 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7861 This will almost do the right thing.
7863 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7867 (codepage-setup 1251)
7868 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7872 @node Article Commands
7873 @section Article Commands
7880 @kindex A P (Summary)
7881 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7882 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7883 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7884 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7885 run just before printing the buffer.
7890 @node Summary Sorting
7891 @section Summary Sorting
7892 @cindex summary sorting
7894 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7895 can't really see why you'd want that.
7900 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7901 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7902 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7905 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7906 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7907 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7910 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7911 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7912 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7915 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7916 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7917 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7920 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7921 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7922 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7925 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7926 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7927 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7930 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7931 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7932 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7935 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7936 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7937 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7938 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7939 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7943 @node Finding the Parent
7944 @section Finding the Parent
7945 @cindex parent articles
7946 @cindex referring articles
7951 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7952 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7953 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7954 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7955 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7956 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7957 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7958 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7959 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7961 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7962 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7963 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7964 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7965 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7969 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7970 @kindex A R (Summary)
7971 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7972 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7975 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7976 @kindex A T (Summary)
7977 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7978 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7979 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7980 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7981 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7982 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7983 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7985 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7986 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7987 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7988 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7989 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7990 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7993 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7994 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7996 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7997 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7998 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7999 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8000 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8001 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8002 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8005 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8006 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8007 by giving this command a prefix.
8009 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8010 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8011 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8012 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8013 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8014 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8017 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8018 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8019 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8022 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8023 then ask Deja if that fails:
8026 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8028 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8031 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8032 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8033 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8034 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8035 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8036 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8039 @node Alternative Approaches
8040 @section Alternative Approaches
8042 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8043 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8046 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8047 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8052 @subsection Pick and Read
8053 @cindex pick and read
8055 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8056 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8057 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8058 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8060 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8061 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8062 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8063 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8064 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8065 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8067 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8072 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8073 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8074 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8075 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8076 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8077 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8078 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8079 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8082 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8083 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8084 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8085 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8089 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8090 Unpick the thread or article
8091 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8092 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8093 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8094 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8095 the thread or article at that line.
8099 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8100 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8101 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8102 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8103 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8104 will still be visible when you are reading.
8108 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8109 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8110 which is mapped to the same function
8111 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8113 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8116 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8119 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8120 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8122 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8123 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8124 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8126 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8127 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8128 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8129 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8130 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8131 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8132 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8136 @subsection Binary Groups
8137 @cindex binary groups
8139 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8140 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8141 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8142 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8143 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8144 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8145 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8148 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8149 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8150 command, when you have turned on this mode
8151 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8153 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8154 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8158 @section Tree Display
8161 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8162 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
8163 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8164 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8167 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8170 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8171 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8172 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8174 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8175 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8176 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8177 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8178 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8180 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8181 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8182 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8183 default is @code{modeline}.
8185 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8186 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8187 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8188 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8189 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8190 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8191 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8197 The name of the poster.
8199 The @code{From} header.
8201 The number of the article.
8203 The opening bracket.
8205 The closing bracket.
8210 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8212 Variables related to the display are:
8215 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8216 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8217 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8218 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8219 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8220 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8222 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8223 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8224 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8225 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8229 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8230 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8231 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
8232 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
8233 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8234 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8235 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8236 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8237 other windows displayed next to it.
8239 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8240 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8241 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8242 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8243 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8244 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8245 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8249 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8252 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8262 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8266 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8267 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8269 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8271 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8276 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8277 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8278 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8281 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8282 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8283 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8284 (gnus-add-configuration
8288 (summary 0.75 point)
8293 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8296 @node Mail Group Commands
8297 @section Mail Group Commands
8298 @cindex mail group commands
8300 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8301 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8303 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8304 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8309 @kindex B e (Summary)
8310 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8311 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8312 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8315 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8316 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8317 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8318 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8319 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8320 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8323 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8324 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8325 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8326 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8327 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8328 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8331 @kindex B m (Summary)
8333 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8334 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8335 Move the article from one mail group to another
8336 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8337 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8340 @kindex B c (Summary)
8342 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8343 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8344 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8345 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8346 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8349 @kindex B B (Summary)
8350 @cindex crosspost mail
8351 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8352 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8353 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8354 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8355 be properly updated.
8358 @kindex B i (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8360 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8361 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8362 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8365 @kindex B r (Summary)
8366 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8367 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8368 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8369 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8370 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8371 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8372 (which is the default).
8376 @kindex B w (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8379 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8380 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8381 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8382 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8383 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8386 @kindex B q (Summary)
8387 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8388 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8389 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8390 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8393 @kindex B t (Summary)
8394 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8395 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8396 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8399 @kindex B p (Summary)
8400 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8401 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8402 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8403 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8404 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8405 article from your news server (or rather, from
8406 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8407 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8408 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8409 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8410 just not have arrived yet.
8414 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8415 @cindex moving articles
8416 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
8417 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8418 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8419 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8420 suggestions you find reasonable.
8423 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8424 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8425 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8426 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8430 @node Various Summary Stuff
8431 @section Various Summary Stuff
8434 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8435 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8436 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8437 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8441 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8442 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8443 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8445 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8446 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8447 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8448 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8449 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8450 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8453 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8454 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8455 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8456 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8457 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8459 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8460 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8461 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8464 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8465 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8466 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8467 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8468 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8469 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8470 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
8471 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8472 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8473 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8478 @node Summary Group Information
8479 @subsection Summary Group Information
8484 @kindex H f (Summary)
8485 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8486 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8487 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8488 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8489 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8490 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8491 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8492 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8493 be used for fetching the file.
8496 @kindex H d (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8498 Give a brief description of the current group
8499 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8500 rereading the description from the server.
8503 @kindex H h (Summary)
8504 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8505 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8506 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8509 @kindex H i (Summary)
8510 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8511 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8515 @node Searching for Articles
8516 @subsection Searching for Articles
8521 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8522 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8523 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8524 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8527 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8529 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8530 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8534 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8535 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8536 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8537 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8541 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8542 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8543 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8544 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8547 @node Summary Generation Commands
8548 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8553 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8554 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8555 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8558 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8559 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8560 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8561 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8566 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8567 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8573 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8574 @kindex A D (Summary)
8575 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8576 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8577 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8578 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8579 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8580 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8581 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8582 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8586 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8587 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8588 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8589 several documents into one biiig group
8590 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8591 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8592 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8593 command understands the process/prefix convention
8594 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8597 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8598 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8599 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8600 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8601 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8602 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8606 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8607 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8608 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8611 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8612 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8613 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8614 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8617 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8618 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8619 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8620 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8625 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8626 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8627 @cindex summary exit
8628 @cindex exiting groups
8630 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8631 group and return you to the group buffer.
8637 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8639 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8640 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8641 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8642 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8643 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8644 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8645 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8646 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8647 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8648 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8649 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8653 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8655 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8656 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8657 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8661 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8663 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8664 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8665 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8666 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8669 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8670 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8671 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8672 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8675 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8676 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8677 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8678 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8681 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8683 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8684 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8685 all articles, both read and unread.
8689 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8690 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8691 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8692 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8693 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8694 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8695 articles, both read and unread.
8698 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8699 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8700 Exit the group and go to the next group
8701 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8704 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8705 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8706 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8707 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8710 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8711 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8712 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8713 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8714 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8715 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8718 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8719 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8720 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8721 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8723 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8724 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8725 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8726 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8727 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8728 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8729 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8730 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8731 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8732 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8733 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8734 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8736 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8738 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8739 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8740 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8741 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8742 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8743 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8744 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8745 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8746 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8749 @node Crosspost Handling
8750 @section Crosspost Handling
8754 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8755 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8756 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8757 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8758 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8759 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8762 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8763 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8764 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8765 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8766 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8768 @cindex cross-posting
8771 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8772 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8773 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8774 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8775 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8776 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8777 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8778 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8779 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8780 the cross reference mechanism.
8782 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8783 @cindex overview.fmt
8784 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8785 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8786 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8787 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8788 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8789 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8792 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8793 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8794 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8799 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8802 @node Duplicate Suppression
8803 @section Duplicate Suppression
8805 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8806 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8807 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8808 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8813 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8814 is evil and not very common.
8817 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8818 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8821 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8822 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8825 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8828 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8829 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8831 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8832 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8833 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8834 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8835 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8836 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8837 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8840 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8841 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8842 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8843 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8844 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8848 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8849 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8850 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8852 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8853 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8854 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8855 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8856 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
8857 session are suppressed.
8859 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8860 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8861 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8862 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8864 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8865 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8866 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8867 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8870 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
8871 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8872 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8873 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8874 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
8875 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8876 to you to figure out, I think.
8879 @node The Article Buffer
8880 @chapter The Article Buffer
8881 @cindex article buffer
8883 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8884 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8885 tell gnus otherwise.
8888 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8889 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8890 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8891 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8892 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8896 @node Hiding Headers
8897 @section Hiding Headers
8898 @cindex hiding headers
8899 @cindex deleting headers
8901 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8902 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8904 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8905 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8906 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8907 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8908 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8909 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8910 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8911 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8912 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8914 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8918 @item gnus-visible-headers
8919 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8920 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8921 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8922 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8924 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8925 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8928 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8931 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8934 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8935 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8936 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8937 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8938 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8939 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8941 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
8942 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
8945 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8948 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8951 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8952 variable will have no effect.
8956 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8957 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8958 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8959 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8960 the headers are to be displayed.
8962 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8963 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8966 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8969 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8970 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8972 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8973 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8974 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8975 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
8976 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8977 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8978 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8981 These conditions are:
8984 Remove all empty headers.
8986 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8987 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8989 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8992 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8995 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8998 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9000 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9003 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9006 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9007 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9010 This is also the default value for this variable.
9014 @section Using @sc{mime}
9017 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9018 while people stand around yawning.
9020 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9021 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9023 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9024 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9025 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9027 @vindex gnus-show-mime
9028 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
9029 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
9030 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
9031 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
9032 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
9033 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
9034 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
9035 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
9036 existed yet, sorry).
9038 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
9039 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
9040 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
9041 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
9042 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
9043 buffer. These can't be avoided.
9045 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
9046 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
9047 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
9048 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
9049 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
9050 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
9051 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
9052 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
9053 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
9056 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9058 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
9059 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
9060 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
9061 buffer when there are nobody else.
9063 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9066 @node Customizing Articles
9067 @section Customizing Articles
9068 @cindex article customization
9070 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9071 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9072 called automatically when you select the articles.
9074 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9075 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9076 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9077 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9079 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9080 for sensible values.
9084 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9087 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9090 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9093 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9096 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9100 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9101 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9102 regexps in the list.
9105 A list where the first element is not a string:
9107 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9108 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9109 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9113 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9117 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
9122 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9123 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9124 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9125 considered to contain just a single part.
9127 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9128 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9129 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9130 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9131 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9132 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9133 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9135 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9136 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9137 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9138 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9141 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9142 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9143 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9144 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9145 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9146 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9147 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9148 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9149 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9150 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9151 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9152 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9153 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9154 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9155 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9156 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9157 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9158 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9159 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9160 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9161 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9162 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9163 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9164 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9165 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9166 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9167 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9168 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9169 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9170 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9171 @item gnus-treat-translate
9172 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
9175 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9176 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9177 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9178 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9179 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9183 @node Article Keymap
9184 @section Article Keymap
9186 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9187 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9188 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9189 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9192 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9197 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9198 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9199 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9202 @kindex DEL (Article)
9203 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9204 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9207 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9208 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9209 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9210 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9211 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9214 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9215 @findex gnus-article-mail
9216 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9217 given a prefix, include the mail.
9221 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9222 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9223 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9227 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9228 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9229 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9232 @kindex TAB (Article)
9233 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9234 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9235 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9238 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9239 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9240 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9246 @section Misc Article
9250 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9251 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9252 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9253 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9256 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9257 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9259 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9260 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9262 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9263 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9264 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9265 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9266 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9267 the contents of the article buffer.
9269 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9270 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9271 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9273 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9274 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9275 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9276 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9278 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9279 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9280 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9281 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9282 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9287 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9288 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9291 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9294 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9296 @item gnus-break-pages
9297 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9298 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9299 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9300 paging will not be done.
9302 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9303 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9304 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9309 @node Composing Messages
9310 @chapter Composing Messages
9311 @cindex composing messages
9314 @cindex sending mail
9319 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9320 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9321 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9322 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9323 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9324 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9327 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9328 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9329 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9330 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9331 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9332 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9333 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9334 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9337 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9338 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9344 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9347 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9348 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9349 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9350 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9352 @item gnus-add-to-list
9353 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9354 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9355 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9363 Variables for composing news articles:
9366 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9367 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9368 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9369 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9370 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9371 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9372 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9373 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9374 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
9377 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9378 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9379 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9380 file. It is 1000 by default.
9385 @node Posting Server
9386 @section Posting Server
9388 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9389 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9391 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9393 @vindex gnus-post-method
9395 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
9396 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9397 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9398 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9399 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9402 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9405 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9406 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9407 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9408 the ``current'' server for posting.
9410 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9411 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9413 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9414 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9417 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9418 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9419 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9424 @section Mail and Post
9426 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9430 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9431 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9432 @cindex mailing lists
9434 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9435 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9436 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9437 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9438 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9439 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9440 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9441 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9442 still a pain, though.
9446 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9447 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9448 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9451 @findex ispell-message
9453 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9456 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9457 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9460 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9463 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9464 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9466 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9469 Modify to suit your needs.
9472 @node Archived Messages
9473 @section Archived Messages
9474 @cindex archived messages
9475 @cindex sent messages
9477 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9478 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9479 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9480 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9483 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9484 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
9485 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9489 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9490 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9491 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9492 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9495 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9496 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9497 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9498 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9501 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9502 '(nnfolder "archive"
9503 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9504 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9505 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9508 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9510 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9511 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9512 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9514 This variable can be used to do the following:
9518 Messages will be saved in that group.
9519 @item a list of strings
9520 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9521 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9522 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9524 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9529 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9531 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9534 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9536 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9539 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9541 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9542 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9543 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9544 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9549 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9550 '((if (message-news-p)
9555 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9556 messages in one file per month:
9559 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9560 '((if (message-news-p)
9562 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9565 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9566 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9568 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9569 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9570 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9571 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9572 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9573 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9574 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9575 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9576 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9577 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9579 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9580 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9581 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9582 this will disable archiving.
9585 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9586 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9587 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9588 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9589 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9592 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9593 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9594 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9597 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9598 but the latter is the preferred method.
9602 @node Posting Styles
9603 @section Posting Styles
9604 @cindex posting styles
9607 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9609 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9610 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9611 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9614 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9615 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9616 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9617 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9618 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9623 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9624 (organization "What me?"))
9626 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9627 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9628 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9631 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9632 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9633 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9634 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9635 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9636 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9637 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9638 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9640 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9641 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9642 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9643 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9644 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9645 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9646 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9647 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9650 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9651 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9652 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9653 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9654 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9655 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9656 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9657 and the result is thrown away.
