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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.010 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Semi-gnus 6.10.010 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
358 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
359 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
360 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
361 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
362 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
364 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.10.010.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
384 even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 @chapter Starting gnus
417 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
418 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
421 @findex gnus-other-frame
422 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
423 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
424 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
426 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
427 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
428 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
430 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
431 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
441 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
442 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
443 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 @node Finding the News
449 @section Finding the News
452 @vindex gnus-select-method
454 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
455 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
456 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
457 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign
460 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
461 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
467 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
470 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
473 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
474 certainly be much faster.
476 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
478 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
479 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
480 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
481 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
482 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
483 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an
484 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
486 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
487 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
488 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
489 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
491 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
492 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
493 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
494 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
495 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
496 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
498 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
500 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
501 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
502 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
503 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
504 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
505 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
507 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
509 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
510 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
511 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
512 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
513 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
514 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
517 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
518 would typically set this variable to
521 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
526 @section The First Time
527 @cindex first time usage
529 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
530 be subscribed by default.
532 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
533 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
534 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
535 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
538 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
539 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
540 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
542 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
543 help you with most common problems.
545 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
546 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
550 @node The Server is Down
551 @section The Server is Down
552 @cindex server errors
554 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
555 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
556 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
558 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
559 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
560 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
561 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
562 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
563 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
564 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
566 @findex gnus-no-server
567 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
569 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
570 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
571 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
572 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
573 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
574 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
579 @section Slave Gnusae
582 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
583 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
584 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
585 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
587 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
590 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
591 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
592 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
593 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
594 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
595 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
596 will be much more expensive, of course.)
598 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
599 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
600 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
601 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
602 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
603 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
604 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
605 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
607 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
608 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
611 @node Fetching a Group
612 @section Fetching a Group
613 @cindex fetching a group
615 @findex gnus-fetch-group
616 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
617 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
618 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
619 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
620 It takes the group name as a parameter.
628 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
629 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
630 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
631 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
632 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
633 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
634 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
635 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
636 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
639 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
640 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
641 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
645 @node Checking New Groups
646 @subsection Checking New Groups
648 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
649 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
650 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
651 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
652 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
653 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
654 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
655 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
656 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
657 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
659 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
660 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
661 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
662 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
663 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
664 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
665 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
666 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
667 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
668 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
669 supporting the function properly.)
671 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
672 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
673 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
674 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
675 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
676 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
679 @node Subscription Methods
680 @subsection Subscription Methods
682 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
683 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
684 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
686 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
687 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
689 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
693 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
694 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
695 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
696 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
697 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
699 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
700 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
701 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
702 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
704 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
705 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
706 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
710 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
711 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
712 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
713 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
714 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
715 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
716 up. Or something like that.
718 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
719 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
720 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
721 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
722 will be subscribed hierarchically.
724 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
730 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
731 A closely related variable is
732 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
733 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
734 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
735 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
738 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
739 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
740 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
741 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
744 @node Filtering New Groups
745 @subsection Filtering New Groups
747 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
748 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
749 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
752 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
755 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
756 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
757 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
758 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
759 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
760 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
761 subscribing these groups.
762 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
763 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
765 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
766 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
767 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
768 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
769 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
770 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
771 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
772 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
774 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
775 Yet another variable that meddles here is
776 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
777 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
778 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
779 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
780 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
781 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
782 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
783 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
785 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
786 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
789 @node Changing Servers
790 @section Changing Servers
791 @cindex changing servers
793 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
794 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
795 very flaky and you want to use another.
797 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
798 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
802 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
803 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
804 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
805 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
808 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
809 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
810 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
811 functions more than absolutely necessary.
813 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
814 @findex gnus-change-server
815 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
816 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
817 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
818 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
819 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
821 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
822 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
823 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
824 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
825 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
827 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
828 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
829 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
830 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
832 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
836 @section Startup Files
837 @cindex startup files
842 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
843 information is traditionally stored in this file.
845 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
846 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
847 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
848 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
849 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
850 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
851 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
853 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
854 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
855 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
856 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
857 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
858 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
860 In addition, gnus does not change anything. Hail comrade Lars!
862 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
863 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
864 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
865 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
866 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
867 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
869 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
870 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
871 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
872 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
873 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
874 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
875 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
876 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
877 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
878 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
879 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
880 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
882 @vindex gnus-startup-file
883 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
884 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
885 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
887 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
888 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
889 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
890 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
891 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
892 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
893 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
894 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
895 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
896 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
899 (defun turn-off-backup ()
900 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
902 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
903 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
906 @vindex gnus-init-file
907 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
908 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
909 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
910 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
911 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
912 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
913 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
914 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
915 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
924 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
925 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
926 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
927 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
928 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
931 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
932 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
935 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
936 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
937 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
939 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
940 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
941 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
942 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
943 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
944 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
946 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
947 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
948 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
951 @node The Active File
952 @section The Active File
954 @cindex ignored groups
956 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
957 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
958 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
960 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
961 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
962 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
963 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
964 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
965 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
966 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
969 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
970 @c if you set it to anything else.
972 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
974 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
975 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
976 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
978 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
979 you actually subscribe to.
981 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
982 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
983 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
984 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
986 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
987 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
988 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
989 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
990 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
991 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
993 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
994 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
995 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
996 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
997 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
998 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1000 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1001 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1003 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1004 secondary select methods.
1007 @node Startup Variables
1008 @section Startup Variables
1012 @item gnus-load-hook
1013 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1014 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1015 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1016 times you start gnus.
1018 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1019 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1020 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1022 @item gnus-startup-hook
1023 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1024 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1026 @item gnus-started-hook
1027 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1028 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1031 @item gnus-started-hook
1032 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1033 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1034 generating the group buffer.
1036 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1037 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1038 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1039 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1040 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1041 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1042 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1043 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1045 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1046 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1047 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1048 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1049 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1050 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1052 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1053 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1054 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1056 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1057 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1058 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1060 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1061 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1062 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1063 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1068 @node The Group Buffer
1069 @chapter The Group Buffer
1070 @cindex group buffer
1072 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1073 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1074 long as gnus is active.
1078 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1079 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1080 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1081 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1082 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1083 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1084 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1085 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1091 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1092 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1093 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1094 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1095 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1096 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1097 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1098 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1099 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1100 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1101 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1102 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1103 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1104 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1105 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1106 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1107 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1111 @node Group Buffer Format
1112 @section Group Buffer Format
1115 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1116 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1117 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1121 @node Group Line Specification
1122 @subsection Group Line Specification
1123 @cindex group buffer format
1125 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1126 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1128 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1131 25: news.announce.newusers
1132 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1137 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1138 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1139 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1140 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1142 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1143 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1144 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1145 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1146 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1147 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1149 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1151 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1152 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1153 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1154 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1157 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1158 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1159 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1161 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1166 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1169 Whether the group is subscribed.
1172 Level of subscribedness.
1175 Number of unread articles.
1178 Number of dormant articles.
1181 Number of ticked articles.
1184 Number of read articles.
1187 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1188 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1191 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1194 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1203 Newsgroup description.
1206 @samp{m} if moderated.
1209 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1218 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1222 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1225 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1226 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1227 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1228 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1229 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1232 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1234 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1238 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1242 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1243 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1244 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1245 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1246 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1247 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1252 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1253 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1254 group, or a bogus native group.
1257 @node Group Modeline Specification
1258 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1259 @cindex group modeline
1261 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1262 The mode line can be changed by setting
1263 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1264 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1268 The native news server.
1270 The native select method.
1274 @node Group Highlighting
1275 @subsection Group Highlighting
1276 @cindex highlighting
1277 @cindex group highlighting
1279 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1280 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1281 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1282 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1283 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1285 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1289 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1290 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1291 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1292 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1293 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1294 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1295 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1296 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1297 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1298 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1300 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1301 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1302 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1303 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1304 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1305 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1308 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1310 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1317 The number of unread articles in the group.
1321 Whether the group is a mail group.
1323 The level of the group.
1325 The score of the group.
1327 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1329 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1330 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1332 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1333 topic being inserted.
1336 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1337 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1338 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1340 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1341 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1342 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1343 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1344 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1347 @node Group Maneuvering
1348 @section Group Maneuvering
1349 @cindex group movement
1351 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1352 expected, hopefully.
1358 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1359 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1360 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1366 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1367 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1368 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1372 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1373 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1377 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1378 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1383 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1384 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1388 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1389 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1390 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1393 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1399 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1400 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1401 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1406 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1407 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1408 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1412 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1413 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1414 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1417 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1418 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1419 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1420 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1424 @node Selecting a Group
1425 @section Selecting a Group
1426 @cindex group selection
1431 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1432 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1433 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1434 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1435 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1436 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1437 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1438 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1439 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1440 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1444 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1445 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1446 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1447 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1448 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1452 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1453 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1454 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1455 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1456 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1457 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1458 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1459 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1460 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1461 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1464 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1465 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1466 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1467 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1468 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1471 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1472 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1473 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1474 doing any processing of its contents
1475 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1476 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1477 manner will have no permanent effects.
1481 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1482 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1483 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1484 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1485 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1486 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1487 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1488 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1491 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1492 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1493 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1494 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1499 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1500 full summary buffer.
1503 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1506 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1510 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1511 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1512 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1516 @node Subscription Commands
1517 @section Subscription Commands
1518 @cindex subscription
1526 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1527 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1528 Toggle subscription to the current group
1529 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1536 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1537 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1538 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1544 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1545 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1546 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1552 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1553 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1556 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1557 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1558 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1559 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1560 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1566 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1567 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1571 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1572 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1575 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1576 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1577 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1578 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1579 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1580 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1581 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1582 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1583 @file{.newsrc} file.
1587 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1597 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1598 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1599 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1600 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1601 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1602 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group
1603 from the group buffer.
1607 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1608 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1609 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1613 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1614 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1615 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1617 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1618 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1619 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1620 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1621 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1622 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1629 @section Group Levels
1633 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1634 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1635 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1636 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1637 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1639 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1645 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1646 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1647 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1648 prompted for a level.
1651 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1652 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1653 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1654 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1655 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1656 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1657 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1658 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1659 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1660 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1661 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1662 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1663 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1664 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1665 reasons of efficiency.
1667 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1668 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1670 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1671 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1672 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1674 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1675 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1676 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1677 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1678 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1679 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1680 relevant valid ranges.
1682 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1683 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1684 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1685 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1686 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1687 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1690 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1691 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1692 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1695 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1696 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1697 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1698 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1701 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1702 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1703 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1704 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1706 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1707 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1708 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1709 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1710 to 5. The default is 6.
1714 @section Group Score
1719 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1720 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1721 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1724 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1725 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1726 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1727 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1728 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1729 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1730 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1732 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1733 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1734 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1735 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1736 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1737 action after each summary exit, you can add
1738 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1739 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1740 slow things down somewhat.
1743 @node Marking Groups
1744 @section Marking Groups
1745 @cindex marking groups
1747 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1748 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1749 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1750 bidding on those groups.