9659 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9660 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9661 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9662 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9663 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9664 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9666 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9667 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9668 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9670 @findex message-mail-p
9671 @findex message-news-p
9673 So here's a new example:
9676 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9678 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9680 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9681 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9683 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9684 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9685 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9687 (signature my-news-signature))
9688 (header "From.*To" "larsi.*org"
9689 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9690 ((posting-from-work-p)
9691 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9692 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9693 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9694 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9696 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9704 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9705 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9706 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9707 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9708 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9710 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9711 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9712 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9713 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9714 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9718 @vindex nndraft-directory
9719 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9720 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9721 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9722 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9723 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9724 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9726 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9727 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9730 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9731 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9732 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9733 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9734 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9735 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9736 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9737 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9738 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9739 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9740 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9741 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9742 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9743 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9745 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9746 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9747 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9749 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9751 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9752 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9753 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9755 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9758 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9759 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9760 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9761 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9762 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9763 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9764 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9767 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9768 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9769 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9772 @node Rejected Articles
9773 @section Rejected Articles
9774 @cindex rejected articles
9776 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9777 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9778 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9779 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9781 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
9782 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9783 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9784 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
9785 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9787 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9788 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9789 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9792 @node Select Methods
9793 @chapter Select Methods
9794 @cindex foreign groups
9795 @cindex select methods
9797 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9798 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9799 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9800 personal mail group.
9802 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9803 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9804 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9805 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9806 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9807 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9809 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9810 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9812 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9815 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9816 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9817 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9818 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9819 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9821 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9824 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9825 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9826 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9827 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9828 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9829 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9830 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9834 @node The Server Buffer
9835 @section The Server Buffer
9837 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9838 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9839 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9840 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9841 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9842 backend represents a virtual server.
9844 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9845 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9846 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9847 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9849 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9850 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9851 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9852 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9853 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9854 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9855 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9857 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9858 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9861 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9862 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9863 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9864 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9865 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9866 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9867 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9870 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9871 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9874 @node Server Buffer Format
9875 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9876 @cindex server buffer format
9878 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9879 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9880 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9881 variable, with some simple extensions:
9886 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9889 The name of this server.
9892 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9895 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9898 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9899 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9900 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9901 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9911 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9914 @node Server Commands
9915 @subsection Server Commands
9916 @cindex server commands
9922 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9923 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9927 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9928 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9931 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9932 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9933 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9937 @findex gnus-server-exit
9938 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9942 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9943 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9947 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9948 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9952 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9953 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9957 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9958 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9962 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9963 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9964 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9969 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9970 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9971 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9972 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9977 @node Example Methods
9978 @subsection Example Methods
9980 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9983 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9986 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9992 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9993 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9996 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9997 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
9999 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10000 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10004 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10007 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10008 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10010 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10011 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10012 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10016 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10019 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10022 Here's the method for a public spool:
10026 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10027 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10030 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10031 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10032 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10033 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10034 should probably look something like this:
10038 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10039 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10040 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10041 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10042 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10045 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10046 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10047 server that would look something like this:
10051 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10052 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10053 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10054 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10055 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10056 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10059 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10060 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10061 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10062 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10065 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10066 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10068 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10069 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10071 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10072 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10073 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10075 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10077 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10078 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10079 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10080 will contain the following:
10090 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10091 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10092 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10095 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10096 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10097 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10100 @node Server Variables
10101 @subsection Server Variables
10103 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10104 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10105 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10106 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10107 won't change the "derived" variables.
10109 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10110 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10111 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10112 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10113 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10114 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10115 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10116 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10117 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10121 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10122 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10123 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10127 @node Servers and Methods
10128 @subsection Servers and Methods
10130 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10131 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10132 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10133 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10137 @node Unavailable Servers
10138 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10140 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10141 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10142 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10143 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10144 actually the case or not.
10146 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10147 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10148 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10149 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10150 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10151 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10152 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10153 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10155 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10156 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10158 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10159 with the following commands:
10165 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10166 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10167 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10171 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10172 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10173 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10177 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10178 Mark the current server as unreachable
10179 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10182 @kindex M-o (Server)
10183 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10184 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10185 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10188 @kindex M-c (Server)
10189 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10190 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10191 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10195 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10196 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10197 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10203 @section Getting News
10204 @cindex reading news
10205 @cindex news backends
10207 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10208 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10209 or it can read from a local spool.
10212 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10213 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10218 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10221 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10222 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10223 server as the, uhm, address.
10225 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10226 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10227 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10228 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10230 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10231 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10232 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10234 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10239 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10240 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10241 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10243 @cindex authentification
10244 @cindex nntp authentification
10245 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10246 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10247 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10248 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10249 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10250 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10251 present in this hook.
10253 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10254 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10255 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10256 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10257 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10258 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10259 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10260 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10261 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10262 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10263 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10264 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10268 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10271 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10272 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10273 @samp{default}, @samp{port} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a
10274 valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is almost the only way the
10275 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10280 Here's an example file:
10283 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10284 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10287 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10288 have to be first, for instance.
10290 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10291 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10292 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10293 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10294 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10295 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10296 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10298 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10299 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10305 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10306 previously mentioned.
10308 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10310 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10311 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10312 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10313 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10314 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10317 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10318 '(("innd" (ding))))
10321 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10323 The default value is
10326 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10327 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10330 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10331 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10333 @item nntp-maximum-request
10334 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10335 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10336 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10337 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10338 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10339 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10340 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10342 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10343 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10344 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10345 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10346 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10347 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10348 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10349 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10350 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10351 no timeouts are done.
10353 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10354 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10355 @c @cindex PPP connections
10356 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10357 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10358 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10359 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10360 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10361 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10362 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10363 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10364 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10365 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10367 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10368 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10369 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10370 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10371 @c described above.
10373 @item nntp-server-hook
10374 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10375 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10378 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10379 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10380 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10381 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10382 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10383 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10384 functions are supplied:
10387 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10388 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10391 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10392 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10393 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10396 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10400 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10401 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10402 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10403 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10405 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10406 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10407 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10409 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10410 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10411 User name on the remote system.
10415 @item nntp-open-telnet
10416 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10417 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10419 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10422 @item nntp-telnet-command
10423 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10424 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10426 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10427 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10428 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10430 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10431 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10432 User name for log in on the remote system.
10434 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10435 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10436 Password to use when logging in.
10438 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10439 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10440 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10443 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10444 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10445 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10446 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10448 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10449 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10450 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10451 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10452 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10456 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10457 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10458 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10459 you must have SSLay installed
10460 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10461 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10462 define a server as follows:
10465 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10467 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10469 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10470 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10471 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10472 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10477 @item nntp-end-of-line
10478 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10479 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10480 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10481 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10483 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10484 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10485 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10489 @vindex nntp-address
10490 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10492 @item nntp-port-number
10493 @vindex nntp-port-number
10494 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10497 @item nntp-buggy-select
10498 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10499 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10501 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10502 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10503 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10504 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10507 @item nntp-xover-commands
10508 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10511 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10512 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10516 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10517 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10518 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10519 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10520 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10521 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10522 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10523 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10524 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10525 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10526 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10528 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10529 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10530 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10532 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10533 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10534 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10535 server closes connection.
10537 @item nntp-record-commands
10538 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10539 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10540 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10541 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10542 that doesn't seem to work.
10548 @subsection News Spool
10552 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10553 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10554 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10557 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10558 anything else) as the address.
10560 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10561 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10562 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10563 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10567 @item nnspool-inews-program
10568 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10569 Program used to post an article.
10571 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10572 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10573 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10575 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10576 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10577 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10578 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10580 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10581 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10582 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10583 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10585 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10586 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10587 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10589 @item nnspool-active-file
10590 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10591 The path to the active file.
10593 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10594 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10595 The path to the group descriptions file.
10597 @item nnspool-history-file
10598 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10599 The path to the news history file.
10601 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10602 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10603 The path to the active date file.
10605 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10606 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10607 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10610 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10611 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10613 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10614 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10615 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10621 @section Getting Mail
10622 @cindex reading mail
10625 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10629 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10630 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10631 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10632 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10633 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10634 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10635 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10636 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10637 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10638 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10639 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10640 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10641 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10645 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10646 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10648 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10649 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10650 of a culture shock.
10652 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10653 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10655 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10656 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10657 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10658 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10660 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10662 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10663 deleted? How awful!
10665 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10666 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10667 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10668 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10671 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10672 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10673 they want to treat a message.
10675 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10676 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10677 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10678 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10679 archived somewhere else.
10681 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10682 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10683 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10684 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10685 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10687 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10688 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10689 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10691 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10692 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10695 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10696 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10697 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10698 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10699 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10701 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10702 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10703 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10704 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10705 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10706 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10710 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10711 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10713 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10714 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10715 and things will happen automatically.
10717 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10718 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10721 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10722 '((nnml "private")))
10725 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10726 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10727 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10728 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10729 like any other group.
10731 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10734 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10735 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10736 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10740 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10741 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10742 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10745 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10746 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10747 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10750 @node Splitting Mail
10751 @subsection Splitting Mail
10752 @cindex splitting mail
10753 @cindex mail splitting
10755 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10756 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10757 to be split into groups.
10760 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10761 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10762 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10763 ("mail.other" "")))
10766 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10767 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10768 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10769 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10770 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10771 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10772 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10775 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10778 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10779 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10780 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10781 mail belongs in that group.
10783 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10784 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10785 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10786 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10787 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10788 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10790 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10791 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10792 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10793 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10794 thinks should carry this mail message.
10796 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10797 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10798 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10799 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10801 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10802 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10803 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10804 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10805 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10807 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10810 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10811 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10812 links. If that's the case for you, set
10813 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10814 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10816 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10817 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10818 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10819 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10821 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10822 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10823 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10824 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10825 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10826 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10827 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10828 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10829 month's rent money.
10833 @subsection Mail Sources
10835 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10836 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10840 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10841 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10842 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10846 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10847 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10849 @cindex mail server
10852 @cindex mail source
10854 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10855 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10860 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10863 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10864 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10865 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10868 The following mail source types are available:
10872 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10878 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10879 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10882 An example file mail source:
10885 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10888 Or using the default path:
10894 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10895 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10896 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10899 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10903 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10906 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10910 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10913 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10915 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10918 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10922 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10923 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10929 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10933 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10937 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10938 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10939 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10940 predicate are considered.
10944 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10948 An example directory mail source:
10951 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10956 Get mail from a POP server.
10962 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10963 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10966 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10969 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10973 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10977 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10978 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10981 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10984 The valid format specifier characters are:
10988 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10989 included in this string.
10992 The name of the server.
10995 The port number of the server.
10998 The user name to use.
11001 The password to use.
11004 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11005 corresponding keywords.
11008 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11009 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11012 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11013 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11016 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11017 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11020 @item :authentication
11021 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11022 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11027 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11028 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11030 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11031 default user name, and default fetcher:
11037 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11040 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11041 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11044 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11047 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11051 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11052 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11053 contains exactly one mail.
11059 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11060 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
11062 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11063 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11064 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11067 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11068 from locking problems).
11072 Two example maildir mail sources:
11075 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
11079 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
11083 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11084 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11085 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11086 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11092 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11093 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11096 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11097 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11100 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11104 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11108 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11109 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11110 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11112 @item :authenticator
11113 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11114 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11115 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11119 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11120 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11123 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11124 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11125 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11126 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11127 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11128 complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
11131 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11132 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11133 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11134 but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
11137 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11138 after finishing the fetch.
11142 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11145 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11149 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11150 mail.yahoo.com, www.netaddress.com and www.my-deja.com.
11152 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
11153 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
11155 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11161 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11162 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11165 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11169 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11173 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11174 folder after finishing the fetch.
11178 An example webmail source:
11181 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11186 @item Common Keywords
11187 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11193 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged.
11198 @node Mail Source Customization
11199 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11201 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11202 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11206 @item mail-source-crash-box
11207 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11208 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11209 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11211 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11212 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11213 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11215 @item mail-source-directory
11216 @vindex mail-source-directory
11217 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11218 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11219 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11222 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11223 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11224 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11229 @node Fetching Mail
11230 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11232 @vindex mail-sources
11233 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11234 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11235 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11236 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11238 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11239 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11242 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11243 mail server, you'd say something like:
11248 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11249 :password "secret")))
11252 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11256 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11257 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11260 :password "secret")))
11264 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11265 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11266 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11267 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11268 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11269 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11273 @node Mail Backend Variables
11274 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11276 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11280 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11281 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11282 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11283 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11285 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11286 @item nnmail-split-hook
11287 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11288 @findex RFC1522 decoding
11289 @findex RFC2047 decoding
11290 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11291 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11292 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11293 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11294 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11295 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11298 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11299 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11300 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11301 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11302 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11303 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11304 starting to handle the new mail) and
11305 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11306 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11307 default file modes the new mail files get:
11310 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11311 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11313 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11314 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11317 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11318 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11319 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11320 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11321 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11322 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11323 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11325 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11326 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11327 @findex delete-file
11328 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11330 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11331 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11332 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11333 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11334 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11339 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11340 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11341 @cindex mail splitting
11342 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11344 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11345 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11346 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11347 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11348 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11349 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11351 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11354 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11355 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11356 ;; from real errors.
11357 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11359 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11360 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11361 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11362 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11363 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11364 ;; Other mailing lists...
11365 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11366 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11367 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11368 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11369 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11370 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11371 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11372 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11374 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11375 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11379 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11380 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11381 the five possible split syntaxes:
11386 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11387 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11391 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11392 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11393 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11394 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11395 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11396 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11397 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11398 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11401 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11402 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11403 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11404 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11407 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11408 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11411 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11412 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11415 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11416 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11417 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11418 function should return a @var{split}.
11421 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11422 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11423 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11427 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11431 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11432 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11433 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11434 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11435 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11437 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11438 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11439 are expanded as specified by the variable
11440 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11441 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11444 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11445 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11446 when all this splitting is performed.
11448 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11449 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11450 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11453 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11456 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11457 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11459 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11460 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11461 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11462 groupings 1 through 9.
11465 @node Group Mail Splitting
11466 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11467 @cindex mail splitting
11468 @cindex group mail splitting
11470 @findex gnus-group-split
11471 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11472 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11473 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11474 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11475 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11476 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11477 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11478 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11480 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11481 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11482 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11483 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11485 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11486 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11487 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11488 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11489 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11490 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11491 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11493 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11494 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11495 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11496 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11497 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11498 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11499 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11501 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11502 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11503 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11504 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11505 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11506 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11507 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11508 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11509 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11511 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11516 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11517 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11519 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11520 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11521 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11522 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11524 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11527 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11528 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11529 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11532 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11533 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11534 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11538 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11539 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11540 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11544 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11547 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11548 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11549 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11550 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11551 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11552 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11553 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11554 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11555 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11557 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11558 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11559 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11560 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11561 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11562 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11563 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11564 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11565 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11567 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11568 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11569 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11570 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11571 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11572 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11575 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11578 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11579 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11580 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11581 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11582 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11585 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11586 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11587 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11588 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11590 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11591 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11593 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11594 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11595 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11598 Doing so can be quite easy.