1752 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1753 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1754 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1762 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1763 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1769 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1770 Remove the mark from the current group
1771 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1775 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1776 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1780 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1781 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1785 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1786 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1790 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1791 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1792 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1795 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1797 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1798 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1799 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1800 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1801 the command to be executed.
1804 @node Foreign Groups
1805 @section Foreign Groups
1806 @cindex foreign groups
1808 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1809 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1810 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1811 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1818 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1819 @cindex making groups
1820 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1821 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1822 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1826 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1827 @cindex renaming groups
1828 Rename the current group to something else
1829 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1830 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1836 @findex gnus-group-customize
1837 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1841 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1842 @cindex renaming groups
1843 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1844 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1848 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1849 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1850 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1854 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1855 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1856 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1860 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1862 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1863 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1868 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1869 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1873 @cindex (ding) archive
1874 @cindex archive group
1875 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1876 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1877 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1878 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1879 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1880 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1881 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1885 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1887 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1888 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1889 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1890 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1894 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1896 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1897 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1898 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1902 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1903 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1905 Make a group based on some file or other
1906 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1907 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1908 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1909 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1910 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1911 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1912 @xref{Document Groups}.
1916 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1917 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1918 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1919 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1923 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1928 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1930 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1931 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1932 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1933 @xref{Web Searches}.
1935 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1936 to a particular group by using a match string like
1937 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1940 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1941 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1942 This function will delete the current group
1943 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1944 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1945 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1946 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1947 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1951 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1952 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1953 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1957 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1958 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1959 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1962 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1965 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1966 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1967 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1968 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1969 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1970 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1974 @node Group Parameters
1975 @section Group Parameters
1976 @cindex group parameters
1978 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1979 Here's an example group parameter list:
1982 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1986 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing
1987 before the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value.
1988 All the parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs,
1989 which are not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1991 The following group parameters can be used:
1996 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1999 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2002 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2003 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2004 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2005 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2006 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2008 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2009 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2010 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2011 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2012 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2013 list address instead.
2017 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2020 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2023 It is totally ignored
2024 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2025 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2027 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2028 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2029 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2030 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2031 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2033 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2034 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2035 sending the message.
2039 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2040 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2041 of whether it has any unread articles.
2043 @item broken-reply-to
2044 @cindex broken-reply-to
2045 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2046 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2047 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2048 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2049 broken behavior. So there!
2053 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2054 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2058 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2059 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2060 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2065 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2066 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2067 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2068 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2069 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2070 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2071 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2075 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2076 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2077 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2080 @cindex total-expire
2081 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2082 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2083 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2084 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2089 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2090 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2091 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2092 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2093 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2094 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2097 @cindex score file group parameter
2098 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2099 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2100 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2103 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2104 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2105 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2106 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2109 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2110 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2111 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2112 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2115 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2116 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2120 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2123 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2128 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2129 arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by gnus,
2130 but provide a place for you to store information on particular groups.
2133 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2134 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2135 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2137 @item @var{(variable form)}
2138 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2139 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2140 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2141 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2142 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2143 @code{eval}ed there.
2145 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2146 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2147 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2148 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2149 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2153 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2154 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2158 @node Listing Groups
2159 @section Listing Groups
2160 @cindex group listing
2162 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2170 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2171 List all groups that have unread articles
2172 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2173 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2174 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2175 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2182 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2183 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2184 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2185 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2186 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2187 unsubscribed groups).
2191 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2192 List all unread groups on a specific level
2193 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2194 with no unread articles.
2198 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2199 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2200 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2201 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2206 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2207 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2211 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2212 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2213 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2217 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2218 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2222 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2223 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2224 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2225 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2226 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2227 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2228 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2229 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2233 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2234 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2235 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2239 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2240 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2241 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2245 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2246 @cindex visible group parameter
2247 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2248 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2249 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2250 get the same effect.
2252 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2253 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2254 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2255 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2256 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2259 @node Sorting Groups
2260 @section Sorting Groups
2261 @cindex sorting groups
2263 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2264 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2265 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2266 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2267 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2268 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2273 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2274 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2275 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2277 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2278 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2279 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2281 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2282 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2283 Sort by group level.
2285 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2286 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2287 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2289 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2290 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2291 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2292 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2294 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2295 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2296 Sort by number of unread articles.
2298 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2299 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2300 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2305 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2306 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2310 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2311 some sorting criteria:
2315 @kindex G S a (Group)
2316 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2317 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2318 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2321 @kindex G S u (Group)
2322 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2323 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2324 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2327 @kindex G S l (Group)
2328 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2329 Sort the group buffer by group level
2330 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2333 @kindex G S v (Group)
2334 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2335 Sort the group buffer by group score
2336 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2339 @kindex G S r (Group)
2340 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2341 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2342 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2345 @kindex G S m (Group)
2346 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2347 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2348 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2352 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2353 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2355 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2356 commands will sort in reverse order.
2358 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2362 @kindex G P a (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2364 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2368 @kindex G P u (Group)
2369 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2370 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2374 @kindex G P l (Group)
2375 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2376 Sort the groups by group level
2377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2380 @kindex G P v (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2382 Sort the groups by group score
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2386 @kindex G P r (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2388 Sort the groups by group rank
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2392 @kindex G P m (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2394 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2395 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2401 @node Group Maintenance
2402 @section Group Maintenance
2403 @cindex bogus groups
2408 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2409 Find bogus groups and delete them
2410 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2414 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2415 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2416 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2417 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2418 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2422 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2423 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2424 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2425 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2428 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2429 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2430 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2431 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2436 @node Browse Foreign Server
2437 @section Browse Foreign Server
2438 @cindex foreign servers
2439 @cindex browsing servers
2444 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2445 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2446 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2447 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2450 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2451 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2452 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2453 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2455 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2460 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2461 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2465 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2466 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2469 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2470 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2471 Enter the current group and display the first article
2472 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2475 @kindex RET (Browse)
2476 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2477 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2481 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2482 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2483 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2489 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2490 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2494 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2495 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2496 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2501 @section Exiting gnus
2502 @cindex exiting gnus
2504 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2509 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2510 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit
2511 gnus, but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure
2512 why this is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2516 @findex gnus-group-exit
2517 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2518 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2522 @findex gnus-group-quit
2523 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files
2524 (@code{gnus-group-quit}). The dribble file will be saved, though
2525 (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2528 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2529 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2530 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2531 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2532 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2537 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2538 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2539 trying to customize meta-variables.
2544 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2545 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2546 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2552 @section Group Topics
2555 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2556 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2557 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2558 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2559 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2560 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2564 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2565 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2576 2: alt.religion.emacs
2579 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2581 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2582 13: comp.sources.unix
2585 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2587 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2588 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2589 is a toggling command.)
2591 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2592 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2593 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2594 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2597 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2598 the hook for the group mode:
2601 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2605 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2606 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2607 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2608 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2609 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2613 @node Topic Variables
2614 @subsection Topic Variables
2615 @cindex topic variables
2617 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2618 really neat, I think.
2620 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2621 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2622 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2635 Number of groups in the topic.
2637 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2639 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2642 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2643 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2644 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2647 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2648 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2650 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2651 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2652 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2655 @node Topic Commands
2656 @subsection Topic Commands
2657 @cindex topic commands
2659 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2660 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2661 definitions slightly.
2667 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2668 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2669 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2673 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2674 Move the current group to some other topic
2675 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2676 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2680 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2681 Copy the current group to some other topic
2682 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2683 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2687 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2688 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2689 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2690 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2691 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2692 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2693 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2696 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2697 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2701 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2702 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2703 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2707 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2708 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2709 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2713 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2714 Toggle hiding empty topics
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2719 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2720 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2721 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2724 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2725 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2726 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2727 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2731 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2733 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2734 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2735 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2736 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2737 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2738 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2742 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2744 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2745 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2746 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2747 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2750 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2751 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2752 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2753 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2757 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2758 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2759 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2763 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2764 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2765 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2770 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2771 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2774 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2775 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2776 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2780 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2781 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2782 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2786 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2787 @cindex group parameters
2788 @cindex topic parameters
2790 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2791 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2797 @subsection Topic Sorting
2798 @cindex topic sorting
2800 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2806 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2807 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2808 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2809 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2812 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2813 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2814 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2818 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2819 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2820 Sort the current topic by group level
2821 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2824 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2825 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2826 Sort the current topic by group score
2827 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2830 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2831 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2832 Sort the current topic by group rank
2833 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2836 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2837 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2838 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2839 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2843 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2846 @node Topic Topology
2847 @subsection Topic Topology
2848 @cindex topic topology
2851 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2857 2: alt.religion.emacs
2860 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2862 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2863 13: comp.sources.unix
2866 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2867 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2868 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2873 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2874 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2878 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2879 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2880 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2881 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2882 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2883 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2885 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2886 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2887 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2890 @node Topic Parameters
2891 @subsection Topic Parameters
2892 @cindex topic parameters
2894 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2895 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2896 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2898 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2899 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2900 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2901 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2907 2: alt.religion.emacs
2911 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2913 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2914 13: comp.sources.unix
2918 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2919 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2920 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2921 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2922 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2923 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2925 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2926 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2927 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2928 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2929 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2931 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2932 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2933 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2934 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2935 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2936 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2937 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2938 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2941 @node Misc Group Stuff
2942 @section Misc Group Stuff
2945 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2946 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2947 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2948 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
2955 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2956 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2957 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2961 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2962 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2963 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2967 @findex gnus-group-mail
2968 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2972 Variables for the group buffer:
2976 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2977 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2978 is called after the group buffer has been
2981 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2982 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2983 is called after the group buffer is
2984 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2987 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2988 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2989 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2990 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2992 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2993 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2994 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2995 whether they are empty or not.
3000 @node Scanning New Messages
3001 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3002 @cindex new messages
3003 @cindex scanning new news
3009 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3010 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3011 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3012 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3013 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3014 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3019 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3020 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3021 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3022 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3023 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3024 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3025 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3027 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3028 @cindex activating groups
3030 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3031 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3036 @findex gnus-group-restart
3037 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3038 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3039 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3043 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3044 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3046 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3047 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3051 @node Group Information
3052 @subsection Group Information
3053 @cindex group information
3054 @cindex information on groups
3061 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3062 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3065 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3066 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3067 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3068 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3069 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3070 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3071 for fetching the file.