11600 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11601 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11602 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11603 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11604 your @code{nnml} groups.
11610 Go to the group buffer.
11613 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11614 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11617 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11620 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11621 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11624 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11625 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11628 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11629 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11630 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11631 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11632 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11634 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11635 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11636 using the new mail backend.
11639 @node Expiring Mail
11640 @subsection Expiring Mail
11641 @cindex article expiry
11643 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11644 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11645 different approach to mail reading.
11647 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11648 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11649 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11650 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11651 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11652 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11655 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11656 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11657 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11658 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11659 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11660 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11661 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11662 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11664 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11665 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11666 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11667 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11668 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11669 column in the summary buffer.
11671 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11672 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11673 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11674 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11677 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11679 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11680 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11681 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11684 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11685 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11686 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11687 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11688 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11690 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11691 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11694 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11695 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11698 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11699 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11701 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11702 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11703 don't really mix very well.
11705 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11706 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11707 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11708 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11711 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11712 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11713 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11714 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11717 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11719 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11721 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11723 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11725 ((string= group "important")
11731 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11732 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11734 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11735 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11736 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11739 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11740 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11742 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
11743 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
11744 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
11745 other groups instead of deleting them. The @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
11746 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
11747 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
11748 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
11749 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
11750 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
11751 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
11754 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11755 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11756 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11757 easier for procmail users.
11759 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11760 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11761 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11762 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11763 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11764 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11765 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11766 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11767 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11768 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11769 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11770 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11771 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11774 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11776 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11777 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11778 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11779 auto-expire turned on.
11783 @subsection Washing Mail
11784 @cindex mail washing
11785 @cindex list server brain damage
11786 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11788 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11789 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11790 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11791 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11792 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11793 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11795 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11796 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11797 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11800 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11801 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11802 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11803 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11806 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11807 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11808 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11809 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11810 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11813 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11814 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11815 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11816 Emacs running on MS machines.
11820 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11821 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11822 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11823 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11826 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11827 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11828 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11829 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11831 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11832 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11833 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11834 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11835 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11836 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11837 also be a list of regexp.
11839 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11840 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11843 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11844 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11847 This can also be done non-destructively with
11848 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11850 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11851 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11852 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11854 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11855 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11857 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11858 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11859 @code{References} headers.
11863 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11864 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11865 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11869 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11870 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11871 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11878 @subsection Duplicates
11880 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11881 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11882 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11883 @cindex duplicate mails
11884 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11885 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11886 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11887 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11888 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11889 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11890 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11891 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11892 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11893 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11894 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11895 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11896 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11898 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11899 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11900 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11901 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11903 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11906 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11907 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11911 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11912 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11913 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11914 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11915 (any mail "mail.misc")
11922 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11923 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11928 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11929 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11930 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11931 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11932 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11935 @node Not Reading Mail
11936 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11938 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11939 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11940 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11942 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11943 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11944 mail, which should help.
11946 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11947 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11948 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11949 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11950 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11951 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11952 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11953 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11954 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11955 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11956 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11958 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11959 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11963 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11964 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11966 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11967 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11968 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11970 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11971 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11972 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11973 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11976 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11977 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11978 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11979 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11980 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11981 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11985 @node Unix Mail Box
11986 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11988 @cindex unix mail box
11990 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11991 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11992 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11993 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11994 which group it belongs in.
11996 Virtual server settings:
11999 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12000 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12001 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12003 @item nnmbox-active-file
12004 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12005 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12007 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12008 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12009 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12015 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12019 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12020 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12021 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12022 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12023 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12025 Virtual server settings:
12028 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12029 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12030 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12032 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12033 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12034 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12036 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12037 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12038 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12043 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12045 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12047 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12048 format. It should be used with some caution.
12050 @vindex nnml-directory
12051 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12052 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12053 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12054 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12056 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12059 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12060 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12061 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12062 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12063 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12064 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12065 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12066 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12068 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12069 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12070 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12071 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12073 Virtual server settings:
12076 @item nnml-directory
12077 @vindex nnml-directory
12078 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12080 @item nnml-active-file
12081 @vindex nnml-active-file
12082 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12084 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12085 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12086 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12089 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12090 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12091 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12093 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12094 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12095 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12097 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12098 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12099 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12101 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12102 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12103 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12107 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12108 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12109 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12110 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12111 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12112 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12113 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12118 @subsubsection MH Spool
12120 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12122 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12123 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12124 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12125 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12127 Virtual server settings:
12130 @item nnmh-directory
12131 @vindex nnmh-directory
12132 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12134 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12135 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12136 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12139 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12140 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12141 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12142 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12143 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12144 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12145 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12150 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12152 @cindex mbox folders
12153 @cindex mail folders
12155 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12156 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12157 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12160 Virtual server settings:
12163 @item nnfolder-directory
12164 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12165 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12167 @item nnfolder-active-file
12168 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12169 The name of the active file.
12171 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12172 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12173 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12175 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12176 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12177 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12179 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12180 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12181 @cindex backup files
12182 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12183 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12184 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12185 your @file{.emacs} file:
12188 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12189 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12191 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12194 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12195 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12196 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12197 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12198 extract some information from it before removing it.
12203 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12204 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12205 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12206 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12207 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12208 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12211 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12212 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12214 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12215 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12216 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12217 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12218 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12220 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12221 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12222 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12223 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12224 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12225 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12226 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12227 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12230 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12231 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12232 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12233 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12238 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12239 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12240 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12241 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12242 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12243 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12244 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12245 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12246 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12247 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12248 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12249 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12250 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12255 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12256 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12257 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12258 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12259 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12260 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12261 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12262 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12263 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12264 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12265 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12266 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12267 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12268 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12270 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12271 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12276 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12277 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12278 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12279 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12280 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12281 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12282 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12283 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12284 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12285 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12286 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12287 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12288 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12289 provided by the active file and overviews.
12291 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12292 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12293 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12294 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12295 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12298 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12299 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12304 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12305 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12306 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12307 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12308 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12309 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12310 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12314 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12315 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12316 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12317 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12318 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12319 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12320 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12321 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12322 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12324 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12325 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12326 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12327 friendly mail backend all over.
12332 @node Browsing the Web
12333 @section Browsing the Web
12335 @cindex browsing the web
12339 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12340 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12341 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12342 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12343 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12344 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12345 even know what a news group is.
12347 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12348 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12349 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12350 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12351 you mad in the end.
12353 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12356 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12357 interfaces to these sources.
12360 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12361 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12362 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12363 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12364 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12367 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12369 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12370 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12371 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12372 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12373 though, you should be ok.
12375 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12376 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12377 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12378 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12379 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12383 @subsection Web Searches
12387 @cindex InReference
12388 @cindex Usenet searches
12389 @cindex searching the Usenet
12391 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12392 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12393 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12394 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12395 searches without having to use a browser.
12397 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12398 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12399 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12400 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12401 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12403 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12404 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12405 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12406 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12407 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12408 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12409 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12410 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12411 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12412 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12415 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12416 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12417 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12418 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12419 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12420 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12422 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12423 to use @code{nnweb}.
12425 Virtual server variables:
12430 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12431 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12435 @vindex nnweb-search
12436 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12438 @item nnweb-max-hits
12439 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12440 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12443 @item nnweb-type-definition
12444 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12445 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12446 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12451 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12455 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12458 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12461 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12465 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12472 @subsection Slashdot
12476 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12477 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12478 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12480 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12481 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12484 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12485 '((nnslashdot "")))
12488 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12489 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12490 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12491 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12492 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12495 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12496 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12498 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12499 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12500 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12501 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12502 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12503 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12506 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12509 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12510 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12511 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12512 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12513 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12514 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12515 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12517 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12518 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12519 The login name to use when posting.
12521 @item nnslashdot-password
12522 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12523 The password to use when posting.
12525 @item nnslashdot-directory
12526 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12527 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12528 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12530 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12531 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12532 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12533 news articles and comments. The default is
12534 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12536 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12537 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12538 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12540 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12542 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12543 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12544 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12546 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12548 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12549 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12550 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12552 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12553 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12554 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12555 updated. The default is 0.
12562 @subsection Ultimate
12564 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12566 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12567 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12568 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12569 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12571 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12572 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12573 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12574 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12575 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12576 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12577 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12579 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12582 @item nnultimate-directory
12583 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12584 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12585 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12590 @subsection Web Archive
12592 @cindex Web Archive
12594 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12595 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12596 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12597 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12600 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12601 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12602 gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12603 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12604 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12605 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12606 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12608 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12611 @item nnwarchive-directory
12612 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12613 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12614 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12616 @item nnwarchive-login
12617 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12618 The account name on the web server.
12620 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12621 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12622 The password for your account on the web server.
12626 @node Customizing w3
12627 @subsection Customizing w3
12633 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12634 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12635 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12637 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12638 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12639 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12642 (eval-after-load "w3"
12644 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12645 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12646 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12647 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12649 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12652 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12653 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12657 @node Other Sources
12658 @section Other Sources
12660 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12661 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12665 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12666 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12667 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12668 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12669 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12670 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12674 @node Directory Groups
12675 @subsection Directory Groups
12677 @cindex directory groups
12679 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12680 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12683 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12684 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12685 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12686 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12688 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12689 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12690 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12691 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12692 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12694 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12696 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12697 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12698 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12699 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12702 @node Anything Groups
12703 @subsection Anything Groups
12706 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12707 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12708 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12711 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12712 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12713 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12714 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12715 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12716 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12717 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12718 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12719 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12720 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12723 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12724 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12725 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12726 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12728 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12729 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12730 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12731 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12733 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12734 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12735 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12736 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12737 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12738 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12739 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12740 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12745 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12746 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12747 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12748 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12750 @item nneething-exclude-files
12751 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12752 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12753 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12755 @item nneething-include-files
12756 @vindex nneething-include-files
12757 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12758 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12760 @item nneething-map-file
12761 @vindex nneething-map-file
12762 Name of the map files.
12766 @node Document Groups
12767 @subsection Document Groups
12769 @cindex documentation group
12772 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12773 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12780 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12785 The standard Unix mbox file.
12787 @cindex MMDF mail box
12789 The MMDF mail box format.
12792 Several news articles appended into a file.
12795 @cindex rnews batch files
12796 The rnews batch transport format.
12797 @cindex forwarded messages
12800 Forwarded articles.
12803 Netscape mail boxes.
12806 MIME multipart messages.
12808 @item standard-digest
12809 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12812 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12815 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12816 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12817 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12820 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12821 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12822 group. And that's it.
12824 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12825 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12826 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12827 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12828 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12829 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12830 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12831 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12832 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12833 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12835 Virtual server variables:
12838 @item nndoc-article-type
12839 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12840 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12841 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12842 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12843 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12845 @item nndoc-post-type
12846 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12847 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12848 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12853 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12857 @node Document Server Internals
12858 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12860 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12861 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12862 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12863 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12865 First, here's an example document type definition:
12869 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12870 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12873 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12874 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12875 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12876 types can be defined with very few settings:
12879 @item first-article
12880 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12881 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12884 @item article-begin
12885 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12886 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12888 @item head-begin-function
12889 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12892 @item nndoc-head-begin
12893 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12896 @item nndoc-head-end
12897 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12898 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12900 @item body-begin-function
12901 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12905 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12908 @item body-end-function
12909 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12913 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12916 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12917 regexp will be totally ignored.
12921 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12922 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12923 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12924 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12925 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12928 @item prepare-body-function
12929 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12930 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12931 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12933 @item article-transform-function
12934 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12935 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12936 body of the article.
12938 @item generate-head-function
12939 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12940 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12941 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12942 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12946 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12951 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12952 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12953 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12954 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12955 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12956 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12957 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12958 (subtype digest guess))
12961 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
12962 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
12963 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
12964 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
12965 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
12967 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
12968 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
12969 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
12970 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
12971 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
12972 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
12973 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
12974 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
12975 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
12976 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
12984 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
12985 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
12986 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
12988 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
12989 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
12990 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
12993 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
12994 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
12995 that interested in doing things properly.
12997 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
12998 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13001 First some terminology:
13006 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13007 get news and/or mail from.
13010 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13011 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13014 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13018 @item message packets
13019 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13020 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13021 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13023 @item response packets
13024 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13025 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13026 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13036 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13037 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13038 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13039 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13042 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13045 You put the packet in your home directory.
13048 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13049 the native or secondary server.
13052 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13053 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13056 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13060 You transfer this packet to the server.
13063 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13066 You then repeat until you die.
13070 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13071 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13074 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13075 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13076 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13080 @node SOUP Commands
13081 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13083 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13087 @kindex G s b (Group)
13088 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13089 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13090 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13091 process/prefix convention.
13094 @kindex G s w (Group)
13095 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13096 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13099 @kindex G s s (Group)
13100 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13101 Send all replies from the replies packet
13102 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13105 @kindex G s p (Group)
13106 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13107 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13110 @kindex G s r (Group)
13111 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13112 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13115 @kindex O s (Summary)
13116 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13117 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13118 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13119 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13124 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13129 @item gnus-soup-directory
13130 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13131 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13132 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13134 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13135 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13136 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13137 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13139 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13140 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13141 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13142 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13144 @item gnus-soup-packer
13145 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13146 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13147 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13149 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13150 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13151 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13152 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13154 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13155 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13156 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13158 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13159 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13160 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13161 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13167 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13170 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13171 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13172 you can read them at leisure.
13174 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13178 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13179 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13180 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13181 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13183 @item nnsoup-directory
13184 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13185 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13186 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13188 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13189 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13190 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13191 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13193 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13194 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13195 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13196 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13197 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13199 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13200 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13201 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13202 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13204 @item nnsoup-active-file
13205 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13206 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13207 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13208 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13209 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13211 @item nnsoup-packer
13212 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13213 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13214 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13216 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13217 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13218 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13219 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13221 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13222 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13223 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13226 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13227 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13228 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13231 @item nnsoup-always-save
13232 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13233 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13239 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13241 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13242 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13243 more for that to happen.
13245 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13246 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13247 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13250 In specific, this is what it does:
13253 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13254 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13257 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13258 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13259 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13262 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13263 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13264 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13267 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13268 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13269 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13271 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13277 @item nngateway-address
13278 @vindex nngateway-address
13279 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13281 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13282 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13283 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13284 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13285 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13286 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13287 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13290 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13291 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13292 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13295 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13298 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13301 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13304 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13306 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13309 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13310 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13311 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13313 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13315 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13316 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13317 @code{nngateway-address}.
13322 (setq gnus-post-method
13323 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13324 (nngateway-header-transformation
13325 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13333 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13336 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13342 @subsection @sc{imap}
13346 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13347 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13348 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13349 network address of the server.
13351 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13356 @item nnimap-address
13357 @vindex nnimap-address
13359 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13360 server name if not specified.
13362 @item nnimap-server-port
13363 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13364 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13366 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13367 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13368 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13369 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13370 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13371 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13372 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13374 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13375 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13376 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13382 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13385 @item nnimap-stream
13386 @vindex nnimap-stream
13387 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13388 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13389 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13390 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13394 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13395 @samp{imtest} program.
13397 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13399 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13400 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13403 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13404 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13406 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13409 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13410 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x.
13412 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13413 @file{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13414 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of SSLeay,
13415 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it useless. Earlier
13416 versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to work.
13418 @item nnimap-authenticator
13419 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13421 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13422 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13426 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
13427 external program @code{imtest}.
13429 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
13432 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
13433 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
13435 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13437 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13439 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13442 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13444 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13445 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13446 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13447 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13448 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13449 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13452 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13453 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13454 running in circles yet?
13456 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13457 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13460 The possible options are:
13465 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13468 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13469 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13470 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13471 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13473 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13480 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13481 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13482 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13487 @node Splitting in IMAP
13488 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13489 @cindex splitting imap mail
13491 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13492 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13493 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13494 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13495 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13499 Here are the variables of interest:
13503 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13504 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13506 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13508 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13509 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13511 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13513 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13514 @cindex splitting, inbox
13516 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13518 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13519 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13523 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13526 No nnmail equivalent.
13528 @item nnimap-split-rule
13529 @cindex Splitting, rules
13530 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13532 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13535 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13536 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13537 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13538 Neither did I, we need examples.
13541 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13542 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13543 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13544 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13547 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13548 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13549 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13551 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13552 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13556 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13559 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13560 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13561 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13562 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13564 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13565 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13566 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13567 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13568 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13569 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13571 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13572 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13573 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13575 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13576 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13577 thinks the article should be splitted to.
13579 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13581 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13583 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13585 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13587 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13588 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13590 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13591 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13592 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13595 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13596 @cindex splitting, fancy
13597 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13598 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13600 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13601 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13602 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13604 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13605 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13606 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13607 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13612 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13613 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13616 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13620 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13621 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13622 @cindex editing imap acls
13623 @cindex Access Control Lists
13624 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13626 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13628 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13629 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13630 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13633 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13634 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13635 editing window with detailed instructions.
13637 Some possible uses:
13641 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13642 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13643 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13645 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13646 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13647 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13651 @node Expunging mailboxes
13652 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13656 @cindex Manual expunging
13658 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13660 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13661 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13662 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13664 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13669 @node Combined Groups
13670 @section Combined Groups
13672 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13676 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13677 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13681 @node Virtual Groups
13682 @subsection Virtual Groups
13684 @cindex virtual groups
13685 @cindex merging groups
13687 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13690 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13691 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13692 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13694 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13695 regexp to match component groups.
13697 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13698 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13699 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13700 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13701 the virtual group.)
13703 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13704 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13707 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13710 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13711 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13713 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13714 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13715 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13716 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13719 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13722 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13723 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13724 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13726 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13727 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13728 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13729 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13730 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13732 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13733 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13734 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13736 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13737 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13738 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13739 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13740 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13741 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13742 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13743 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13744 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13745 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13746 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13748 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13749 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13750 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13751 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13752 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13753 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13754 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13756 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13757 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13761 @node Kibozed Groups
13762 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13766 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13767 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13768 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13769 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13771 @kindex G k (Group)
13772 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13775 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13776 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13777 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13778 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13780 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13781 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13782 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13784 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13785 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13786 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13787 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13788 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13789 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13790 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13791 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13793 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13794 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13795 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13796 Stranger things have happened.
13798 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13799 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13801 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13802 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13803 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13804 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13805 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13806 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13808 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13809 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13812 @node Gnus Unplugged
13813 @section Gnus Unplugged
13818 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13820 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13821 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13822 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13823 read news. Believe it or not.
13825 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13826 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13827 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13828 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13829 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13831 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13832 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13833 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13834 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13835 reading news on a machine.
13837 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13841 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13842 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13846 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13847 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13854 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13856 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13859 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13860 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13861 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13862 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13863 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13864 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13865 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13866 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13867 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13872 @subsection Agent Basics
13874 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13876 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13877 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13878 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13879 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13881 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13882 connected to the net continuously.
13884 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13885 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13887 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13892 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13893 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13894 already fetched while in this mode.
13897 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13898 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13899 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13902 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13903 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13904 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13905 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13908 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13909 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13910 then you read the news offline.
13913 And then you go to step 2.
13916 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13922 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13923 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13924 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13925 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13926 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13927 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13930 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13937 @node Agent Categories
13938 @subsection Agent Categories
13940 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13941 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13942 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13943 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13944 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13945 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13946 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13948 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13949 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13950 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13951 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13952 managing categories.
13955 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13956 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13957 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
13961 @node Category Syntax
13962 @subsubsection Category Syntax
13964 A category consists of two things.
13968 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
13969 are eligible for downloading; and
13972 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
13973 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
13974 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
13977 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
13978 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
13979 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
13980 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
13982 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
13983 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
13984 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
13986 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
13987 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
13988 operators sprinkled in between.
13990 Perhaps some examples are in order.
13992 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
13993 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
13999 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14000 short (for some value of ``short'').
14002 Here's a more complex predicate:
14011 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14012 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14015 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14016 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14017 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14019 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14020 you want to do, you can write your own.
14024 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14025 lines; default 100.
14028 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14029 lines; default 200.
14032 True iff the article has a download score less than
14033 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14036 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14037 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14040 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14041 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14042 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14051 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14052 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14053 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14056 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14057 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14058 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14059 something along the lines of the following:
14062 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14063 "Say whether an article is old."
14064 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14065 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14068 with the predicate then defined as:
14071 (not my-article-old-p)
14074 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14075 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14076 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14077 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14080 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
14081 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14082 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14085 and simply specify your predicate as:
14091 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14092 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14093 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14094 just don't give a damm.
14096 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14097 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14098 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14099 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14100 parameters like so:
14103 (agent-predicate . short)
14106 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14107 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14108 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14110 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14113 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14116 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14117 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14118 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14121 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14122 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14123 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14124 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14125 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14126 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14128 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14129 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14130 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14131 if it's to be specific to that group.
14133 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14140 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14141 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14147 Category specification
14151 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14157 Group Parameter specification
14160 (agent-score ("from"
14161 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14166 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14172 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14179 Category specification
14182 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14188 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14192 Group Parameter specification
14195 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14198 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14203 Use @code{normal} score files
14205 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14206 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14207 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14208 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14210 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14211 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14212 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14213 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14217 Category Specification
14224 Group Parameter specification
14227 (agent-score . file)
14232 @node The Category Buffer
14233 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14235 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14236 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14237 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14239 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14243 @kindex q (Category)
14244 @findex gnus-category-exit
14245 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14248 @kindex k (Category)
14249 @findex gnus-category-kill
14250 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14253 @kindex c (Category)
14254 @findex gnus-category-copy
14255 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14258 @kindex a (Category)
14259 @findex gnus-category-add
14260 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14263 @kindex p (Category)
14264 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14265 Edit the predicate of the current category
14266 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14269 @kindex g (Category)
14270 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14271 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14272 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14275 @kindex s (Category)
14276 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14277 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14278 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14281 @kindex l (Category)
14282 @findex gnus-category-list
14283 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14287 @node Category Variables
14288 @subsubsection Category Variables
14291 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14292 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14293 Hook run in category buffers.
14295 @item gnus-category-line-format
14296 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14297 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14298 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14302 The name of the category.
14305 The number of groups in the category.
14308 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14309 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14310 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14312 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14313 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14314 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14316 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14317 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14318 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14320 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14321 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14322 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14325 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14326 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14327 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14333 @node Agent Commands
14334 @subsection Agent Commands
14336 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14337 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14338 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14342 * Group Agent Commands::
14343 * Summary Agent Commands::
14344 * Server Agent Commands::
14347 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14348 following incantation:
14350 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14352 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14357 @node Group Agent Commands
14358 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14362 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14363 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14364 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14365 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14368 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14369 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
14370 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
14373 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
14374 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
14375 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
14376 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
14379 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
14380 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
14381 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
14382 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
14385 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
14386 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
14387 Add the current group to an Agent category
14388 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
14389 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14392 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
14393 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
14394 Remove the current group from its category, if any
14395 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
14396 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14401 @node Summary Agent Commands
14402 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
14406 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
14407 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
14408 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
14411 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
14412 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
14413 Remove the downloading mark from the article
14414 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
14417 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
14418 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
14419 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
14422 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
14423 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
14424 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
14429 @node Server Agent Commands
14430 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
14434 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
14435 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
14436 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
14437 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
14440 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
14441 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
14442 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
14443 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
14449 @subsection Agent Expiry
14451 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
14452 @findex gnus-agent-expire
14453 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
14454 @cindex Agent expiry
14455 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
14458 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
14459 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
14460 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
14461 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
14462 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
14463 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
14465 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
14466 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
14467 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
14468 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
14469 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
14472 @node Outgoing Messages
14473 @subsection Outgoing Messages
14475 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
14476 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
14477 after posting, and edit them at will.
14479 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
14480 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
14481 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
14482 messages in the draft group.
14486 @node Agent Variables
14487 @subsection Agent Variables
14490 @item gnus-agent-directory
14491 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
14492 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
14493 @file{~/News/agent/}.
14495 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
14496 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
14497 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
14498 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
14499 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
14502 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14503 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14504 Hook run when connecting to the network.
14506 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14507 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14508 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
14513 @node Example Setup
14514 @subsection Example Setup
14516 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
14517 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
14518 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
14521 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
14522 ;;; from your ISP's server.
14523 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
14525 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
14526 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
14527 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
14529 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
14530 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14532 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
14536 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
14537 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
14540 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
14541 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
14542 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
14543 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
14544 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
14547 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
14548 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
14549 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
14550 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
14551 back all the killed groups.)
14553 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
14554 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
14555 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
14558 @node Batching Agents
14559 @subsection Batching Agents
14561 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
14562 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
14563 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
14567 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
14571 @node Agent Caveats
14572 @subsection Agent Caveats
14574 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14575 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14579 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14584 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14585 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14591 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14592 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14599 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14600 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14601 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14604 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14605 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14606 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14607 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14608 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14610 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14611 before generating the summary buffer.
14613 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14614 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14615 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14617 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14618 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14619 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14620 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14623 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14624 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14625 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14626 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14627 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14628 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14629 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14630 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14631 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14632 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14633 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14634 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14635 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14636 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14637 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14638 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14642 @node Summary Score Commands
14643 @section Summary Score Commands
14644 @cindex score commands
14646 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14647 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14648 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14649 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14650 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14652 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14653 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14654 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14655 score file the current one.
14657 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14662 @kindex V s (Summary)
14663 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14664 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14667 @kindex V S (Summary)
14668 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14669 Display the score of the current article
14670 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14673 @kindex V t (Summary)
14674 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14675 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14676 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14679 @kindex V R (Summary)
14680 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14681 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14682 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14683 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14684 effect you're having.
14687 @kindex V c (Summary)
14688 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14689 Make a different score file the current
14690 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14693 @kindex V e (Summary)
14694 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14695 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14696 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14700 @kindex V f (Summary)
14701 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14702 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14703 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14706 @kindex V F (Summary)
14707 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14708 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14709 after editing score files.
14712 @kindex V C (Summary)
14713 @findex gnus-score-customize
14714 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14715 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14719 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14724 @kindex V m (Summary)
14725 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14726 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14727 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14730 @kindex V x (Summary)
14731 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14732 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14733 expunge all articles below this score
14734 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14737 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14738 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14741 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14742 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14746 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14747 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14749 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14750 keys are available:
14754 Score on the author name.
14757 Score on the subject line.
14760 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14763 Score on the @code{References} line.
14769 Score on the number of lines.
14772 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14775 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14776 the followups to this author.
14790 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14791 what headers you are scoring on.
14803 Substring matching.
14806 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14835 Greater than number.
14840 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14841 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14842 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14846 Temporary score entry.
14849 Permanent score entry.
14852 Immediately scoring.
14857 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14858 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14859 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14860 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14862 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14863 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14864 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14865 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14866 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14868 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14869 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14870 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14871 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14872 current score file.
14874 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14875 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14876 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14879 @node Group Score Commands
14880 @section Group Score Commands
14881 @cindex group score commands
14883 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14888 @kindex W f (Group)
14889 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14890 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14891 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14892 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14896 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14898 @findex gnus-batch-score
14899 @cindex batch scoring
14901 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14905 @node Score Variables
14906 @section Score Variables
14907 @cindex score variables
14911 @item gnus-use-scoring
14912 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14913 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14914 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14916 @item gnus-kill-killed
14917 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14918 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14919 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14920 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14921 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14922 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14923 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14925 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14926 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14927 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14928 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14929 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14931 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14932 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14933 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14934 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14936 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14937 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14938 @cindex score cache
14939 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14940 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14941 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
14942 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14943 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14944 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14947 @item gnus-save-score
14948 @vindex gnus-save-score
14949 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14950 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14951 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14953 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14954 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14955 across group visits.
14957 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14958 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14959 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
14960 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
14961 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
14962 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
14963 manually entered data.
14965 @item gnus-summary-default-score
14966 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
14967 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
14969 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
14970 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
14971 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
14972 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
14973 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
14974 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
14976 @item gnus-score-over-mark
14977 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
14978 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
14979 default. Default is @samp{+}.
14981 @item gnus-score-below-mark
14982 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
14983 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
14984 default. Default is @samp{-}.
14986 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14987 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14988 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
14989 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
14991 Predefined functions available are:
14994 @item gnus-score-find-single
14995 @findex gnus-score-find-single
14996 Only apply the group's own score file.
14998 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
14999 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15000 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15001 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15002 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15003 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15004 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15005 then a regexp match is done.
15007 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15008 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15010 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15011 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15012 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15013 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15015 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15016 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15017 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15018 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15019 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
15022 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15023 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
15024 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
15025 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
15026 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
15027 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
15030 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15031 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15032 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15033 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15034 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15036 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15037 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15038 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15039 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15040 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15041 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15042 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15045 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15046 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15047 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15049 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15050 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15051 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15052 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15053 threading---according to the current value of
15054 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15055 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15056 simplified in this manner.
15061 @node Score File Format
15062 @section Score File Format
15063 @cindex score file format
15065 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15066 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15067 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15069 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15073 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15075 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15077 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15079 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15084 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15088 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15089 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15090 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15091 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15095 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15096 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15098 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15099 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15100 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15102 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15107 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15108 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15109 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15110 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15111 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15112 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15113 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15114 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15115 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15116 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15117 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15118 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15119 to articles that matches these score entries.
15121 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15122 score entry has one to four elements.