3073 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3074 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3078 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3080 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3081 @cindex describing groups
3082 @cindex group description
3083 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3084 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3085 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3089 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3090 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3091 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3098 @findex gnus-version
3099 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3103 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3104 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3107 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3110 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3111 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3115 @node Group Timestamp
3116 @subsection Group Timestamp
3118 @cindex group timestamps
3120 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3121 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3122 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3125 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3128 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3130 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3131 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3134 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3135 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3138 This will result in lines looking like:
3141 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3142 0: custom 19961002T012713
3145 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3146 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3150 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3151 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3156 @subsection File Commands
3157 @cindex file commands
3163 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3164 @vindex gnus-init-file
3165 @cindex reading init file
3166 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3167 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3171 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3172 @cindex saving .newsrc
3173 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3174 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3175 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3178 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3179 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3180 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3185 @node The Summary Buffer
3186 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3187 @cindex summary buffer
3189 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3190 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3192 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3193 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3195 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3198 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3199 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3200 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3201 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3202 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3203 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3204 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3205 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3206 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3207 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3208 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3209 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3210 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3211 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3212 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3213 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3214 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3215 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3216 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3217 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3218 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3219 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3220 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3221 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3222 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3223 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3224 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3225 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3229 @node Summary Buffer Format
3230 @section Summary Buffer Format
3231 @cindex summary buffer format
3235 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3236 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3237 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3243 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3244 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3245 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3248 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3249 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3250 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3251 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3252 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3253 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3254 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3255 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3256 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3257 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3258 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3259 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3260 other function instead.
3262 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3263 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3264 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3265 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3268 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3269 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3271 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3272 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3273 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3274 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3275 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3277 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3279 The following format specification characters are understood:
3287 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3288 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3289 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3291 Full @code{From} header.
3293 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3295 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3296 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3297 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3298 may be more thorough.
3300 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3303 Number of lines in the article.
3305 Number of characters in the article.
3307 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3309 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3310 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3312 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3313 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3315 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3316 for adopted articles.
3318 One space for each thread level.
3320 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3325 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3326 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3330 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3332 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3333 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3334 default level. If the difference between
3335 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3336 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3344 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3346 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3352 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3353 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3355 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3356 article has any children.
3362 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3363 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3364 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3365 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3366 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3367 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3370 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3371 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3372 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3373 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3374 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3375 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3377 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3378 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3380 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3383 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3384 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3386 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3387 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3388 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3389 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3391 Here are the elements you can play with:
3397 Unprefixed group name.
3399 Current article number.
3401 Current article score.
3405 Number of unread articles in this group.
3407 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3410 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3411 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3412 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3413 and no unselected ones.
3415 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3416 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3418 Subject of the current article.
3420 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3422 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3424 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3426 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3428 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3430 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3434 @node Summary Highlighting
3435 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3439 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3440 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3441 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3442 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3443 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3445 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3446 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3447 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3448 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3450 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3451 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3452 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3453 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3455 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3456 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3457 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3458 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3459 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3460 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3462 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3463 ((> score default) . bold))
3465 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3466 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3470 @node Summary Maneuvering
3471 @section Summary Maneuvering
3472 @cindex summary movement
3474 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3475 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3477 None of these commands select articles.
3482 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3483 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3484 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3485 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3486 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3490 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3491 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3492 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3493 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3494 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3499 @kindex G j (Summary)
3500 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3501 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3502 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3505 @kindex G g (Summary)
3506 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3507 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3508 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3511 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3512 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3513 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3514 to the group buffer.
3516 Variables related to summary movement:
3520 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3521 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3522 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3523 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3524 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3525 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3526 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3527 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3528 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3529 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3530 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3531 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3532 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3533 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3535 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3536 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3537 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3538 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3539 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3540 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3541 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3543 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3545 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3546 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3547 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3548 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3549 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3551 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3552 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3553 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3554 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3555 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3556 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3557 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3558 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3564 @node Choosing Articles
3565 @section Choosing Articles
3566 @cindex selecting articles
3569 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3570 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3574 @node Choosing Commands
3575 @subsection Choosing Commands
3577 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3578 and they all select and display an article.
3582 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3583 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3584 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3585 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3590 @kindex G n (Summary)
3591 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3592 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3593 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3598 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3599 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3600 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3605 @kindex G N (Summary)
3606 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3607 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3612 @kindex G P (Summary)
3613 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3614 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3617 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3618 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3619 Go to the next article with the same subject
3620 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3623 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3624 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3625 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3626 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3630 @kindex G f (Summary)
3632 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3633 Go to the first unread article
3634 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3638 @kindex G b (Summary)
3640 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3641 Go to the article with the highest score
3642 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3647 @kindex G l (Summary)
3648 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3649 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3652 @kindex G o (Summary)
3653 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3655 @cindex article history
3656 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3657 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3658 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3659 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3660 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3661 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3665 @node Choosing Variables
3666 @subsection Choosing Variables
3668 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3671 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3672 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3673 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3674 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3675 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3676 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3678 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3679 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3680 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3681 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3683 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3684 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3685 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3686 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3687 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3688 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3689 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3690 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3691 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3692 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3693 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3694 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3695 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3696 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3701 @node Paging the Article
3702 @section Scrolling the Article
3703 @cindex article scrolling
3708 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3709 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3710 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3711 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3712 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3715 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3716 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3717 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3720 @kindex RET (Summary)
3721 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3722 Scroll the current article one line forward
3723 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3726 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3728 Scroll the current article one line backward
3729 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3733 @kindex A g (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3736 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3737 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3738 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3739 the way it came from the server.
3744 @kindex A < (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3746 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3747 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3752 @kindex A > (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3754 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3758 @kindex A s (Summary)
3760 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3761 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3762 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3766 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3767 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3772 @node Reply Followup and Post
3773 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3776 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3777 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3781 @node Summary Mail Commands
3782 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3784 @cindex composing mail
3786 Commands for composing a mail message:
3792 @kindex S r (Summary)
3794 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3795 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3796 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3797 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3798 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3803 @kindex S R (Summary)
3804 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3805 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3806 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3807 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3808 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3811 @kindex S w (Summary)
3812 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3813 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3814 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3815 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3816 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3819 @kindex S W (Summary)
3820 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3821 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3822 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3823 the process/prefix convention.
3826 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3827 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3828 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3829 Forward the current article to some other person
3830 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3831 headers of the forwarded article.
3836 @kindex S m (Summary)
3837 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3838 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3839 Send a mail to some other person
3840 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3843 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3844 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3845 @cindex bouncing mail
3846 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3847 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3848 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3849 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3850 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3851 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3852 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3853 very well fail, though.
3856 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3857 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3858 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3859 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3860 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3861 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3862 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3863 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3864 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3865 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3867 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3868 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3869 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3870 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3871 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung mu
\e,A_
\e(B sein!
3873 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3874 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3877 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3878 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3879 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3880 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3881 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3884 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3885 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3886 @cindex crossposting
3887 @cindex excessive crossposting
3888 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3889 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3891 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3892 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3893 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3894 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3895 command understands the process/prefix convention
3896 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3900 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3903 @node Summary Post Commands
3904 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3906 @cindex composing news
3908 Commands for posting a news article:
3914 @kindex S p (Summary)
3915 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3916 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3917 Post an article to the current group
3918 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3923 @kindex S f (Summary)
3924 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3925 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3926 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3930 @kindex S F (Summary)
3932 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3933 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3934 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3935 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3936 process/prefix convention.
3939 @kindex S n (Summary)
3940 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3941 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3942 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3945 @kindex S N (Summary)
3946 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
3947 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3948 message through mail and include the original message
3949 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3950 the process/prefix convention.
3953 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3954 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3955 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3956 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3957 headers of the forwarded article.
3960 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3961 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3963 @cindex making digests
3964 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3965 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3966 process/prefix convention.
3969 @kindex S u (Summary)
3970 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3971 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3972 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3973 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3976 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3979 @node Canceling and Superseding
3980 @section Canceling Articles
3981 @cindex canceling articles
3982 @cindex superseding articles
3984 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3985 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3987 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3989 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3991 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3992 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3993 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3994 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3995 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3996 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3998 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3999 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4002 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4003 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4004 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4006 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4007 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4008 your original article.
4010 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4012 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4013 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4014 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4017 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4018 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4019 have posted almost the same article twice.
4021 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4022 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4023 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4024 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4025 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4026 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4027 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4028 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4029 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4030 canceled/superseded.
4032 Just remember, kids: There is no `c' in `supersede'.
4035 @node Marking Articles
4036 @section Marking Articles
4037 @cindex article marking
4038 @cindex article ticking
4041 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4043 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4044 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4045 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4047 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4050 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4051 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4052 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4056 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4060 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4061 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4065 @node Unread Articles
4066 @subsection Unread Articles
4068 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4073 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4074 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4076 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4077 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4078 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4079 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4080 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4084 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4085 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4087 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4088 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4089 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4092 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4093 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4095 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4100 @subsection Read Articles
4101 @cindex expirable mark
4103 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4108 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4109 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4110 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4113 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4114 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4117 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4118 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4119 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4122 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4123 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4126 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4127 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4130 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4131 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4134 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4135 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4138 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4139 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4142 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4143 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4146 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4147 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4151 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4152 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4153 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4157 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4158 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4160 One more special mark, though:
4164 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4165 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4167 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4168 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4169 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4170 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at any time.
4175 @subsection Other Marks
4176 @cindex process mark
4179 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4185 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4186 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4187 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4188 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4189 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4192 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4193 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4194 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4195 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4198 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4199 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4200 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4203 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4204 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4205 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4206 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4209 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4210 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4211 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4212 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4213 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4216 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4217 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4218 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4219 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4220 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4221 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4225 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4226 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4227 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4229 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4230 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4231 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4235 @subsection Setting Marks
4236 @cindex setting marks
4238 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4243 @kindex M c (Summary)
4244 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4245 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4246 @cindex mark as unread
4247 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4248 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4254 @kindex M t (Summary)
4255 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4256 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4257 @xref{Article Caching}
4262 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4263 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4264 Mark the current article as dormant
4265 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4269 @kindex M d (Summary)
4271 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4272 Mark the current article as read
4273 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4277 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4278 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4279 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4284 @kindex M k (Summary)
4285 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4286 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4287 and then select the next unread article
4288 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4292 @kindex M K (Summary)
4293 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4294 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4295 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4296 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4299 @kindex M C (Summary)
4300 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4301 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4302 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4305 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4306 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4307 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4308 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4311 @kindex M H (Summary)
4312 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4313 Catchup the current group to point
4314 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4317 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4318 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4319 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4320 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4323 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4324 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4325 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4326 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4330 @kindex M e (Summary)
4332 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4333 Mark the current article as expirable
4334 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4337 @kindex M b (Summary)
4338 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4339 Set a bookmark in the current article
4340 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4343 @kindex M B (Summary)
4344 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4345 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4346 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4349 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4350 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4351 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4352 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4355 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4356 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4357 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4358 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4361 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4362 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4363 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4364 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4365 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4368 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4369 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4370 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4371 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4372 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4373 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4374 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4375 The default is @code{t}.
4378 @node Setting Process Marks
4379 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4380 @cindex setting process marks
4387 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4388 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4389 Mark the current article with the process mark
4390 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4391 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4395 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4396 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4397 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4398 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4401 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4402 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4403 Remove the process mark from all articles
4404 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4407 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4408 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4409 Invert the list of process marked articles
4410 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4413 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4415 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4416 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4419 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4420 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4421 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4424 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4425 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4426 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4427 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4430 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4432 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4433 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4436 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4437 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4438 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4439 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4442 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4443 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4444 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4447 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4449 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4450 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4453 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4454 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4455 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4458 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4460 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4461 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4464 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4465 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4466 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4467 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4470 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4472 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4473 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4476 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4478 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4488 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4489 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4490 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4493 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4494 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4495 additional articles.
4501 @kindex / / (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4503 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4504 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4507 @kindex / a (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4509 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4510 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4514 @kindex / u (Summary)
4516 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4517 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4518 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4519 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4520 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4523 @kindex / m (Summary)
4524 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4525 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4526 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4529 @kindex / t (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4531 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4532 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4533 articles younger than that number of days.
4536 @kindex / n (Summary)
4537 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4538 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4539 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4540 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4543 @kindex / w (Summary)
4544 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4545 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4546 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4550 @kindex / v (Summary)
4551 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4552 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4553 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4557 @kindex M S (Summary)
4558 @kindex / E (Summary)
4559 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4560 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4561 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4564 @kindex / D (Summary)
4565 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4566 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4567 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4570 @kindex / * (Summary)
4571 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4572 Include all cached articles in the limit
4573 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4576 @kindex / d (Summary)
4577 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4578 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4579 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4582 @kindex / T (Summary)
4583 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4584 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4587 @kindex / c (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4589 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4590 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4593 @kindex / C (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4595 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4596 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4597 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4605 @cindex article threading
4607 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4608 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4609 hierarchical fashion.
4611 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4612 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4613 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4614 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4615 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4616 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4617 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4619 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4623 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4626 A tree-like article structure.
4629 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4632 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4633 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4634 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4635 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4636 called loose threads.
4638 @item thread gathering
4639 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4641 @item sparse threads
4642 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4643 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4649 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4650 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4654 @node Customizing Threading
4655 @subsection Customizing Threading
4656 @cindex customizing threading
4659 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4660 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4661 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4662 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4667 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4670 @cindex loose threads
4673 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4674 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4675 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4676 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4677 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4678 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4680 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4681 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4682 There are four possible values:
4686 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4687 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4688 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4689 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4690 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4695 @cindex adopting articles
4700 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4701 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4702 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4703 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4706 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4707 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4708 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4709 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4710 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4711 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4712 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4715 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4716 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4717 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4721 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4722 display them after one another.
4725 Don't gather loose threads.
4728 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4729 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4730 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4731 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4732 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4733 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4734 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4735 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4736 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4737 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4738 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4740 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4741 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4742 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4745 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4746 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4747 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4748 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4749 simplification is used.
4751 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4752 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4753 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4754 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4756 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4758 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4764 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4765 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4766 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4767 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4772 (mapconcat 'identity
4773 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4775 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4778 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4781 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4782 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4783 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4784 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4785 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4786 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4788 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4791 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4792 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4793 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4795 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4796 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4799 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4800 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4801 Remove excessive whitespace.
4804 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4807 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4808 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4809 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4810 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4811 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4812 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4813 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4814 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4816 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4817 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4818 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4819 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4820 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4821 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4822 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4823 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4824 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4828 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4829 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4830 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4831 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4833 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4834 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4835 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4838 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4842 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4843 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4849 @node Filling In Threads
4850 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4853 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4854 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4855 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4856 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
4857 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
4858 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
4859 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
4860 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
4861 old headers only works if the backend you are using carries overview
4862 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4863 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4864 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
4866 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4867 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4868 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4870 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4871 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4872 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4873 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4874 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4875 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4876 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
4877 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4878 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
4879 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
4880 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4881 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
4882 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4883 @code{nil} by default.
4888 @node More Threading
4889 @subsubsection More Threading
4892 @item gnus-show-threads
4893 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4894 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4895 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4896 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4897 slower and more awkward.
4899 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4900 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4901 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4904 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4905 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4906 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4907 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4908 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4909 threads are expunged.
4911 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4912 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4913 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4916 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4917 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4918 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4919 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4920 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4923 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4924 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4925 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4931 @node Low-Level Threading
4932 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4936 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4937 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4938 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4939 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
4940 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
4941 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
4943 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4944 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4945 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4946 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4947 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4948 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4949 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4950 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4951 meaningful. Here's one example:
4954 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4956 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4957 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4959 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4961 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4968 @node Thread Commands
4969 @subsection Thread Commands
4970 @cindex thread commands
4976 @kindex T k (Summary)
4977 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4978 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4979 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4980 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4981 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4986 @kindex T l (Summary)
4987 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4989 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4990 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4993 @kindex T i (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4995 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4996 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4999 @kindex T # (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5001 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5002 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5005 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5007 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5008 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5011 @kindex T T (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5013 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5016 @kindex T s (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5018 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5019 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5022 @kindex T h (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5024 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5027 @kindex T S (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5029 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5032 @kindex T H (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5034 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5037 @kindex T t (Summary)
5038 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5039 Re-thread the current article's thread
5040 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5041 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5044 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5046 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5047 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5051 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5052 understand the numeric prefix.
5057 @kindex T n (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5059 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5062 @kindex T p (Summary)
5063 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5064 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5067 @kindex T d (Summary)
5068 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5069 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5072 @kindex T u (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5074 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5077 @kindex T o (Summary)
5078 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5079 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5082 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5083 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5084 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5085 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5086 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5087 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5088 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5089 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5090 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5091 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5092 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5093 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5100 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5101 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5102 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5103 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5104 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5105 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5106 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5107 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5108 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5109 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5110 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5111 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5112 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5113 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5115 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5116 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5117 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5118 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5119 in the list. You should probably always include
5120 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5121 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5122 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5123 ascending article order.
5125 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5126 number, you could do something like:
5129 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5130 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5131 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5132 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5135 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5136 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5137 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5138 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5139 which the articles arrived.
5141 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5145 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5147 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5148 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5151 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5152 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5153 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5154 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5157 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5158 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5159 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5160 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5161 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5162 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5163 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5164 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5165 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5166 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5167 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5168 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5169 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5171 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5175 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5176 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5177 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5182 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5183 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5184 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5185 @cindex article pre-fetch
5188 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5189 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5190 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5191 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5192 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5194 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5195 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5197 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5198 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5199 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5200 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5201 connection is blocked.
5203 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5204 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5205 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5206 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5208 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5209 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5210 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5211 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5214 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5217 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5218 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5219 happen automatically.
5221 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5222 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5223 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5224 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5225 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5226 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5227 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5229 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5230 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5231 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5232 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5233 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5234 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5235 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5236 data structure as the only parameter.
5238 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
5239 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5242 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5243 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5244 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5245 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5248 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5251 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5252 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much. It's
5253 probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5255 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5256 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5257 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5258 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5262 Remove articles when they are read.
5265 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5268 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5270 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5271 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5272 @c from the next group.
5275 @node Article Caching
5276 @section Article Caching
5277 @cindex article caching
5280 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5281 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5282 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5283 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5284 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5286 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5288 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5289 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5290 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5291 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5292 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5293 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5294 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5295 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5297 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5298 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5299 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5300 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5301 as dormant, and don't worry.
5303 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5305 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5306 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5307 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5308 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5309 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5310 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5311 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5312 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5313 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5314 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5316 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5317 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5318 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5319 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5320 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5321 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5322 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5323 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5324 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5325 not then be downloaded by this command.
5327 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5328 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5329 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5330 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5331 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5332 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5334 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5335 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5336 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5337 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5338 variables, the group is not cached.
5340 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5341 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5342 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5343 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5344 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5345 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5346 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5347 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5348 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5352 @node Persistent Articles
5353 @section Persistent Articles
5354 @cindex persistent articles
5356 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5357 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5358 useful in my opinion.
5360 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5361 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5362 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5363 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5364 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5365 the expiry going on at the news server.
5367 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5368 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5369 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5375 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5376 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5379 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5380 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5381 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5382 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5386 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5388 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5389 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5390 interested in persistent articles:
5393 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5397 @node Article Backlog
5398 @section Article Backlog
5400 @cindex article backlog
5402 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5403 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5404 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5405 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5406 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5407 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5408 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5409 increase memory usage some.
5411 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5412 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5413 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5414 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5415 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5416 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5417 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5419 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5422 @node Saving Articles
5423 @section Saving Articles
5424 @cindex saving articles
5426 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5427 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5428 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5429 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5430 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5432 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5433 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5434 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5436 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5437 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5438 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5439 deleted before saving.
5445 @kindex O o (Summary)
5447 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5448 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5449 Save the current article using the default article saver
5450 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5453 @kindex O m (Summary)
5454 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5455 Save the current article in mail format
5456 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5459 @kindex O r (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5461 Save the current article in rmail format
5462 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5465 @kindex O f (Summary)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5467 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5468 Save the current article in plain file format
5469 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5472 @kindex O F (Summary)
5473 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5474 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5475 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5478 @kindex O b (Summary)
5479 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5480 Save the current article body in plain file format
5481 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5484 @kindex O h (Summary)
5485 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5486 Save the current article in mh folder format
5487 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5490 @kindex O v (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5492 Save the current article in a VM folder
5493 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5496 @kindex O p (Summary)
5497 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5498 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5499 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5502 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5503 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5504 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5505 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5506 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5507 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5508 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5509 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5510 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5511 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5512 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5513 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5517 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5518 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5519 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5520 functions below, or you can create your own.
5524 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5525 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5526 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5527 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5528 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5529 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5530 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5532 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5533 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5534 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5535 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5536 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5537 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5539 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5540 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5541 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5542 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5543 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5544 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5545 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5547 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5548 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5549 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5550 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5551 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5553 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5554 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5555 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5556 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5557 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5560 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5561 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5562 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5563 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5564 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5566 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5567 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5568 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5569 reader to use this setting.
5572 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5573 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5574 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5575 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5578 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5579 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5580 available functions that generate names:
5584 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5585 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5586 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5588 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5589 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5590 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5592 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5593 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5594 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5596 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5597 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5598 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5601 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5602 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp
5603 into the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would
5604 like to save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and
5605 articles related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable
5609 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5610 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5611 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5612 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5615 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5616 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5617 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5618 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5619 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5620 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5621 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5622 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5623 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5625 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5626 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5627 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5628 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5630 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5631 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5632 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file name.