15126 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15127 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15131 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15132 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15133 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15134 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15135 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15136 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15139 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15140 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15141 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15142 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15143 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15146 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15147 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15148 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15149 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15152 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15153 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15154 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15155 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15156 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15157 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15158 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15159 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15160 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15161 instead, if you feel like.
15164 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15165 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15167 These predicates are true if
15170 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15173 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15174 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15181 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15182 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15183 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15184 it's not. I think.)
15186 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15187 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15188 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15189 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15192 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15193 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15194 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15195 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15196 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15197 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15198 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15202 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15203 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15204 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15205 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15206 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15207 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15208 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15209 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15212 @item Head, Body, All
15213 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15217 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15218 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15219 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15220 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15221 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15222 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15223 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15227 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15228 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15229 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15230 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15231 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15232 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15233 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15234 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15235 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15236 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15237 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15241 @cindex Score File Atoms
15243 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15244 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15247 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15248 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15250 @item mark-and-expunge
15251 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15252 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15255 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15256 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15257 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15258 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15259 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15262 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15263 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15266 @item exclude-files
15267 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15268 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15272 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15273 ignored when handling global score files.
15276 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15277 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15278 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15279 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15282 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15283 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15284 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15285 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15287 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15291 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15294 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15295 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15296 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15297 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15298 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15300 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15301 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15302 ordinary scoring rules.
15305 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
15306 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
15307 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
15308 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
15309 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
15310 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
15311 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15312 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
15313 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
15314 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
15315 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
15319 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
15320 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
15321 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
15322 file for a number of groups.
15325 @cindex local variables
15326 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
15327 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
15328 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
15329 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
15330 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
15334 @node Score File Editing
15335 @section Score File Editing
15337 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
15338 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
15339 with a mode for that.
15341 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
15342 additional commands:
15347 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
15348 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
15349 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
15350 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
15353 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
15354 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
15355 Insert the current date in numerical format
15356 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
15357 you were wondering.
15360 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
15361 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
15362 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
15363 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
15364 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
15369 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
15371 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
15372 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
15374 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
15375 e} to begin editing score files.
15378 @node Adaptive Scoring
15379 @section Adaptive Scoring
15380 @cindex adaptive scoring
15382 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
15383 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
15384 stupidity, to be precise.
15386 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
15387 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
15388 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
15389 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
15390 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15391 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
15392 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
15393 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
15394 variable to @code{(word line)}.
15396 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15397 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
15398 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
15399 might look something like this:
15402 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15403 '((gnus-unread-mark)
15404 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
15405 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
15406 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
15407 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
15408 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
15409 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
15410 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
15411 (gnus-ancient-mark)
15412 (gnus-low-score-mark)
15413 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
15416 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
15417 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
15418 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
15419 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
15420 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
15421 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
15424 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
15425 will be applied to each article.
15427 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
15428 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
15429 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
15430 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
15432 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
15433 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
15434 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
15435 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
15437 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
15438 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
15439 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
15440 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
15442 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
15443 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
15444 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
15445 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
15446 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
15447 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
15449 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
15450 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
15451 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
15452 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
15453 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
15454 aspirins afterwards.)
15456 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
15457 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
15458 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
15460 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
15461 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
15462 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
15464 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
15465 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
15466 let you use different rules in different groups.
15468 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
15469 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
15470 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
15473 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
15474 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
15475 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
15476 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
15477 the length of the match is less than
15478 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
15479 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
15482 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15483 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
15484 headers. If you adapt on words, the
15485 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
15486 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
15489 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15490 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
15491 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
15492 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
15493 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
15496 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
15497 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
15498 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
15499 score with 30 points.
15501 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
15502 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
15503 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
15504 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
15505 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
15507 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
15508 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
15509 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
15510 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
15512 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
15513 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
15514 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
15515 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
15517 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
15518 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
15519 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
15520 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
15521 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
15523 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
15524 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
15525 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
15527 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
15528 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
15529 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
15530 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
15533 @node Home Score File
15534 @section Home Score File
15536 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
15537 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
15538 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
15539 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
15541 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
15542 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
15543 could perhaps use the same home score file.
15545 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
15546 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
15551 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
15555 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
15556 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
15560 A list. The elements in this list can be:
15564 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
15565 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
15568 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
15569 the home score file.
15572 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15575 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15580 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15583 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15584 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15587 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15588 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15590 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15592 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15593 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15596 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15597 Other functions include
15600 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15601 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15602 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15603 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15607 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15608 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15609 their own home score files:
15612 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15613 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15614 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15615 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15616 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15619 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15620 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15621 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15622 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15623 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15625 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15626 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15627 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15628 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15629 precedence over this variable.
15632 @node Followups To Yourself
15633 @section Followups To Yourself
15635 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15636 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15637 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15638 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15639 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15640 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15644 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15645 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15646 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15649 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15650 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15651 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15655 @vindex message-sent-hook
15656 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15657 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15659 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15660 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15664 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15665 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15668 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15669 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15674 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15678 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15679 is system-dependent.
15683 @section Scoring Tips
15684 @cindex scoring tips
15690 @cindex scoring crossposts
15691 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15692 the @code{Xref} header.
15694 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15697 @item Multiple crossposts
15698 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15699 more than, say, 3 groups:
15701 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15704 @item Matching on the body
15705 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15706 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15707 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15708 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15709 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15710 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15711 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15714 @item Marking as read
15715 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15716 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15717 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15721 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15723 @item Negated character classes
15724 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15725 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15726 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15730 @node Reverse Scoring
15731 @section Reverse Scoring
15732 @cindex reverse scoring
15734 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15735 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15736 like this in your score file:
15740 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15745 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15746 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15749 @node Global Score Files
15750 @section Global Score Files
15751 @cindex global score files
15753 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15754 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15755 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15757 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15758 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15759 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15761 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15762 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15763 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15764 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15765 files are applicable to which group.
15767 Say you want to use the score file
15768 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15769 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15772 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15773 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15774 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15777 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15778 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15779 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15780 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15781 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15783 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15784 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15786 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15787 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15788 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15789 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15790 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15791 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15793 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15799 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15801 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15803 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15805 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15806 lowered out of existence.
15808 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15809 articles completely.
15812 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15813 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15814 old articles for a long time.
15817 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15818 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15819 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15820 holding our breath yet?
15824 @section Kill Files
15827 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15828 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15829 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15831 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15832 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15833 files into score files.
15835 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15836 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15837 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15838 that isn't a very good idea.
15840 Normal kill files look like this:
15843 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15844 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15848 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15849 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15851 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15852 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15855 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15860 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15861 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15862 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15865 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15866 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15867 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15870 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15875 @kindex M-k (Group)
15876 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15877 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15880 @kindex M-K (Group)
15881 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15882 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15885 Kill file variables:
15888 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15889 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15890 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15891 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15892 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15893 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15894 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15896 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15897 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15898 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15899 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15902 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15903 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15904 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15905 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15906 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15907 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15908 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15909 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15910 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15912 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15913 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15914 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15919 @node Converting Kill Files
15920 @section Converting Kill Files
15922 @cindex converting kill files
15924 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15925 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15926 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15929 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15930 You can fetch it from
15931 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15933 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15934 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15935 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15943 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15944 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15945 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15947 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15948 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15949 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15950 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15951 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15952 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15953 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15954 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15958 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
15959 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
15960 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
15961 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
15965 @node Using GroupLens
15966 @subsection Using GroupLens
15968 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
15970 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
15971 better bit in town at the moment.
15973 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
15977 @item gnus-use-grouplens
15978 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
15979 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
15980 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
15982 @item grouplens-pseudonym
15983 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
15984 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
15985 with the Better Bit Bureau.
15987 @item grouplens-newsgroups
15988 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
15989 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
15993 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
15994 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
15995 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
15996 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
15997 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
15998 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16001 @node Rating Articles
16002 @subsection Rating Articles
16004 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16005 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16006 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16007 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16010 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16015 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16016 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16017 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16020 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16021 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16022 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16023 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16024 threads in rec.humor.
16028 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16029 the score of the article you're reading.
16034 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16035 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16036 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16039 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16040 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16041 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16045 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16046 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16049 @node Displaying Predictions
16050 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16052 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16053 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16054 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16055 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16056 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16058 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16059 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16060 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16061 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16062 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16063 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16064 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16065 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16066 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16067 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16068 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16069 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16070 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16072 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16073 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16074 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16075 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16077 The following are valid values for that variable.
16080 @item prediction-spot
16081 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16084 @item confidence-interval
16085 A numeric confidence interval.
16087 @item prediction-bar
16088 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16090 @item confidence-bar
16091 Numerical confidence.
16093 @item confidence-spot
16094 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16096 @item prediction-num
16097 Plain-old numeric value.
16099 @item confidence-plus-minus
16100 Prediction +/- confidence.
16105 @node GroupLens Variables
16106 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16110 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16111 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16112 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16113 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16116 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16117 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16120 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16121 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16123 @item grouplens-score-offset
16124 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16125 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16128 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16129 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16130 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16135 @node Advanced Scoring
16136 @section Advanced Scoring
16138 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16139 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16140 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16141 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16142 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16144 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16148 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16149 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16150 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16154 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16155 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16157 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16158 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16159 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16160 non-@code{nil} value.
16162 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16163 operator, and various match operators.
16170 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16171 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16172 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16177 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16178 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16179 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16184 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16185 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16189 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16190 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16191 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16192 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16193 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16194 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16195 the ancestry you want to go.
16197 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16198 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16199 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16200 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16201 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16204 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16205 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16207 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16208 when he's talking about Gnus:
16212 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16213 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16219 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16223 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16230 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16231 really don't want to read what he's written:
16235 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16236 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16240 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16241 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16242 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16249 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16250 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16251 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16252 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16256 The possibilities are endless.
16259 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16260 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16262 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16263 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16264 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16265 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16266 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16267 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16268 @samp{subject}) first.
16270 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16271 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16282 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16283 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16289 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16296 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16297 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
16302 @section Score Decays
16303 @cindex score decays
16306 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
16307 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
16308 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
16309 use them in any sensible way.
16311 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
16312 @findex gnus-decay-score
16313 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
16314 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
16315 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
16316 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
16317 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
16318 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
16319 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
16320 definition of that function:
16323 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
16325 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
16326 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
16329 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
16331 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
16333 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
16336 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
16337 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
16338 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
16339 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
16343 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
16346 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
16349 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
16353 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
16354 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
16355 the new score, which should be an integer.
16357 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
16358 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
16365 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
16366 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
16367 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
16368 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
16369 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
16370 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
16371 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
16372 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
16373 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
16374 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
16375 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
16376 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
16377 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
16378 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
16379 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
16380 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
16381 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
16382 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
16386 @node Process/Prefix
16387 @section Process/Prefix
16388 @cindex process/prefix convention
16390 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
16391 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
16393 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
16394 command to be performed on.
16398 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
16399 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
16400 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
16401 with the current one.
16403 @vindex transient-mark-mode
16404 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
16405 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
16407 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
16408 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
16411 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
16412 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
16414 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
16417 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
16418 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
16419 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
16420 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16422 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
16423 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
16424 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
16425 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
16426 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
16427 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
16428 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
16429 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
16431 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
16432 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
16433 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
16434 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
16435 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
16439 @section Interactive
16440 @cindex interaction
16444 @item gnus-novice-user
16445 @vindex gnus-novice-user
16446 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
16447 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
16448 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
16449 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
16452 @item gnus-expert-user
16453 @vindex gnus-expert-user
16454 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
16455 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
16456 matter how strange.
16458 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
16459 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
16460 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
16461 is @code{t} by default.
16463 @item gnus-interactive-exit
16464 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
16465 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16470 @node Symbolic Prefixes
16471 @section Symbolic Prefixes
16472 @cindex symbolic prefixes
16474 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
16475 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
16476 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
16477 rule of 900 to the current article.
16479 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
16480 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
16481 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
16482 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
16483 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
16484 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
16485 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
16487 @kindex M-i (Summary)
16488 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
16489 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
16490 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
16491 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
16492 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
16493 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
16494 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
16495 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
16497 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
16498 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
16499 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
16501 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
16505 @node Formatting Variables
16506 @section Formatting Variables
16507 @cindex formatting variables
16509 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
16510 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
16511 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
16512 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
16513 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
16516 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
16517 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
16518 lots of percentages everywhere.
16521 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
16522 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
16523 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
16524 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
16525 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
16528 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
16529 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
16530 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
16531 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
16532 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
16533 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
16534 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
16535 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
16537 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
16538 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
16540 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
16541 @findex gnus-update-format
16542 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
16543 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
16544 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
16545 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
16549 @node Formatting Basics
16550 @subsection Formatting Basics
16552 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
16553 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
16554 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
16556 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
16557 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
16558 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
16559 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
16560 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
16563 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
16564 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
16565 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
16566 less than 4 characters wide.
16569 @node Mode Line Formatting
16570 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
16572 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
16573 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
16574 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
16575 with the following two differences:
16580 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16583 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16584 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16585 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16586 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16587 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16588 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16589 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16594 @node Advanced Formatting
16595 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16597 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16598 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16599 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16600 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16602 These are the valid modifiers:
16607 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16611 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16616 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16619 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16624 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16627 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16630 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16633 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16637 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16638 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16639 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16640 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16641 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16642 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16643 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16645 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16646 last operation, padding.
16648 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
16649 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
16650 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
16651 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
16652 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
16653 the look of your lines.
16654 @xref{Compilation}.
16657 @node User-Defined Specs
16658 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16660 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16661 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16662 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16663 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16664 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16665 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16666 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16667 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16668 should protect against that.
16670 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16671 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16672 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16673 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16677 @node Formatting Fonts
16678 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16680 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16681 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16682 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16683 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16686 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16687 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16688 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16689 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16690 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16691 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16693 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16694 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16695 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16696 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16697 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16698 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16699 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16700 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16702 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16705 ;; Create three face types.
16706 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16707 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16709 ;; We want the article count to be in
16710 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16711 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16712 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16714 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16715 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16717 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16718 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16719 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16722 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16723 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16725 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16726 mode-line variables.
16729 @node Windows Configuration
16730 @section Windows Configuration
16731 @cindex windows configuration
16733 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16735 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16736 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16737 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16738 @code{t} by default.
16740 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16741 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16743 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16744 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16745 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16748 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16749 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16750 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16754 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16755 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16756 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16757 possible names is listed below.
16759 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16760 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16763 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16767 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16768 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16769 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16770 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16771 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16772 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16773 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16774 size spec per split.
16776 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16777 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16778 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16779 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16780 present) gets focus.
16782 Here's a more complicated example:
16785 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16786 (summary 0.25 point)
16787 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16791 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16792 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16793 occupy, not a percentage.
16795 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16796 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16797 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16798 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16799 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16802 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16805 (article (horizontal 1.0
16810 (summary 0.25 point)
16815 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16816 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16818 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16819 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16820 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16821 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16822 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16824 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16825 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16826 lines from the splits.
16828 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16832 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16833 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16834 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16835 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16836 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16837 size = number | frame-params
16838 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16841 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16842 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16843 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16844 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16846 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16847 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16848 @cindex window height
16849 @cindex window width
16850 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16851 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16852 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16853 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16854 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16855 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16857 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16858 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16859 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16860 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16862 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16863 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16864 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16865 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16866 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16867 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16868 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16869 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16870 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16871 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16872 configuration list.
16875 (gnus-configure-frame
16879 (article 0.3 point))
16887 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16888 @code{frame} split:
16891 (gnus-configure-frame
16894 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16896 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16897 (user-position . t)
16898 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16903 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16904 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16905 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16906 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16907 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16908 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16909 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16910 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16912 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16913 be found in its default value.
16915 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16916 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16917 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16921 (message (horizontal 1.0
16922 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16924 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16929 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16930 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16931 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16934 (message (frame 1.0
16935 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16936 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16937 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16938 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16939 (name . "Message"))
16940 (message 1.0 point))))
16943 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16944 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16945 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16946 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16947 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16950 (gnus-add-configuration
16951 '(article (vertical 1.0
16953 (summary .25 point)
16957 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16958 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
16959 Gnus has been loaded.
16961 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
16962 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
16963 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
16964 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
16965 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
16967 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
16968 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
16969 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
16973 @node Faces and Fonts
16974 @section Faces and Fonts
16979 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
16980 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
16981 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
16986 @section Compilation
16987 @cindex compilation
16988 @cindex byte-compilation
16990 @findex gnus-compile
16992 Remember all those line format specification variables?
16993 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
16994 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
16995 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
16996 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
16997 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
16998 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
16999 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17002 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17003 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17004 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17005 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
17006 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17009 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
17010 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
17011 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
17012 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
17013 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
17018 @section Mode Lines
17021 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17022 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17023 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17024 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17025 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17026 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17027 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17030 @cindex display-time
17032 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17033 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17034 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17035 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17036 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17037 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17038 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17039 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17042 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17044 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17045 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17047 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17048 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17049 (length display-time-string)))))
17052 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17053 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17054 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17055 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17056 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17059 @node Highlighting and Menus
17060 @section Highlighting and Menus
17062 @cindex highlighting
17065 @vindex gnus-visual
17066 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17067 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17068 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17071 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17072 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17075 @item group-highlight
17076 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17077 @item summary-highlight
17078 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17079 @item article-highlight
17080 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17082 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17084 Create menus in the group buffer.
17086 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17088 Create menus in the article buffer.
17090 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17092 Create menus in the server buffer.
17094 Create menus in the score buffers.
17096 Create menus in all buffers.
17099 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17100 buffers, you could say something like:
17103 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17106 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17109 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17112 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17113 in all Gnus buffers.
17115 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17118 @item gnus-mouse-face
17119 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17120 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17121 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17125 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17129 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17130 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17131 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17133 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17134 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17135 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17137 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17138 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17139 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17141 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17142 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17143 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17145 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17146 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17147 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17149 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17150 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17151 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17162 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17163 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17164 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17165 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17166 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17170 @vindex gnus-carpal
17171 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17172 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17173 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17178 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17179 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17180 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17182 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17183 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17184 Face used on buttons.
17186 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17187 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17188 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17190 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17191 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17192 Buttons in the group buffer.
17194 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17195 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17196 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17198 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17199 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17200 Buttons in the server buffer.
17202 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17203 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17204 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17207 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17208 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17209 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17217 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17218 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17219 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17220 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17221 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17223 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17224 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17225 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17227 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17228 been idle for thirty minutes:
17231 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17234 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17238 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17241 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17242 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17243 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17245 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17246 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17247 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17248 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17250 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17251 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17252 @var{idle} minutes.
17254 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17255 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17258 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17259 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17260 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
17262 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
17263 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
17264 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
17265 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
17267 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
17268 your @file{.gnus} file:
17270 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
17272 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
17275 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
17276 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
17277 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
17278 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
17279 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
17280 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
17281 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
17282 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
17283 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
17284 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
17285 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
17287 @findex gnus-demon-init
17288 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
17289 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
17290 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
17291 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
17292 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
17294 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
17295 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
17296 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
17305 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
17306 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
17308 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
17309 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
17310 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
17311 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
17314 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
17315 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
17316 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
17317 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
17319 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
17320 this will make spam disappear.
17322 There are some variables to customize, of course:
17325 @item gnus-use-nocem
17326 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
17327 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
17330 @item gnus-nocem-groups
17331 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
17332 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
17333 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
17334 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
17336 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
17337 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
17338 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
17339 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
17340 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
17341 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
17342 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
17344 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
17347 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
17348 @cindex Chris Lewis
17349 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
17350 usenet abuse than anybody else.
17353 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
17354 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
17355 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
17357 @item jem@@xpat.com;
17359 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
17362 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
17363 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
17364 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
17367 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
17368 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
17369 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
17370 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
17371 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
17372 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
17373 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
17374 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
17375 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
17376 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
17378 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
17379 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
17382 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
17385 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
17386 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
17389 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
17392 The specs are applied left-to-right.
17395 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
17396 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
17398 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
17399 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
17400 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
17401 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
17403 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
17404 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
17407 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
17409 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
17417 This might be dangerous, though.
17419 @item gnus-nocem-directory
17420 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
17421 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
17422 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
17424 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17425 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17426 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
17427 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
17428 might then see old spam.
17432 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
17433 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
17434 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
17435 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
17442 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
17443 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
17444 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
17446 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
17447 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
17448 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
17449 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
17450 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
17451 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
17452 @code{undo} function.
17454 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
17455 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
17456 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
17457 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
17458 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
17459 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
17460 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
17461 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
17462 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
17463 never be totally undoable.
17465 @findex gnus-undo-mode
17466 @vindex gnus-use-undo
17468 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
17469 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
17470 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
17471 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
17476 @section Moderation
17479 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
17480 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
17481 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
17484 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
17488 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
17491 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17493 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
17498 You split your incoming mail by matching on
17499 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
17500 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
17503 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
17504 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
17507 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
17508 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
17512 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
17515 (setq gnus-moderated-list
17516 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
17520 @node XEmacs Enhancements
17521 @section XEmacs Enhancements
17524 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
17528 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
17529 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
17530 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
17531 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
17544 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
17545 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
17546 over your shoulder as you read news.
17549 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
17550 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
17551 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
17552 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
17553 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
17558 @subsubsection Picon Basics
17560 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
17569 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
17570 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
17571 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
17572 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
17573 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
17574 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
17575 @code{GIF} formats.
17578 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17579 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
17580 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
17581 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
17582 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
17584 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17585 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
17586 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
17587 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
17588 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17589 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17592 @node Picon Requirements
17593 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17595 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17596 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17599 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17600 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17601 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17603 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17604 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17605 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17606 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17607 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17611 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17613 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17614 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17617 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17618 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17621 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17622 containing the Picons databases.
17624 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17627 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17628 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17633 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17641 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17642 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17643 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17644 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17645 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17650 @item gnus-picons-database
17651 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17652 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17653 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17654 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17655 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17656 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17658 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17659 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17660 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17661 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17662 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17663 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17664 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17666 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17667 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17668 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17669 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17670 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17671 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17672 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17673 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17675 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17676 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17677 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17682 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17683 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17685 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17686 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17689 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17691 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17692 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17693 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17694 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17696 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17697 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17698 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17704 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17705 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17713 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17714 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17715 don't need to worry about.
17719 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17720 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17721 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17722 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17724 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17725 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17726 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17727 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17729 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17730 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17731 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17732 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17733 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17735 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17736 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17737 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17738 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17739 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17740 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17741 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17743 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17744 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17745 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17746 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17748 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17749 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17750 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17751 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17752 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17753 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17754 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17756 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17757 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17758 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17759 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17761 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17762 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17763 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17764 Defaults to @code{t}.
17766 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17767 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17768 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17769 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17771 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17772 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17773 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17775 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17776 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17777 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17778 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17780 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17781 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17783 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17784 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17785 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17786 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17787 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17788 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17789 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17790 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17801 @subsection Smileys
17806 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17811 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17812 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17814 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17815 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17818 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
17821 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17822 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17823 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17824 text and maps that to file names.
17826 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17827 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17828 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17829 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17830 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17831 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17833 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17834 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17836 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17837 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17838 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17840 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17841 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17845 @item smiley-data-directory
17846 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17847 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17849 @item smiley-flesh-color
17850 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17851 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17853 @item smiley-features-color
17854 @vindex smiley-features-color
17855 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17857 @item smiley-tongue-color
17858 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17859 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17861 @item smiley-circle-color
17862 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17863 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17865 @item smiley-mouse-face
17866 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17867 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17873 @subsection Toolbar
17883 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17884 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17885 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17886 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17887 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17889 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17890 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17891 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17893 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17894 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17895 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17897 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17898 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17899 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17905 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17908 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17909 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17910 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17911 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17912 unusual directory structure.
17914 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17915 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17916 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17917 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17919 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17920 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17921 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17922 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17923 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17924 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17926 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17927 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17928 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17942 @node Fuzzy Matching
17943 @section Fuzzy Matching
17944 @cindex fuzzy matching
17946 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17947 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17949 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17950 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17951 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17953 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17954 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17955 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17956 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17957 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
17960 @node Thwarting Email Spam
17961 @section Thwarting Email Spam
17965 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
17967 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
17968 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
17969 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
17970 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
17971 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
17972 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
17973 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
17974 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
17977 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
17978 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
17979 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
17980 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
17981 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
17982 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
17986 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
17987 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
17989 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
17990 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
17991 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
17992 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
17993 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
17994 part of the mail address.)
17997 (setq message-default-news-headers
17998 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18001 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18002 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18007 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18008 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18009 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18015 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18016 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18017 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18018 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18020 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18021 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18022 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18023 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18024 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18025 your fancy split rule in this way:
18030 (to "larsi" "misc")
18034 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18035 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18036 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18037 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18038 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18040 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18041 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18042 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
18043 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18044 cosmic balance somewhat.
18046 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18047 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18048 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18049 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18052 @node Various Various
18053 @section Various Various
18059 @item gnus-home-directory
18060 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18061 defaults to @file{~/}.
18063 @item gnus-directory
18064 @vindex gnus-directory
18065 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18066 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18067 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18069 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18070 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18071 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18072 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18074 @item gnus-default-directory
18075 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18076 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18077 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18078 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18079 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18080 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18081 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18084 @vindex gnus-verbose
18085 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18086 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18087 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18088 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18089 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18091 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18092 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18093 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18094 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18096 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18097 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18098 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18099 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18100 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18101 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18102 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18103 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18104 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18105 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18107 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18108 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18109 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18110 read when doing the operation described above.
18112 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18113 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18115 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18116 @cindex characters in file names
18117 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18118 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18119 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18122 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18126 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18127 Windows (phooey) systems.
18129 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18130 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18131 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18132 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18133 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18135 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18136 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18137 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18138 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18139 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18141 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18142 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18143 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18152 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18153 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18155 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18157 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18163 Not because of victories @*
18166 but for the common sunshine,@*
18168 the largess of the spring.
18172 but for the day's work done@*
18173 as well as I was able;@*
18174 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18175 but at the common table.@*
18180 @chapter Appendices
18183 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18184 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18185 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18186 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18187 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18188 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18189 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18190 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18198 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18199 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18201 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18202 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18203 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
18204 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18205 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18207 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18208 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18209 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18210 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18211 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18212 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18214 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18215 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18216 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18217 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18220 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18221 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18222 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18223 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18224 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18225 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18226 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18227 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18228 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18229 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
18233 @node Gnus Versions
18234 @subsection Gnus Versions
18235 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18237 @cindex September Gnus
18238 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18240 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18241 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18242 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18244 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18245 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18247 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18248 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18250 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18251 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18253 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18254 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18257 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18258 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
18259 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
18260 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
18261 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
18265 @node Other Gnus Versions
18266 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
18269 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
18270 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
18271 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
18272 @sc{mime} capabilities.
18274 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
18275 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
18276 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
18277 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
18284 What's the point of Gnus?
18286 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
18287 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
18288 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
18289 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
18290 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
18291 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
18292 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
18293 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
18294 keep track of millions of people who post?
18296 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
18297 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
18298 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
18299 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
18300 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
18301 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
18302 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
18303 every one of you to explore and invent.
18305 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
18306 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
18309 @node Compatibility
18310 @subsection Compatibility
18312 @cindex compatibility
18313 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
18314 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
18315 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
18320 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
18324 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
18327 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
18330 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
18331 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
18332 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
18333 important variables have their values copied into their global
18334 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
18335 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
18337 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
18338 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
18339 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
18340 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
18341 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
18345 @cindex highlighting
18346 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
18347 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
18348 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
18349 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
18350 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
18351 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
18354 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
18355 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
18356 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
18357 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
18359 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
18360 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
18361 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
18362 to stop doing it the old way.
18364 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
18366 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18368 @cindex reporting bugs
18370 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
18371 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
18372 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
18374 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
18375 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
18376 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
18377 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
18382 @subsection Conformity
18384 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
18385 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
18392 There are no known breaches of this standard.
18396 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
18398 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
18399 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
18400 We do have some breaches to this one.
18406 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
18407 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
18408 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
18409 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
18410 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
18415 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
18416 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
18417 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
18418 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
18422 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
18423 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
18428 @subsection Emacsen
18434 Gnus should work on :
18442 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
18446 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
18447 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
18450 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
18451 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
18452 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
18456 @node Gnus Development
18457 @subsection Gnus Development
18459 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
18460 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
18461 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
18462 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
18463 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
18464 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
18465 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
18466 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
18468 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
18469 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
18470 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
18471 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
18472 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
18475 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
18476 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
18477 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
18478 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
18479 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
18481 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
18482 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
18483 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
18484 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
18485 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
18486 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
18487 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
18488 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
18489 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
18490 can't be assumed to do so.
18495 @subsection Contributors
18496 @cindex contributors
18498 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
18499 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
18500 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
18501 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
18502 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
18503 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
18504 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
18505 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
18506 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
18507 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
18509 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
18515 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
18518 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
18519 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
18520 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
18521 functionality and stuff.
18524 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
18525 well as numerous other things).
18528 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
18531 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
18534 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
18537 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
18538 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
18541 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
18544 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
18545 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18548 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
18551 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
18554 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
18557 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
18560 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
18561 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
18564 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
18567 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
18570 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
18573 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
18577 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
18580 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
18583 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
18586 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
18587 well as autoconf support.
18591 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18592 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18594 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18603 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18607 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18617 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18632 Massimo Campostrini,
18637 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18638 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18642 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18645 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18651 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18656 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18660 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18668 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18670 Michelangelo Grigni,
18674 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18676 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18678 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18685 François Felix Ingrand,
18686 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18687 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18689 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18700 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18701 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18703 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18704 Thor Kristoffersen,
18707 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18725 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18726 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18733 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18738 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18742 John McClary Prevost,
18748 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18753 Christian von Roques,
18756 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
18763 Philippe Schnoebelen,
18765 Randal L. Schwartz,
18779 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18784 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18800 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18805 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18806 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18807 (550kB and counting).