5634 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5635 lots of mail groups called things like
5636 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5637 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5638 following will do just that:
5641 (defun my-save-name (group)
5642 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5643 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5645 (setq gnus-split-methods
5646 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5651 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5652 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5653 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5654 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5655 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5656 all the files in the top level directory
5657 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5658 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5659 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5660 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5662 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5663 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5664 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5665 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5666 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5669 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5673 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5674 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5677 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5678 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5679 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5680 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5683 @node Decoding Articles
5684 @section Decoding Articles
5685 @cindex decoding articles
5687 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5688 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5691 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5692 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5693 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5694 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5695 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5696 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5700 @cindex article series
5701 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5702 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5703 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5704 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5705 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5707 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5708 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5709 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5711 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5712 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5713 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5715 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5716 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5717 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5720 @node Uuencoded Articles
5721 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5723 @cindex uuencoded articles
5728 @kindex X u (Summary)
5729 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5730 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5731 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5734 @kindex X U (Summary)
5735 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5736 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5737 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5740 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5742 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5745 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5746 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5747 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5748 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5752 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5753 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5754 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5755 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5756 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5758 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5759 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5760 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5761 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5764 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5765 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5766 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5767 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5768 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5769 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5773 @node Shell Archives
5774 @subsection Shell Archives
5776 @cindex shell archives
5777 @cindex shared articles
5779 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5780 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5781 some commands to deal with these:
5786 @kindex X s (Summary)
5787 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5788 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5791 @kindex X S (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5793 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5796 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5798 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5801 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5802 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5803 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5804 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5808 @node PostScript Files
5809 @subsection PostScript Files
5815 @kindex X p (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5817 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5820 @kindex X P (Summary)
5821 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5822 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5823 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5826 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5827 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5828 View the current PostScript series
5829 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5832 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5833 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5834 View and save the current PostScript series
5835 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5840 @subsection Other Files
5844 @kindex X o (Summary)
5845 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5846 Save the current series
5847 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5850 @kindex X b (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5852 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5853 doesn't really work yet.
5857 @node Decoding Variables
5858 @subsection Decoding Variables
5860 Adjective, not verb.
5863 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5864 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5865 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5869 @node Rule Variables
5870 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5871 @cindex rule variables
5873 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5874 variables are of the form
5877 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5884 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5885 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5887 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5888 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5891 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5892 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5895 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5896 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5897 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5898 user and default view rules.
5900 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5901 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5902 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5907 @node Other Decode Variables
5908 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5911 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5913 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5914 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5915 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5916 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5917 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5921 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5922 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5925 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5926 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5927 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5930 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5931 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5932 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5933 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5934 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5937 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5938 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5939 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5941 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5942 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5943 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5944 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5945 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5948 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5949 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5950 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5952 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5953 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5954 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5955 looking for files to display.
5957 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5958 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5959 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5962 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5963 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5964 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5967 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5968 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5969 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5972 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5973 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5974 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5977 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5978 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5979 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5980 decoded articles as unread.
5982 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5983 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5984 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5985 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5987 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5988 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5989 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5991 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5992 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5994 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5995 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5996 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5997 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5999 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6000 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6001 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6002 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6003 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6004 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6005 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6006 simply dropped them.
6011 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6012 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6016 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6017 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6018 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6019 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6020 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6021 for you when you post the article.
6023 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6024 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6025 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6026 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6028 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6029 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6030 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6031 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6032 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6033 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6034 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6036 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6037 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6038 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6039 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6040 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6041 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6042 Default is @code{t}.
6048 @subsection Viewing Files
6049 @cindex viewing files
6050 @cindex pseudo-articles
6052 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6053 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6054 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6055 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6056 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6057 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6058 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6060 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6061 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6062 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6063 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6065 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6066 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6067 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6069 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6070 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6071 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6072 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6073 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6075 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6076 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6077 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6078 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6079 a list of parameters to that command.
6081 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6082 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6083 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6085 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6086 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6087 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6090 @node Article Treatment
6091 @section Article Treatment
6093 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6094 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6095 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6096 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6097 these articles easier.
6100 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6101 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6102 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6103 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6104 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6105 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6106 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6110 @node Article Highlighting
6111 @subsection Article Highlighting
6112 @cindex highlighting
6114 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6115 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6120 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6122 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6123 Do much highlighting of the current article
6124 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6125 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6127 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6128 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6129 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6130 signature and adds buttons.
6133 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6134 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6135 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6136 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6137 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6138 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6139 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6140 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6141 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6142 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6143 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6146 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6147 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6148 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6150 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6153 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6155 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6156 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6157 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6159 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6160 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6161 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6163 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6164 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6165 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6167 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6168 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6169 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6170 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6171 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6172 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6174 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6175 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6176 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6178 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6179 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6180 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6182 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6183 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6184 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6185 that it's a citation.
6187 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6188 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6189 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6191 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6192 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6193 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6195 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6196 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6197 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6198 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6204 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6205 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6206 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6207 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6208 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6209 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6210 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6211 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6216 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6219 @node Article Fontisizing
6220 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6222 @cindex article emphasis
6224 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6225 @kindex W e (Summary)
6226 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6227 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6228 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6229 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6231 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6232 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6233 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6234 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6235 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6236 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6237 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6238 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6242 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6243 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6244 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6247 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6248 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6249 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6250 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6251 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6252 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6253 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6254 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6255 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6256 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6257 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6258 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6259 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6261 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6262 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6263 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6267 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6270 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6273 @node Article Hiding
6274 @subsection Article Hiding
6275 @cindex article hiding
6277 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6278 too much cruft in most articles.
6283 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-article-hide
6285 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6286 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6287 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6290 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6291 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6292 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6296 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6298 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6299 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6302 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6303 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6304 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6308 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6309 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6310 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6311 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6312 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6313 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6314 articles that have signatures in them do:
6316 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6318 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6320 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6321 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6323 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6326 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6331 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6333 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6334 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6337 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6339 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6340 customizing the hiding:
6344 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6345 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6346 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6347 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6348 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6349 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6350 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6355 Starting point of the hidden text.
6357 Ending point of the hidden text.
6359 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6361 Number of lines of hidden text.
6364 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6365 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6366 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6371 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6374 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6375 following two variables:
6378 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6379 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6380 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6381 50), hide the cited text.
6383 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6384 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6385 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6390 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6392 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6393 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6394 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6395 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6399 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6400 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6401 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6403 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6404 citation customization.
6406 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6410 @node Article Washing
6411 @subsection Article Washing
6413 @cindex article washing
6415 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6416 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6418 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6419 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6425 @kindex W l (Summary)
6426 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6427 Remove page breaks from the current article
6428 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6432 @kindex W r (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6434 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6435 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6437 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6438 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6440 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6441 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6442 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6443 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6446 @kindex W t (Summary)
6447 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6448 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6449 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6452 @kindex W v (Summary)
6453 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6454 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6455 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6458 @kindex W m (Summary)
6459 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6460 Toggle whether to display the article as @sc{mime} message
6461 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6464 @kindex W o (Summary)
6465 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6466 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6469 @kindex W d (Summary)
6470 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6471 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6474 @kindex W w (Summary)
6475 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6476 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6477 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6478 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6480 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6484 @kindex W c (Summary)
6485 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6486 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6487 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6490 @kindex W f (Summary)
6492 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6493 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6494 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6495 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6501 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6502 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6503 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6504 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6505 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6506 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6507 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6508 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6509 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6510 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6511 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6512 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6513 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6514 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6518 @kindex W b (Summary)
6519 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6520 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6521 @xref{Article Buttons}
6524 @kindex W B (Summary)
6525 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6526 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6527 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6530 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6531 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6532 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6533 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6536 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6537 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6538 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6539 lines with a single empty line.
6540 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6543 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6545 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6546 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6549 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6551 Do all the three commands above
6552 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6555 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6557 Remove all blank lines
6558 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6561 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6562 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6563 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6564 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6568 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6571 @node Article Buttons
6572 @subsection Article Buttons
6575 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6576 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6577 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6578 button on these references.
6580 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6581 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6582 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6587 @item gnus-button-alist
6588 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6589 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6592 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6598 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6599 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6600 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6603 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6604 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6605 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6608 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6609 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6610 avoid false matches.
6613 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6616 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6617 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6621 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6624 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6627 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6628 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6629 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6630 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6631 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6634 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6637 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6639 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6640 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6641 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6642 default values of the variables above.
6644 @item gnus-article-button-face
6645 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6646 Face used on buttons.
6648 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6649 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6650 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6654 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6658 @subsection Article Date
6660 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6661 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6662 when the article was sent.
6667 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6668 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6669 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6670 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6673 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6674 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6676 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6677 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6680 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6681 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6682 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6685 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6686 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6687 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6688 @findex format-time-string
6689 Display the date using a user-defined format
6690 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6691 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6692 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6693 for a list of possible format specs.
6696 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6698 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6699 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6700 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6701 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6702 updated continually, you can put
6705 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6708 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6709 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6713 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6715 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6716 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6717 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6718 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6719 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6723 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6724 preferred format automatically.
6727 @node Article Signature
6728 @subsection Article Signature
6730 @cindex article signature
6732 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6733 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6734 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6735 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6736 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6737 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6738 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6739 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6740 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6743 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6744 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6745 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6746 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6747 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6748 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6749 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6750 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6753 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6756 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6757 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6762 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6765 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6768 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6769 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6771 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6772 in question is not a signature.
6775 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6776 listed above. Here's an example:
6779 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6780 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6783 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6784 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6785 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6786 signature after all.
6790 @section MIME Commands
6791 @cindex MIME decoding
6795 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6796 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6797 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6800 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6801 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6802 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6804 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6805 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6806 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6807 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6808 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6809 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6814 @node Article Commands
6815 @section Article Commands
6822 @kindex A P (Summary)
6823 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6824 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6825 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6826 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6827 run just before printing the buffer.
6832 @node Summary Sorting
6833 @section Summary Sorting
6834 @cindex summary sorting
6836 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6837 can't really see why you'd want that.
6842 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6844 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6847 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6848 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6849 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6852 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6853 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6854 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6857 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6858 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6859 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6862 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6863 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6864 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6867 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6868 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6869 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6872 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6873 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6874 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6875 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6876 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6880 @node Finding the Parent
6881 @section Finding the Parent
6882 @cindex parent articles
6883 @cindex referring articles
6888 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6889 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6890 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6891 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6892 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6893 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6894 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6895 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6896 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6898 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6899 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6900 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
6901 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6902 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6906 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6907 @kindex A R (Summary)
6908 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6909 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6912 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6913 @kindex A T (Summary)
6914 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6915 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6916 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6917 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6918 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6919 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6920 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6922 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6923 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6924 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6925 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6926 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6927 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6930 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6931 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6933 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6934 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6935 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6936 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6937 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6938 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6939 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6942 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6943 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6944 by giving this command a prefix.
6946 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6947 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6948 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6949 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6950 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6951 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6954 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6955 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6956 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6957 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6958 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6959 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6962 @node Alternative Approaches
6963 @section Alternative Approaches
6965 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6966 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6969 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6970 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6975 @subsection Pick and Read
6976 @cindex pick and read
6978 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6979 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6980 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6981 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6983 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6984 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6985 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6986 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6987 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6988 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6990 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6995 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
6996 Pick the article or thread on the current line
6997 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
6998 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
6999 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7000 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7001 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7002 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7005 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7006 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7007 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7008 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7012 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7013 Unpick the thread or article
7014 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7015 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7016 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7017 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7018 the thread or article at that line.
7022 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7023 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7024 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7025 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7026 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7027 will still be visible when you are reading.
7031 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7032 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7033 which is mapped to the same function
7034 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7036 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7039 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7042 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7043 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7045 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7046 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7047 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7049 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7050 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7051 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7052 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7053 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7054 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7055 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7059 @subsection Binary Groups
7060 @cindex binary groups
7062 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7063 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7064 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7065 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7066 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7067 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7068 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7071 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7072 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7073 command, when you have turned on this mode
7074 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7076 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7077 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7081 @section Tree Display
7084 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7085 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7086 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7087 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7090 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7093 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7094 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7095 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7097 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7098 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7099 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7100 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7101 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7103 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7104 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7105 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7106 default is @code{modeline}.
7108 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7109 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7110 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7111 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7112 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7113 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7114 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7120 The name of the poster.
7122 The @code{From} header.
7124 The number of the article.
7126 The opening bracket.
7128 The closing bracket.
7133 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7135 Variables related to the display are:
7138 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7139 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7140 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7141 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7142 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7143 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7145 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7146 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7147 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7148 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7152 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7153 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7154 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7155 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7156 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7157 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7158 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7159 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7160 other windows displayed next to it.
7162 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7163 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7164 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7165 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7166 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7167 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7168 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7172 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7175 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7185 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7189 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7190 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7192 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7194 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7199 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7200 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7201 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7204 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7205 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7206 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7207 (gnus-add-configuration
7211 (summary 0.75 point)
7216 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7219 @node Mail Group Commands
7220 @section Mail Group Commands
7221 @cindex mail group commands
7223 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7224 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7226 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7227 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7232 @kindex B e (Summary)
7233 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7234 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7235 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7238 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7239 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7240 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7241 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7242 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7243 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7246 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7248 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7249 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7250 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7251 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7254 @kindex B m (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7257 Move the article from one mail group to another
7258 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7261 @kindex B c (Summary)
7263 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7264 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7265 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7266 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7269 @kindex B B (Summary)
7270 @cindex crosspost mail
7271 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7272 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7273 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7274 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7275 be properly updated.
7278 @kindex B i (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7280 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7281 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7282 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7285 @kindex B r (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7287 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7288 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7289 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7290 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7294 @kindex B w (Summary)
7296 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7297 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7298 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7299 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7300 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7301 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7304 @kindex B q (Summary)
7305 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7306 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7307 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7308 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7311 @kindex B t (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7313 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7314 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7317 @kindex B p (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7319 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7320 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7321 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7322 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7323 article from your news server (or rather, from
7324 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7325 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7326 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7327 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7328 just not have arrived yet.
7332 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7333 @cindex moving articles
7334 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7335 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7336 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7337 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7338 suggestions you find reasonable.
7341 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7342 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7343 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7344 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7348 @node Various Summary Stuff
7349 @section Various Summary Stuff
7352 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7353 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7354 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7355 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7359 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7360 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7361 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7363 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7364 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7365 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7366 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7367 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7368 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7371 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7372 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7373 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7374 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7375 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7377 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7378 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7379 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7380 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7381 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7382 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7383 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7384 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7385 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7386 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7391 @node Summary Group Information
7392 @subsection Summary Group Information
7397 @kindex H f (Summary)
7398 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7399 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7400 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7401 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7402 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7403 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7404 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7405 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7406 be used for fetching the file.
7409 @kindex H d (Summary)
7410 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7411 Give a brief description of the current group
7412 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7413 rereading the description from the server.
7416 @kindex H h (Summary)
7417 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7418 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7419 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7422 @kindex H i (Summary)
7423 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7424 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7428 @node Searching for Articles
7429 @subsection Searching for Articles
7434 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7436 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7437 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7440 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7442 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7443 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7447 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7448 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7449 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7450 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7454 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7455 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7456 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7457 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7460 @node Summary Generation Commands
7461 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7466 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7467 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7468 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7471 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7473 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7474 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7479 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7480 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7485 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7486 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7487 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7488 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7489 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7490 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7491 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7492 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7493 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7497 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7498 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7499 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7500 several documents into one biiig group
7501 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7502 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7503 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7504 command understands the process/prefix convention
7505 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7508 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7509 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7510 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7511 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7512 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7513 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7517 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7518 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7519 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7522 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7523 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7524 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7525 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7530 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7531 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7532 @cindex summary exit
7533 @cindex exiting groups
7535 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7536 group and return you to the group buffer.
7542 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7544 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7545 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7546 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7547 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7548 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7549 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7550 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7551 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7552 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7553 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7554 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7558 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7560 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7561 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7562 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7566 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7568 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7569 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7570 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7571 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7574 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7575 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7576 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7577 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7580 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7581 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7582 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7583 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7586 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7587 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7588 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7589 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7590 all articles, both read and unread.
7594 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7595 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7596 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7597 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7598 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7599 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7600 articles, both read and unread.
7603 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7604 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7605 Exit the group and go to the next group
7606 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7609 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7610 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7611 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7612 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7615 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7616 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7617 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7618 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7619 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7620 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7623 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7624 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7627 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7628 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7629 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7630 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7631 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7632 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7633 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7634 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7635 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7636 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7637 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7638 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7640 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7642 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7643 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7644 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7645 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7646 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7647 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7648 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7649 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7650 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7653 @node Crosspost Handling
7654 @section Crosspost Handling
7658 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7659 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7660 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7661 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7662 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7663 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7666 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7667 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7668 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7669 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7670 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7672 @cindex cross-posting
7675 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7676 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7677 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7678 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7679 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7680 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7681 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7682 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7683 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7684 the cross reference mechanism.
7686 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7687 @cindex overview.fmt
7688 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7689 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7690 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7691 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7692 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7693 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7696 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7697 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7698 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7703 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7706 @node Duplicate Suppression
7707 @section Duplicate Suppression
7709 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7710 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7711 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7712 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various reasons.
7716 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7717 is evil and not very common.
7720 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7721 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7724 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7725 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7728 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7731 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7732 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7734 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7735 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7736 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7737 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7738 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7739 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7740 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7743 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7744 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7745 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7746 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7747 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7751 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7752 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7753 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7755 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7756 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7757 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7758 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7759 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
7760 session are suppressed.
7762 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7763 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7764 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7765 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7767 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7768 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7769 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7770 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7773 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
7774 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7775 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7776 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7777 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
7778 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7779 to you to figure out, I think.
7782 @node The Article Buffer
7783 @chapter The Article Buffer
7784 @cindex article buffer
7786 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7787 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7788 tell gnus otherwise.
7791 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7792 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
7793 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7794 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7795 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7799 @node Hiding Headers
7800 @section Hiding Headers
7801 @cindex hiding headers
7802 @cindex deleting headers
7804 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7805 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7807 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7808 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7809 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7810 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7811 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7812 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7813 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7814 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7815 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7817 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7821 @item gnus-visible-headers
7822 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7823 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7824 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7825 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7827 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7828 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7831 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7834 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7837 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7838 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7839 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7840 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7841 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7842 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7844 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
7845 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
7848 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7851 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7854 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7855 variable will have no effect.
7859 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7860 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7861 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7862 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7863 the headers are to be displayed.
7865 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7866 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7869 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7872 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7873 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed
7876 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7877 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7878 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7879 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7880 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7881 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7882 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7883 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7884 @dfn{boring conditions} that gnus can check and remove from sight.
7886 These conditions are:
7889 Remove all empty headers.
7891 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7892 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7894 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7897 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7900 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7903 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7905 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7908 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
7911 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7912 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
7915 This is also the default value for this variable.
7919 @section Using @sc{mime}
7922 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7923 while people stand around yawning.
7925 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7926 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7928 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7929 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7930 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7932 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7933 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
7934 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7935 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
7936 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7937 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
7938 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
7939 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
7940 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
7941 existed yet, sorry).
7943 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7944 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7945 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7946 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7947 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7948 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7950 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
7951 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
7952 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
7953 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
7954 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
7955 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
7956 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
7957 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
7958 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
7961 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7963 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
7964 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
7965 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
7966 buffer when there are nobody else.
7969 @node Customizing Articles
7970 @section Customizing Articles
7971 @cindex article customization
7973 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7974 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7975 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7976 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7978 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7979 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
7980 By default this hook just contains
7981 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
7982 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
7983 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
7984 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
7985 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7986 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7987 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7988 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7989 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7991 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7992 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7993 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7994 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7995 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7998 @node Article Keymap
7999 @section Article Keymap
8001 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8002 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8003 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8004 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8007 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8012 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8013 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8014 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8017 @kindex DEL (Article)
8018 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8019 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8022 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8023 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8024 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8025 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8026 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8029 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8030 @findex gnus-article-mail
8031 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8032 given a prefix, include the mail.
8036 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8037 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8038 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8042 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8043 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8044 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8047 @kindex TAB (Article)
8048 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8049 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8050 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8053 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8054 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8055 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8061 @section Misc Article
8065 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8066 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8067 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8068 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8071 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8072 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8073 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8074 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8075 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8076 the contents of the article buffer.
8078 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8079 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8080 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8081 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8082 hiding headers, and the like.
8084 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8085 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8086 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8088 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8089 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8090 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8091 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8093 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8094 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8095 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8096 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8097 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8102 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8103 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8107 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8109 @item gnus-break-pages
8110 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8111 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8112 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8113 paging will not be done.
8115 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8116 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8117 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8122 @node Composing Messages
8123 @chapter Composing Messages
8124 @cindex composing messages
8127 @cindex sending mail
8132 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8133 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8134 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8135 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8136 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8137 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8138 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8141 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8142 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8143 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8144 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8145 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8146 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8147 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8148 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8151 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8152 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8158 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8161 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8162 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8163 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8164 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8166 @item gnus-add-to-list
8167 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8168 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8169 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8177 Variables for composing news articles:
8180 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8181 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8182 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8183 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8184 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8185 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8186 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8187 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8188 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8191 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8192 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8193 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8194 file. It is 1000 by default.
8199 @node Posting Server
8200 @section Posting Server
8202 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8203 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8205 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8207 @vindex gnus-post-method
8209 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8210 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8211 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8212 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8213 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8216 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8219 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8220 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8221 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8222 the ``current'' server for posting.
8224 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8225 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8227 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8228 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8231 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8232 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8233 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8238 @section Mail and Post
8240 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8244 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8245 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8246 @cindex mailing lists
8248 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8249 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8250 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8251 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8252 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8253 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8254 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8255 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8256 still a pain, though.
8260 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8261 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8262 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8265 @findex ispell-message
8267 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8271 @node Archived Messages
8272 @section Archived Messages
8273 @cindex archived messages
8274 @cindex sent messages
8276 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8277 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8278 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8279 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8282 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8283 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8284 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8288 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8289 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8290 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8291 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8294 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8295 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8296 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8297 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8300 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8301 '(nnfolder "archive"
8302 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8303 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8304 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8307 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8309 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8310 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8311 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8313 This variable can be used to do the following:
8317 Messages will be saved in that group.
8318 @item a list of strings
8319 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8320 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8321 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8323 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8328 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8330 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8333 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8335 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8338 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8340 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8341 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8342 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8343 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8348 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8349 '((if (message-news-p)
8354 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8355 messages in one file per month:
8358 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8359 '((if (message-news-p)
8361 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8362 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8365 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8366 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8368 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8369 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8370 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8371 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8372 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8373 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8374 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8375 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8376 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8377 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8379 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8380 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8381 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8382 this will disable archiving.