18809 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18812 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18813 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18817 @subsection New Features
18818 @cindex new features
18821 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18822 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18823 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18824 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18827 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18828 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18829 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18833 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18835 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18840 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18841 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18844 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18845 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18848 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18851 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18852 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18853 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18856 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18857 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18858 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18859 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18862 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18863 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18866 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18867 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18868 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18871 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18872 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18875 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18876 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18877 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18880 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18881 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18882 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18885 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18886 the @file{.emacs} file.
18889 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18890 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18893 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18894 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18897 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18898 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18901 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18902 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18905 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18906 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18909 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18912 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18913 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18916 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18917 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18920 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18921 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18924 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18927 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18928 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18931 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18935 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18939 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18940 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18943 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18949 @node September Gnus
18950 @subsubsection September Gnus
18954 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18958 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
18963 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
18964 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
18968 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
18969 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
18973 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
18977 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
18978 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
18981 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
18985 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18988 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
18991 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
18994 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
18998 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
18999 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19002 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19006 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19010 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19014 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19018 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19021 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19022 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19025 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19029 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19030 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19033 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19036 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19037 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19038 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19041 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19045 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19048 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19052 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19053 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19056 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19057 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19060 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19061 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19064 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19065 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19066 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19069 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19070 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19073 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19076 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19079 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19082 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19085 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19086 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19089 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19093 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19096 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19101 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19104 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19108 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19111 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19115 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19118 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19121 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19122 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19125 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19126 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19130 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19131 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19134 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19138 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19139 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19142 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19145 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19149 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19153 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19154 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19157 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19161 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19162 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19165 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19166 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19169 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19173 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19176 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19179 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19185 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19187 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19191 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19198 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19201 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19202 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19205 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19206 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19210 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19211 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19214 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19217 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19218 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19221 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19225 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19226 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19230 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19231 Server Internals}).
19234 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19238 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19241 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19242 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19245 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19246 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19247 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19250 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19251 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19254 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19255 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
19258 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
19262 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
19263 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19266 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
19267 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19270 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
19274 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
19277 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
19281 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
19282 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19285 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
19286 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19289 A new command for reading collections of documents
19290 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
19291 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
19294 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
19298 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
19299 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
19302 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
19303 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
19304 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
19307 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
19308 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
19312 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
19316 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
19320 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
19325 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
19329 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
19333 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
19334 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
19337 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
19343 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
19345 New features in Gnus 5.6:
19350 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
19351 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
19352 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
19355 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
19356 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
19357 group, which is created automatically.
19360 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
19364 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
19367 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
19368 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
19371 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
19375 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
19378 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
19379 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
19382 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
19385 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
19386 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
19389 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
19390 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
19393 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
19394 control over simplification.
19397 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
19400 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
19404 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
19407 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
19410 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
19411 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
19412 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
19415 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
19416 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
19419 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
19423 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
19424 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
19427 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
19428 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
19431 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
19435 A history of where mails have been split is available.
19438 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
19441 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
19442 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
19445 A new function for citing in Message has been
19446 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
19449 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
19452 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
19456 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
19457 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
19460 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
19461 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
19464 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
19467 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
19472 @node Newest Features
19473 @subsection Newest Features
19476 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
19479 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
19481 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
19482 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
19485 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
19490 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
19491 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
19494 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
19497 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
19500 facep is not declared.
19503 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
19504 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
19507 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
19512 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
19513 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
19514 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
19515 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
19516 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
19517 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
19518 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
19523 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
19526 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
19529 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
19531 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
19532 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
19534 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
19536 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
19538 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
19539 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
19541 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
19543 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
19544 be marked as unread.
19546 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
19548 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
19550 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
19551 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
19553 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
19555 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
19557 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
19558 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
19560 topics that contain just groups with ticked
19561 articles aren't displayed.
19563 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
19565 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
19566 make the mail groups killed.
19568 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
19570 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
19571 and articles have to be removed.
19573 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
19576 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
19578 finding short score file names takes forever.
19580 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19582 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
19584 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
19586 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
19588 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19590 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19592 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19593 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19597 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19599 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19600 bar and the Gnus bar.
19603 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19604 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19605 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19606 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19607 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19608 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19613 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19617 postponed commands.
19619 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19621 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19624 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19625 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19627 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19628 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19630 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19632 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19633 for backends that support that.
19635 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19637 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19638 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19640 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19641 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19643 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19645 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19647 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19649 server mode command: close/open all connections
19651 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19652 has been changed before using it.
19654 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19656 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19658 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19660 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19662 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19663 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19665 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19666 contain groups that match a regexp.
19668 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19671 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19674 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19675 from subject lines.
19677 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19679 nntp-ping-before-connect
19681 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19683 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19684 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19686 message annotations.
19688 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19690 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19691 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19693 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19698 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19700 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19702 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19704 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19705 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19707 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19709 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19711 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19712 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19714 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19715 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19717 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19719 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19721 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19722 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19724 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19726 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19728 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19729 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19732 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19734 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19736 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19737 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19739 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19742 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19743 should be marker as expirable.
19745 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19747 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19748 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19750 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19751 Also consult Date headers.
19753 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
19755 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
19757 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
19758 Message-ID, delete the "original".
19760 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
19761 into a See-Also header.
19763 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
19765 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19767 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19768 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19770 generate font names dynamically.
19772 score file mode auto-alist.
19774 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19775 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19777 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19778 absolutely all headers there is.
19780 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19781 and pipe them to the process.
19783 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19784 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19785 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19787 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19788 the current mail group.
19790 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19792 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19793 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19795 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19796 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19798 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19800 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19801 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19803 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19804 groups it has been mailed to.
19806 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19808 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19810 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19812 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19813 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19815 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19816 newlines) should be ignored.
19818 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19819 groups in subtopics as well.
19821 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19823 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19826 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19828 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19830 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19832 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19834 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19836 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19838 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19839 or the formatted article.
19841 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19843 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19844 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19846 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19848 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19850 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19852 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19853 even unread articles.
19855 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19857 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19859 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19861 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19863 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19865 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19868 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19869 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19871 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19872 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19874 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19876 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19878 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19879 from a particular server? Hm.
19881 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19882 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19884 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19886 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19887 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19889 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19890 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19892 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19893 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19894 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19897 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19898 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19900 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19902 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19904 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19906 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19909 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19912 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19913 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19915 command to show and edit group scores
19917 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19920 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19922 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19924 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19925 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19928 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19929 that are of that length.
19931 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19933 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19935 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19937 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19939 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19941 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19943 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19944 a score lower than this number.
19946 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19948 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19950 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19951 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19953 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19955 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19956 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19958 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
19961 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
19962 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
19963 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
19964 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
19966 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
19969 command to remove all topic stuff.
19971 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
19972 and splitting the resulting digests.
19974 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
19976 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
19978 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
19979 matches an alist -- before saving.
19981 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
19983 variable to activate each group before entering them
19984 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
19986 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
19987 starting Gnus first if necessary.
19989 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
19990 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
19992 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
19994 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
19995 of several groups at once.
19997 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
19998 matches some regexp(s).
20000 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
20002 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
20004 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
20006 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
20008 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
20010 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
20012 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
20014 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
20015 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
20016 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
20017 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
20019 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
20020 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
20022 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
20024 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
20025 recently cited text.
20027 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
20029 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
20032 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
20033 server and just read the articles in the server
20035 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
20036 value of nnoo variables.
20038 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
20040 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
20041 listed in each group info.
20043 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
20046 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
20047 should only be applied to some groups.
20049 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
20050 mail-copies-to: never.
20052 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
20053 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
20055 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
20057 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
20060 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
20063 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
20065 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
20068 group user-defined meta-parameters.
20072 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
20074 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
20075 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
20076 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
20077 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
20078 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
20080 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
20081 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
20088 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
20089 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
20091 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
20092 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
20094 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
20095 "Return the date the group was last read."
20096 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
20101 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
20102 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
20103 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
20104 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
20108 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
20109 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
20111 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
20114 They could be used like this:
20118 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
20119 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
20120 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
20122 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
20124 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
20127 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
20130 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
20131 affect the summary line format.
20135 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
20137 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
20138 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
20140 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
20143 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
20145 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
20147 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
20149 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
20151 - For other files, just find them normally.
20153 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
20154 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
20157 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
20158 tell him what you are doing.
20161 Currently, I get prompted:
20165 decend into sci.something ?
20169 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
20170 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
20171 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
20172 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
20175 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
20176 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
20177 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
20178 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
20181 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
20182 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
20188 more than n blank lines
20190 more than m identical lines
20191 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
20193 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
20197 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
20198 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
20199 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
20200 "same" subject for threading purposes.
20203 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
20204 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
20205 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
20206 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
20209 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
20212 soup - bowl of soup
20213 score below - dim light bulb
20214 score over - bright light bulb
20217 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
20222 show-list-of-articles-in-group
20223 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20224 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
20225 if (articles-selected)
20226 start-reading-selected-articles;
20227 junk-unread-articles;
20232 else if (key-pressed = '.')
20233 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
20234 select-thread-under-cursor;
20236 select-article-under-cursor;
20240 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20241 if (more-pages-in-article)
20243 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
20250 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
20251 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
20252 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
20255 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
20256 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
20257 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
20258 the wildcard expression).
20261 It would be nice if it also handled
20263 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
20265 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
20270 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
20271 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
20272 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
20273 article versions) variable.
20275 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
20277 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
20278 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
20282 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
20285 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
20286 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
20287 (message-sent-hook).
20289 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
20292 * Enhancements to Gnus:
20296 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
20297 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
20300 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
20301 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
20302 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
20305 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
20306 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
20310 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
20313 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
20317 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
20318 the nnmail duplicate checking.
20321 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
20322 value of the signature file.
20325 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
20326 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
20329 (setq message-tab-alist
20330 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
20331 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
20333 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
20337 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
20340 a command to import a buffer into a group.
20343 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
20346 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
20347 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
20350 a command to process mark all unread articles.
20353 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
20354 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
20355 do more gathering by subject.
20358 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
20359 article numerical order.
20362 (gnus-thread-total-score
20363 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
20367 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
20370 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
20371 in the summary buffer.
20374 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
20375 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
20378 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
20379 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
20380 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
20381 and/or newsgroup name.
20384 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
20387 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
20390 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
20393 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
20394 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
20395 will automatically get the process mark.
20398 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
20399 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
20400 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
20403 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
20407 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
20408 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
20411 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
20412 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
20416 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
20417 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
20420 be able to post via DejaNews.
20423 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
20426 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
20427 allow them to be displayed separately.
20430 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
20431 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
20434 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
20435 articles that match a certain From header.
20438 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
20439 saving living summary buffers.
20442 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
20443 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
20446 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
20447 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
20450 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
20451 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
20454 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
20455 (goto-char (point-min))
20456 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
20457 (replace-match "`" t t))
20458 (goto-char (point-min))
20459 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
20460 (replace-match "'" t t))
20461 (goto-char (point-min))
20462 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
20463 (replace-match "\"" t t))
20464 (goto-char (point-min))
20465 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
20466 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
20471 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
20473 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
20474 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
20475 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
20476 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
20480 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
20483 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
20484 numbers and match on the age of the article.
20488 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
20489 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
20490 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
20492 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
20493 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
20495 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
20496 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
20501 all commands that react to the process mark should push
20502 the current process mark set onto the stack.
20505 gnus-article-hide-pgp
20506 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
20508 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
20510 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
20511 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
20514 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
20515 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
20518 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
20522 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
20523 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
20526 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
20529 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
20532 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
20535 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
20539 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
20545 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
20548 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
20552 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
20553 X characters in the body.
20556 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
20559 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
20562 format spec to "tab" to a position.
20565 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
20568 command to display all dormant articles.
20571 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
20574 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
20575 to something someone else has said.
20578 Read Netscape discussion groups:
20579 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
20582 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
20583 the displayed version.
20586 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20590 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20593 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20594 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20595 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20599 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20600 in the head or body.
20603 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20606 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20609 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20610 in a special, unique buffer.
20613 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20616 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20617 is less than a certain number of days old.
20620 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20623 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20626 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20627 file, for instance.
20630 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20631 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
20632 dummy root instead of the first article.
20635 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20636 topics for displaying.
20639 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20640 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20643 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20646 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20647 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20648 summary buffer for each article.
20651 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20654 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20658 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20661 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20665 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20668 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20671 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20672 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20675 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20676 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20679 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20680 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20683 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20684 timeout for all commands.
20687 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20688 It should go somewhere else.
20691 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20692 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20693 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20695 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20696 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20698 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20699 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20706 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20707 --text follows this line--
20708 Sorry I killfiled you...
20710 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20712 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20717 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20721 - Edit article's summary line.
20723 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20725 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20731 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20735 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20736 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20740 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20743 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20746 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20747 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
20748 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
20749 turn into a [-] button.)
20752 Perhaps there should be a command to "attach" a buffer of comments to
20753 a message? That is, `B WHATEVER', you're popped into a buffer, write
20754 something, end with `C-c C-c', and then the thing you've written gets
20755 to be the child of the message you're commenting.
20758 Solve the halting problem.
20767 @section The Manual
20771 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20772 either @code{texi2dvi}
20774 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20775 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20777 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20779 The following conventions have been used:
20784 This is a @samp{string}
20787 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20790 This is a @file{file}
20793 This is a @code{symbol}
20797 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20801 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20804 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20807 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20810 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20811 ever get them confused.
20815 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20816 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20817 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20818 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20819 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20820 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20821 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20827 @node On Writing Manuals
20828 @section On Writing Manuals
20830 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20831 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20832 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20833 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20834 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20835 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20838 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20839 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20840 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20843 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20844 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20849 @section Terminology
20851 @cindex terminology
20856 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20857 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20858 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20859 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20860 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20864 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20865 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20866 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20867 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20871 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20875 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20880 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20881 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20882 is all done by the backends.
20886 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20887 default, way of getting news.
20891 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20892 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20897 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20898 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20902 A message that has been posted as news.
20905 @cindex mail message
20906 A message that has been mailed.
20910 A mail message or news article
20914 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20919 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20924 A line from the head of an article.
20928 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20929 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20933 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20934 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20935 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20936 normal @sc{head} format.
20940 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20941 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20942 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20943 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20944 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20945 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20947 @item killed groups
20948 @cindex killed groups
20949 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20950 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20952 @item zombie groups
20953 @cindex zombie groups
20954 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20957 @cindex active file
20958 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20959 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20960 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20963 @cindex bogus groups
20964 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20965 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20966 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20969 @cindex activating groups
20970 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20971 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20972 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20976 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20978 @item select method
20979 @cindex select method
20980 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20983 @item virtual server
20984 @cindex virtual server
20985 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20986 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20987 whole is a virtual server.