8385 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8386 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8387 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8388 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8389 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8392 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8393 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8394 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8397 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8398 but the latter is the preferred method.
8402 @node Posting Styles
8403 @section Posting Styles
8404 @cindex posting styles
8407 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8409 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8410 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8411 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8414 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8415 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8416 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8417 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8418 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8423 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8424 (organization "What me?"))
8426 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8427 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8428 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8431 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8432 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8433 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8434 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8435 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8436 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8437 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8438 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8440 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8441 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8442 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8443 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8444 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8445 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8448 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8449 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8450 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8451 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8452 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8453 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8456 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8457 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8458 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8460 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8461 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8462 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8463 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8465 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8466 @vindex message-this-is-news
8468 So here's a new example:
8471 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8473 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8475 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8476 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8478 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8479 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8480 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8481 (message-this-is-new
8482 (signature my-news-signature))
8483 (posting-from-work-p
8484 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8485 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8486 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8487 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8489 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8497 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8498 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8499 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8500 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8501 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8503 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8504 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8505 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8506 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8507 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8511 @vindex nndraft-directory
8512 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8513 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8514 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8515 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8516 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8517 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8519 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8520 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8523 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8524 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8525 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8526 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8527 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8528 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8529 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8530 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8531 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8532 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8533 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8534 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8535 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8536 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8538 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8539 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8540 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8542 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8544 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8545 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8546 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8548 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8551 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8552 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8553 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8554 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8555 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8556 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8557 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8560 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8561 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8562 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8565 @node Rejected Articles
8566 @section Rejected Articles
8567 @cindex rejected articles
8569 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8570 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8571 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8572 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8574 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
8575 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8576 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8577 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
8578 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8580 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8581 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8582 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8585 @node Select Methods
8586 @chapter Select Methods
8587 @cindex foreign groups
8588 @cindex select methods
8590 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8591 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8592 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8593 personal mail group.
8595 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8596 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8597 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8598 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8599 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8600 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8602 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8603 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8605 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8608 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8609 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8610 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8611 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8612 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8614 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8617 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8618 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8619 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8620 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8621 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8622 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8626 @node The Server Buffer
8627 @section The Server Buffer
8629 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8630 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8631 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8632 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8633 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8634 backend represents a virtual server.
8636 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8637 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8638 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8639 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8641 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8642 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8643 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8644 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8645 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8646 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8647 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8649 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8650 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8653 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8654 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8655 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8656 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8657 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8658 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8659 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8662 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8663 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8666 @node Server Buffer Format
8667 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8668 @cindex server buffer format
8670 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8671 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8672 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8673 variable, with some simple extensions:
8678 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8681 The name of this server.
8684 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8687 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8690 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8691 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8692 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8693 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8703 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8706 @node Server Commands
8707 @subsection Server Commands
8708 @cindex server commands
8714 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8715 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8719 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8720 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8723 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8724 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8725 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8729 @findex gnus-server-exit
8730 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8734 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8735 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8739 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8740 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8744 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8745 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8749 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8750 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8754 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8755 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8756 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8761 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8762 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8763 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8764 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8769 @node Example Methods
8770 @subsection Example Methods
8772 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8775 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8778 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8784 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8785 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8788 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8789 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8791 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8792 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8796 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8799 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8800 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8802 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8803 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8804 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8808 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8811 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8814 Here's the method for a public spool:
8818 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8819 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8822 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8823 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8824 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8825 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8826 should probably look something like this:
8830 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8831 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8832 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8833 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8834 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8837 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8838 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8839 server that would look something like this:
8843 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8844 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8845 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8846 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8847 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8848 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8851 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8852 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8853 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8854 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8857 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8858 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8860 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8861 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8863 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8864 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8865 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8867 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8869 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8870 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8871 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8872 will contain the following:
8882 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8883 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8884 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8887 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8888 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8889 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8892 @node Server Variables
8893 @subsection Server Variables
8895 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8896 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8897 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8898 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8899 won't change the "derived" variables.
8901 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8902 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8903 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8904 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8905 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8906 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8907 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8908 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8909 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8913 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8914 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8915 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8919 @node Servers and Methods
8920 @subsection Servers and Methods
8922 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8923 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8924 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8925 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8929 @node Unavailable Servers
8930 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8932 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8933 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8934 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8935 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8936 actually the case or not.
8938 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8939 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8940 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8941 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8942 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8943 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8944 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8945 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8947 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8948 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8950 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8951 with the following commands:
8957 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8958 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8959 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8963 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8964 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8965 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8969 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8970 Mark the current server as unreachable
8971 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8974 @kindex M-o (Server)
8975 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8976 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8977 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8980 @kindex M-c (Server)
8981 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8982 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8983 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8987 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8988 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8989 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8995 @section Getting News
8996 @cindex reading news
8997 @cindex news backends
8999 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9000 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9001 or it can read from a local spool.
9004 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9005 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9010 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9013 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9014 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9015 server as the, uhm, address.
9017 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9018 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9019 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9020 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9022 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9023 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9024 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9026 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9031 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9032 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9033 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9035 @cindex authentification
9036 @cindex nntp authentification
9037 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9038 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9039 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9040 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9041 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9042 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9043 present in this hook.
9045 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9046 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9047 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9048 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9049 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9050 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9051 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9052 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9053 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9054 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9055 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9056 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9060 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9063 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9064 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9065 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9066 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9067 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9072 Here's an example file:
9075 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9076 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9079 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9080 have to be first, for instance.
9082 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9083 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9084 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9085 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9086 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9087 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9088 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9090 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9091 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9097 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9098 previously mentioned.
9100 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9102 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9103 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9104 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9105 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9106 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9109 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9113 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9115 The default value is
9118 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9119 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9122 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9123 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9125 @item nntp-maximum-request
9126 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9127 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9128 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9129 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9130 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9131 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9132 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9134 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9135 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9136 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9137 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9138 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9139 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9140 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9141 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9142 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9143 no timeouts are done.
9145 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9146 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9147 @c @cindex PPP connections
9148 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9149 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9150 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9151 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9152 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9153 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9154 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9155 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9156 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9157 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9159 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9160 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9161 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9162 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9165 @item nntp-server-hook
9166 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9167 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9170 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9171 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9172 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9173 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9174 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9175 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9176 functions are supplied:
9179 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9180 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9183 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9184 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9185 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9188 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9192 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9193 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9194 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9195 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9197 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9198 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9199 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9201 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9202 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9203 User name on the remote system.
9207 @item nntp-open-telnet
9208 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9209 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9211 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9214 @item nntp-telnet-command
9215 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9216 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9218 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9219 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9220 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9222 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9223 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9224 User name for log in on the remote system.
9226 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9227 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9228 Password to use when logging in.
9230 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9231 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9232 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9235 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9236 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9237 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9238 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9240 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9241 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9242 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9243 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9244 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9248 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9249 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9250 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9251 you must have SSLay installed
9252 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9253 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9254 define a server as follows:
9257 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9259 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9261 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9262 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9263 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9264 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9269 @item nntp-end-of-line
9270 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9271 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9272 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9273 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9275 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9276 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9277 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9281 @vindex nntp-address
9282 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9284 @item nntp-port-number
9285 @vindex nntp-port-number
9286 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9289 @item nntp-buggy-select
9290 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9291 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9293 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9294 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9295 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9296 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9299 @item nntp-xover-commands
9300 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9303 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9304 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9308 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9309 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9310 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9311 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9312 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9313 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9314 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9315 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9316 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9317 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9318 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9320 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9321 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9322 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9324 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9325 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9326 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9327 server closes connection.
9329 @item nntp-record-commands
9330 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9331 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9332 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9333 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9334 that doesn't seem to work.
9340 @subsection News Spool
9344 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9345 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9346 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9349 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9350 anything else) as the address.
9352 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9353 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9354 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9355 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9359 @item nnspool-inews-program
9360 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9361 Program used to post an article.
9363 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9364 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9365 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9367 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9368 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9369 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9370 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9372 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9373 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9374 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9375 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9377 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9378 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9379 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9381 @item nnspool-active-file
9382 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9383 The path to the active file.
9385 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9386 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9387 The path to the group descriptions file.
9389 @item nnspool-history-file
9390 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9391 The path to the news history file.
9393 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9394 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9395 The path to the active date file.
9397 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9398 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9399 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9402 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9403 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9405 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9406 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9407 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9413 @section Getting Mail
9414 @cindex reading mail
9417 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9421 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9422 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9423 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9424 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9425 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9426 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9427 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9428 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9429 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9430 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9431 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9435 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9436 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9438 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9439 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9440 and things will happen automatically.
9442 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9443 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9446 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9447 '((nnml "private")))
9450 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9451 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9452 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9453 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9454 like any other group.
9456 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9459 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9460 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9461 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9465 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9466 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9467 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9470 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9471 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9472 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9475 @node Splitting Mail
9476 @subsection Splitting Mail
9477 @cindex splitting mail
9478 @cindex mail splitting
9480 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9481 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9482 to be split into groups.
9485 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9486 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9487 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9491 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9492 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9493 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9494 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9495 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9496 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9497 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9500 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9503 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9504 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9505 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9506 mail belongs in that group.
9508 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9509 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9510 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9511 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9512 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9513 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9515 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9516 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9517 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9518 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9519 thinks should carry this mail message.
9521 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9522 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9523 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9524 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9526 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9527 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9528 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9529 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9530 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9532 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9535 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9536 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9537 links. If that's the case for you, set
9538 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9539 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9541 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9542 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9543 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9544 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9546 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9547 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9548 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9549 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9550 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9551 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9552 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9553 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9557 @node Mail Backend Variables
9558 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9560 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9564 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9565 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9566 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9567 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9569 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9570 @item nnmail-spool-file
9574 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9575 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9576 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9577 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9578 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9579 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9580 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9581 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9582 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9583 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9584 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9585 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9586 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9587 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9588 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9590 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9592 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9593 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9596 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9597 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9598 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9599 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9600 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9601 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9603 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9604 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9605 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9606 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9607 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9608 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9609 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9612 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9613 @item nnmail-crash-box
9614 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9615 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9616 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9619 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9620 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9621 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9622 used for, well, anything, really.
9624 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9625 @item nnmail-split-hook
9626 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9627 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9628 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9629 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9630 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9631 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9632 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9633 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9635 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9636 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9637 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9638 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9639 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9640 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9641 starting to handle the new mail) and
9642 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9643 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9644 default file modes the new mail files get:
9647 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9648 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9650 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9651 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9654 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9655 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9656 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9657 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9658 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9659 it will be used instead.
9661 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9662 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9663 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9664 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9666 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9667 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9670 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9671 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9672 @cindex incoming mail files
9673 @cindex deleting incoming files
9674 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9675 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9678 @c This is @code{nil} by
9679 @c default for reasons of security.