20991 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20992 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20995 @item ephemeral groups
20996 @cindex ephemeral groups
20997 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20998 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20999 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21002 @cindex solid groups
21003 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21004 group buffer are solid groups.
21006 @item sparse articles
21007 @cindex sparse articles
21008 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21009 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21013 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21014 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21018 @cindex thread root
21019 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21020 articles in the thread.
21024 An article that has responses.
21028 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21032 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21033 specified by RFC1153.
21039 @node Customization
21040 @section Customization
21041 @cindex general customization
21043 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21044 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21045 for some quite common situations.
21048 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21049 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21050 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21051 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21055 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21056 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21058 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21059 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21060 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21064 @item gnus-read-active-file
21065 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21066 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21067 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21068 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21069 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21071 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21072 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21073 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21074 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21078 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21079 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21081 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21082 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21083 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21087 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21088 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21089 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21090 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21091 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21093 @item gnus-visible-headers
21094 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21095 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21096 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21097 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21099 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21101 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21102 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21103 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21106 @item gnus-use-full-window
21107 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21108 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21109 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21110 want to read them anyway.
21112 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21113 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21116 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21117 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21118 lines, which might save some time.
21122 @node Little Disk Space
21123 @subsection Little Disk Space
21126 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21127 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21131 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21132 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21133 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21134 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21137 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21138 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21139 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21140 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21143 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21144 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21145 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21146 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21147 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21153 @subsection Slow Machine
21154 @cindex slow machine
21156 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21157 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21159 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21160 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21162 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21163 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21164 summary buffer faster.
21168 @node Troubleshooting
21169 @section Troubleshooting
21170 @cindex troubleshooting
21172 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21180 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21183 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21184 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21188 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21189 like @samp{T-gnus 6.14.* (based on Pterodactyl Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*,
21190 FLIM 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you
21191 get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some
21192 old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21195 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21199 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21200 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21201 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21202 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21203 something like that.
21206 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21209 @cindex reporting bugs
21211 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21213 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21214 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21215 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21216 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21218 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21219 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21220 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21221 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21224 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21225 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21226 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21227 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21228 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21229 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21231 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21232 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21233 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21236 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21237 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21239 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21240 @cindex ding mailing list
21241 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21242 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21246 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21247 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21249 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21250 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21251 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21252 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21255 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21256 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21257 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21258 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21259 and general methods of operation.
21262 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21263 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21264 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21265 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21266 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21267 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21268 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21269 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21270 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21274 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21275 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21276 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21277 @cindex utility functions
21279 @cindex internal variables
21281 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21282 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21283 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21287 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21288 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21289 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21291 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21292 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21293 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21295 @item gnus-group-real-name
21296 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21297 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21300 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21301 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21302 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21303 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21305 @item gnus-get-info
21306 @findex gnus-get-info
21307 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21309 @item gnus-group-unread
21310 @findex gnus-group-unread
21311 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21315 @findex gnus-active
21316 The active entry for @var{group}.
21318 @item gnus-set-active
21319 @findex gnus-set-active
21320 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21322 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21323 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21324 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21327 @item gnus-continuum-version
21328 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21329 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21330 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21333 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21334 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21335 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21337 @item gnus-news-group-p
21338 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21339 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21341 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21342 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21343 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21345 @item gnus-server-to-method
21346 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21347 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21349 @item gnus-server-equal
21350 @findex gnus-server-equal
21351 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21353 @item gnus-group-native-p
21354 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21355 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21357 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21358 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21359 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21361 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21362 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21363 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21365 @item group-group-find-parameter
21366 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21367 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21368 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21370 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21371 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21372 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21374 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21375 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21376 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21378 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21379 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21380 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21381 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21384 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21388 @item gnus-read-method
21389 @findex gnus-read-method
21390 Prompts the user for a select method.
21395 @node Backend Interface
21396 @subsection Backend Interface
21398 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21399 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21400 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21401 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21402 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21403 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21405 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21406 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21407 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21408 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21409 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21410 been opened, the function should fail.
21412 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21413 name. Take this example:
21417 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21418 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21421 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21422 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21424 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21425 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21426 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21428 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21429 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21430 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21432 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21433 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21434 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21435 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21436 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21437 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21440 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21441 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21442 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21443 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21446 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21449 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21452 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21453 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21454 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21455 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21456 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21457 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21461 @node Required Backend Functions
21462 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21466 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21468 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21469 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21470 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21471 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21473 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21474 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21475 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21476 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21478 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21479 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21480 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21481 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21482 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21483 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21484 number, do maximum fetches.
21486 Here's an example HEAD:
21489 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21490 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21491 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21492 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21493 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21494 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21495 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21497 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21498 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21499 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21503 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21504 these in the data buffer.
21506 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21510 head = error / valid-head
21511 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21512 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21513 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21514 header = <text> eol
21517 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21518 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21522 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21523 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21524 field = <text except TAB>
21527 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21531 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21533 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21534 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21536 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21537 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21538 server. In fact, it should do so.
21540 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21541 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21544 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21546 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21547 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21550 There should be no data returned.
21553 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21555 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21556 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21557 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21558 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21560 There should be no data returned.
21563 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21565 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21566 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21567 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21568 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21570 There should be no data returned.
21573 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21575 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21577 There should be no data returned.
21580 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21582 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21583 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21584 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21585 it would be nice if that were possible.
21587 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21588 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21589 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21590 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21591 into its article buffer.
21593 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21594 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21595 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21596 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21597 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21598 on successful article retrieval.
21601 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21603 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21604 making @var{group} the current group.
21606 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21609 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21612 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21615 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21616 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21617 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21618 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21619 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21620 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21621 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21622 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21625 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21626 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21627 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21631 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21633 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21634 a no-op on most backends.
21636 There should be no data returned.
21639 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21641 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21644 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21647 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21648 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21651 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21652 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21655 active-file = *active-line
21656 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21658 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21661 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21662 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21663 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21666 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21668 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21669 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21670 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21671 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21672 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21673 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21675 There should be no result data from this function.
21680 @node Optional Backend Functions
21681 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21685 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21687 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21688 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21689 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21691 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21692 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21693 former is in the same format as the data from
21694 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21695 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21698 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21702 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21704 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21705 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21706 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21707 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21708 should return the (altered) group info.
21710 There should be no result data from this function.
21713 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21715 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21716 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21717 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21718 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21719 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21720 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21721 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21722 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21724 There should be no result data from this function.
21727 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21729 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21730 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21731 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21732 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21733 propagate the mark information to the server.
21735 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21738 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21741 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21742 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21743 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21744 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21745 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21746 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21747 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21748 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21749 not limit itself to these.
21751 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21752 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21753 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21754 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21756 An example action list:
21759 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21760 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21761 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21764 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21765 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21767 There should be no result data from this function.
21769 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21771 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21772 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21773 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21774 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21775 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21777 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21778 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21779 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21782 There should be no result data from this function.
21785 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21787 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21788 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21789 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21790 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21791 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21792 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21793 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21795 There should be no result data from this function.
21798 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21800 The result data from this function should be a description of
21804 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21806 description = <text>
21809 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21811 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21812 groups available on the server.
21815 description-buffer = *description-line
21819 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21821 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21822 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21823 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21826 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21828 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21830 There should be no return data.
21833 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21835 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21836 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21837 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21838 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21839 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21842 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21845 There should be no result data returned.
21848 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21851 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21852 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21854 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21855 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21856 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21857 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21858 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21859 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21861 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21862 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21865 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21866 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21868 There should be no data returned.
21871 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21873 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21874 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21875 this function in short order.
21877 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21878 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21880 There should be no data returned.
21883 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21885 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21886 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21888 There should be no data returned.
21891 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21893 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21894 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21895 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21897 There should be no data returned.
21900 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21902 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21903 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21905 There should be no data returned.
21910 @node Error Messaging
21911 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21913 @findex nnheader-report
21914 @findex nnheader-get-report
21915 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21916 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21917 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21918 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21919 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21920 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21923 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21925 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21928 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21929 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21930 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21931 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21933 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21934 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21935 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21938 @node Writing New Backends
21939 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21941 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21942 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21943 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21944 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21945 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21948 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21949 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21950 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21952 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21953 package called @code{nnoo}.
21955 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21956 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21962 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21963 parameters. For instance:
21966 (nnoo-declare nndir
21970 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21971 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21974 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21975 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21976 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21978 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21979 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21980 a function in those backends.
21983 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21984 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21985 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21988 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21989 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21990 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21992 @item nnoo-define-basics
21993 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21997 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22001 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22002 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22003 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
22005 @item nnoo-map-functions
22006 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
22007 functions from the parent backends.
22010 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22011 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22012 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22015 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22016 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22017 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22018 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22021 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
22022 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22023 haven't already been defined.
22029 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22033 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22034 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22035 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22040 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
22043 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22044 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22048 (require 'nnheader)
22052 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22054 (nnoo-declare nndir
22057 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22058 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22059 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22061 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22062 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22065 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22066 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22067 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22069 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22070 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22072 ;;; Interface functions.
22074 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22076 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22077 (setq nndir-directory
22078 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22080 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22081 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22082 (push `(nndir-current-group
22083 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22085 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22086 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22088 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22090 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22091 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22092 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22093 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22094 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22098 nnmh-status-message
22100 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22106 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22107 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22109 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22110 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
22111 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22112 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22114 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
22115 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22120 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22123 The abilities can be:
22127 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22129 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22131 This backend supports both mail and news.
22133 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22136 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22137 articles and groups.
22139 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22140 true for almost all backends.
22141 @item prompt-address
22142 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22143 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22144 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22148 @node Mail-like Backends
22149 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22151 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22152 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22153 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22154 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22157 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22158 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22159 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22162 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22163 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22166 This function takes four parameters.
22170 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22173 @item exit-function
22174 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22176 @item temp-directory
22177 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22180 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22181 performed for one group only.
22184 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22185 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22186 find the article number assigned to this article.
22188 The function also uses the following variables:
22189 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22190 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22191 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22192 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22196 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22197 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22201 @node Score File Syntax
22202 @subsection Score File Syntax
22204 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22205 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22206 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22208 Here's a typical score file:
22212 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22219 BNF definition of a score file:
22222 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22223 element = rule / atom
22224 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22225 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22226 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22227 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22229 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22230 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22231 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22232 date-header = "date"
22233 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22234 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22235 score = "nil" / <integer>
22236 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22237 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22238 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22239 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22240 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22241 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22242 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22243 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22244 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22245 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22246 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22247 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22248 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22249 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22250 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22251 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22252 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22253 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22254 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22255 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22256 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22257 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22258 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22259 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22260 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22261 eval = "eval" space <form>
22262 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22265 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22268 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22269 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22270 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22271 one looong line, then that's ok.
22273 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22274 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22278 @subsection Headers
22280 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22281 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22282 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22283 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22285 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22286 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22287 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22288 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22289 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22290 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22291 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22293 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22294 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22295 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22296 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22297 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22299 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22300 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22306 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22307 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22309 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22310 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22311 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22312 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22314 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22318 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22321 is transformed into
22324 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22327 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22328 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22331 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22334 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22335 is slightly tricky:
22338 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22344 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22347 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22353 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22360 and is equal to the previous range.
22362 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22363 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22364 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22368 range = simple-range / normal-range
22369 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22370 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22371 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22372 number *[ " " contents ]
22375 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22376 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22377 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22378 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22379 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22384 @subsection Group Info
22386 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22387 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22388 describes the group.
22390 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22391 second is a more complex one:
22394 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22396 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22397 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22399 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22402 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22403 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22404 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22405 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22406 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22407 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22408 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22409 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22410 this section is about.
22412 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22413 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22414 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22416 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22419 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22420 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22421 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22422 group = quote <string> quote
22423 ralevel = rank / level
22424 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22425 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22426 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22428 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22429 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22430 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22431 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22434 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22435 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22438 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22439 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22442 @item gnus-info-group
22443 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22444 @findex gnus-info-group
22445 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22446 Get/set the group name.
22448 @item gnus-info-rank
22449 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22450 @findex gnus-info-rank
22451 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22452 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22454 @item gnus-info-level
22455 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22456 @findex gnus-info-level
22457 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22458 Get/set the group level.
22460 @item gnus-info-score
22461 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22462 @findex gnus-info-score
22463 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22464 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22466 @item gnus-info-read
22467 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22468 @findex gnus-info-read
22469 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22470 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22472 @item gnus-info-marks
22473 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22474 @findex gnus-info-marks
22475 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22476 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22478 @item gnus-info-method
22479 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22480 @findex gnus-info-method
22481 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22482 Get/set the group select method.
22484 @item gnus-info-params
22485 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22486 @findex gnus-info-params
22487 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22488 Get/set the group parameters.
22491 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22492 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22494 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22495 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22496 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22497 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22500 @node Extended Interactive
22501 @subsection Extended Interactive
22502 @cindex interactive
22503 @findex gnus-interactive
22505 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22506 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22507 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22510 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22511 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22516 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22517 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22518 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22519 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22520 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22521 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22522 @code{interactive}.
22524 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22529 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22530 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22534 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22535 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22536 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22539 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22543 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22547 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22553 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22554 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22558 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22559 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22560 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22562 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22563 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22564 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22565 Gnus, that's very useful.
22567 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22568 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22569 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22570 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22571 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22572 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22573 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22574 following function:
22577 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22581 (,function ,@@args))
22585 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22586 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22587 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22590 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22591 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22592 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22594 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22595 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22596 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22599 @node Various File Formats
22600 @subsection Various File Formats
22603 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22604 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22608 @node Active File Format
22609 @subsubsection Active File Format
22611 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22612 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22615 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22618 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22619 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22620 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22621 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22622 no.general 1000 900 y
22625 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22628 active = *group-line
22629 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22630 group = <non-white-space string>
22632 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22633 low-number = <positive integer>
22634 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22637 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22638 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22641 @node Newsgroups File Format
22642 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22644 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22645 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22646 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22649 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22650 Here's the definition:
22654 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22655 group = <non-white-space string>
22657 description = <string>
22662 @node Emacs for Heathens
22663 @section Emacs for Heathens
22665 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22666 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22667 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22668 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22669 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22670 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22671 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22675 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22676 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22681 @subsection Keystrokes
22685 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22688 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22691 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22692 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22693 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22694 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22695 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22696 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22698 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22699 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22700 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22701 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22702 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22703 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22704 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22706 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22707 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22708 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22709 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22710 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22711 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22712 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22714 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22715 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22716 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22717 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22718 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22724 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22726 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22727 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22728 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22729 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22731 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22732 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22733 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22734 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22735 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22736 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22737 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22740 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22741 write the following:
22744 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22747 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22748 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22749 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22752 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22753 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22754 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22755 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22756 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22758 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22759 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22760 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22764 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22768 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22771 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22772 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22775 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22778 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22779 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22782 @include gnus-faq.texi