9681 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9682 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9683 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9684 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9685 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9688 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9690 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9691 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9692 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9693 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9694 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9695 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9696 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9698 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9699 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9701 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9703 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9704 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9705 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9706 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9707 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9712 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9713 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9714 @cindex mail splitting
9715 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9717 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9718 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9719 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9720 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9721 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9722 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9724 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9727 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9728 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9729 ;; from real errors.
9730 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9732 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9733 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9734 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9735 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9736 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9737 ;; Other mailing lists...
9738 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9739 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9741 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9742 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9746 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9747 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9748 the five possible split syntaxes:
9753 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9754 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9758 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9759 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9760 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9763 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9764 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9765 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9766 be stored in one or more groups.
9769 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9770 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9773 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9774 this message. Use with extreme caution.
9777 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9778 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9779 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9783 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
9787 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9788 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9789 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9790 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9791 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9793 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9794 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9795 are expanded as specified by the variable
9796 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9797 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9800 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9801 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9802 when all this splitting is performed.
9804 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9805 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9806 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9809 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9812 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9813 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
9814 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9815 groupings 1 through 9.
9818 @node Mail and Procmail
9819 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9824 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9825 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9826 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9827 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9828 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9830 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9831 something like the following:
9833 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9835 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9836 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9837 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9840 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9841 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9844 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9845 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9846 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9847 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9848 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9849 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9851 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9854 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9856 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9857 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9859 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9860 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9861 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9862 to include all your mail groups.
9864 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9865 method will be created automatically.
9867 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9868 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9869 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9870 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9871 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9872 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9873 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9874 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9876 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9877 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9878 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9879 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9880 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9882 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9883 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9884 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9885 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9886 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9887 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9889 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9890 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9891 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9892 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9893 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9896 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9897 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9898 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9899 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9900 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9904 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9905 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9907 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9908 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9909 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9912 Doing so can be quite easy.
9914 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9915 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9916 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9917 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9918 your @code{nnml} groups.
9924 Go to the group buffer.
9927 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9928 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9931 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9934 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9935 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9938 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9939 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9942 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9943 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9944 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9945 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9946 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9948 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9949 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9950 using the new mail backend.
9954 @subsection Expiring Mail
9955 @cindex article expiry
9957 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9958 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9959 different approach to mail reading.
9961 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9962 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9963 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9964 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9965 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9966 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9969 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9970 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9971 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9972 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9973 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9974 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9975 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9976 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9978 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9979 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9980 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9981 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9982 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9983 column in the summary buffer.
9985 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9986 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9987 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9988 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9991 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9993 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9994 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9995 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9998 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9999 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10000 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10001 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10002 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10004 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10005 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10008 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10009 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10012 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10013 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10015 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10016 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10017 don't really mix very well.
10019 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10020 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10021 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10022 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10025 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10026 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10027 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10028 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10031 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10033 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10035 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10037 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10039 ((string= group "important")
10045 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10046 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10048 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10049 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10050 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10053 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10054 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10056 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10057 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10058 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10059 easier for procmail users.
10061 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10062 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10063 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10064 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10065 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10066 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10067 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10068 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10069 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10070 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10071 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10072 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10073 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10076 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10080 @subsection Washing Mail
10081 @cindex mail washing
10082 @cindex list server brain damage
10083 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10085 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10086 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10087 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10088 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10089 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10090 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10092 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10093 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10094 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10097 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10098 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10099 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10100 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10103 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10104 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10105 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10106 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
10109 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10110 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10111 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10112 Emacs running on MS machines.
10116 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10117 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10118 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10119 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10122 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10123 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10124 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10125 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10127 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10128 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10129 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10130 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10131 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10132 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10133 also be a list of regexp.
10135 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10136 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10139 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10140 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10143 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10144 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10145 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10149 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10150 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10151 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10155 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10156 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10157 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10164 @subsection Duplicates
10166 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10167 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10168 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10169 @cindex duplicate mails
10170 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10171 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10172 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10173 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10174 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10175 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10176 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10177 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10178 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10179 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10180 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10181 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10182 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10184 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10185 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10186 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10187 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10189 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10192 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10193 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10197 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10198 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10199 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10200 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10201 (any mail "mail.misc")
10208 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10209 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10214 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10215 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10216 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10217 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10218 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10221 @node Not Reading Mail
10222 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10224 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10225 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10226 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10228 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10229 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10231 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10232 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10233 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10234 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10235 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10236 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10237 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10238 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10239 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10240 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10241 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10243 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10244 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10248 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10249 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10251 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10252 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10253 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10256 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10257 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10258 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10259 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10260 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10264 @node Unix Mail Box
10265 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10267 @cindex unix mail box
10269 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10270 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10271 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10272 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10273 which group it belongs in.
10275 Virtual server settings:
10278 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10279 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10280 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10282 @item nnmbox-active-file
10283 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10284 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10286 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10287 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10288 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10294 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10298 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10299 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10300 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10301 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10302 article to say which group it belongs in.
10304 Virtual server settings:
10307 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10308 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10309 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10311 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10312 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10313 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10315 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10316 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10317 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10322 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10324 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10326 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10327 format. It should be used with some caution.
10329 @vindex nnml-directory
10330 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10331 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10332 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10333 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10335 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10338 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10339 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10340 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10341 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10342 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10343 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10344 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10345 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10347 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10348 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10349 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10350 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10352 Virtual server settings:
10355 @item nnml-directory
10356 @vindex nnml-directory
10357 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10359 @item nnml-active-file
10360 @vindex nnml-active-file
10361 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10363 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10364 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10365 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10368 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10369 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10370 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10372 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10373 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10374 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10376 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10377 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10378 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10380 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10381 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10382 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10386 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10387 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10388 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10389 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10390 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10391 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10392 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10397 @subsubsection MH Spool
10399 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10401 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10402 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10403 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10404 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10406 Virtual server settings:
10409 @item nnmh-directory
10410 @vindex nnmh-directory
10411 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10413 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10414 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10415 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10418 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10419 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10420 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10421 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10422 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10423 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10424 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10429 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10431 @cindex mbox folders
10432 @cindex mail folders
10434 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10435 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10436 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10439 Virtual server settings:
10442 @item nnfolder-directory
10443 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10444 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10446 @item nnfolder-active-file
10447 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10448 The name of the active file.
10450 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10451 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10452 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10454 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10455 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10456 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10458 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10459 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10460 @cindex backup files
10461 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10462 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10463 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10464 your @file{.emacs} file:
10467 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10468 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10470 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10473 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10474 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10475 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10476 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10477 extract some information from it before removing it.
10482 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10483 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10484 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10485 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10486 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10487 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10490 @node Other Sources
10491 @section Other Sources
10493 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10494 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10498 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10499 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10500 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10501 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10502 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10503 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10507 @node Directory Groups
10508 @subsection Directory Groups
10510 @cindex directory groups
10512 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10513 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10516 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10517 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10518 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10519 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10521 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10522 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10523 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10524 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10525 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10527 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10529 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10530 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10531 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10532 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10535 @node Anything Groups
10536 @subsection Anything Groups
10539 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10540 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10541 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10544 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10545 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10546 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10547 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10548 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10549 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10550 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10551 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10552 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10553 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10556 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10557 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10558 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10559 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10561 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10562 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10563 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10564 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10566 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10567 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10568 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10569 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10570 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10571 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10572 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10573 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10578 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10579 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10580 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10581 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10583 @item nneething-exclude-files
10584 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10585 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10586 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10588 @item nneething-map-file
10589 @vindex nneething-map-file
10590 Name of the map files.
10594 @node Document Groups
10595 @subsection Document Groups
10597 @cindex documentation group
10600 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10601 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10608 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10613 The standard Unix mbox file.
10615 @cindex MMDF mail box
10617 The MMDF mail box format.
10620 Several news articles appended into a file.
10623 @cindex rnews batch files
10624 The rnews batch transport format.
10625 @cindex forwarded messages
10628 Forwarded articles.
10631 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10635 @cindex MIME digest
10636 @cindex 1153 digest
10637 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10638 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10639 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10641 @item standard-digest
10642 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10645 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10648 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10649 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10650 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10653 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10654 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10655 group. And that's it.
10657 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10658 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10659 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10660 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10661 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10662 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10663 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10664 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10665 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10666 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10668 Virtual server variables:
10671 @item nndoc-article-type
10672 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10673 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10674 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10675 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10676 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10679 @item nndoc-post-type
10680 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10681 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10682 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10687 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10691 @node Document Server Internals
10692 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10694 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10695 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10696 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10697 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10699 First, here's an example document type definition:
10703 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10704 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10707 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10708 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10709 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10710 types can be defined with very few settings:
10713 @item first-article
10714 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10715 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10718 @item article-begin
10719 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10720 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10722 @item head-begin-function
10723 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10726 @item nndoc-head-begin
10727 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10730 @item nndoc-head-end
10731 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10732 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10734 @item body-begin-function
10735 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10739 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10742 @item body-end-function
10743 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10747 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10750 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10751 regexp will be totally ignored.
10755 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10756 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10757 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10758 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10759 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10762 @item prepare-body-function
10763 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10764 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10765 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10767 @item article-transform-function
10768 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10769 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10770 body of the article.
10772 @item generate-head-function
10773 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10774 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10775 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10776 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10780 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10785 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10786 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10787 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10788 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10789 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10790 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10791 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10792 (subtype digest guess))
10795 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10796 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10797 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10798 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10799 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10801 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10802 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10803 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10804 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10805 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
10806 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10807 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10808 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10809 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10810 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10818 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10819 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10820 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10822 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10823 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10824 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10827 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10828 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10829 that interested in doing things properly.
10831 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10832 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10835 First some terminology:
10840 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10841 get news and/or mail from.
10844 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10845 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10848 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10852 @item message packets
10853 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10854 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10855 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10857 @item response packets
10858 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10859 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10860 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10870 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10871 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10872 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10873 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10876 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10879 You put the packet in your home directory.
10882 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10883 the native or secondary server.
10886 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10887 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10890 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10894 You transfer this packet to the server.
10897 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10900 You then repeat until you die.
10904 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10905 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10908 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10909 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10910 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10914 @node SOUP Commands
10915 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10917 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10921 @kindex G s b (Group)
10922 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10923 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10924 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10925 process/prefix convention.
10928 @kindex G s w (Group)
10929 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10930 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10933 @kindex G s s (Group)
10934 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10935 Send all replies from the replies packet
10936 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10939 @kindex G s p (Group)
10940 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10941 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10944 @kindex G s r (Group)
10945 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10946 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10949 @kindex O s (Summary)
10950 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10951 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10952 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10953 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10958 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10963 @item gnus-soup-directory
10964 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10965 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10966 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10968 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10969 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10970 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10971 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10973 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10974 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10975 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10976 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10978 @item gnus-soup-packer
10979 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10980 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10981 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10983 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10984 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10985 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10986 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10988 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10989 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10990 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10992 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10993 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10994 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10995 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11001 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11004 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11005 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11006 you can read them at leisure.
11008 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11012 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11013 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11014 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11015 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11017 @item nnsoup-directory
11018 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11019 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11020 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11022 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11023 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11024 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11025 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11027 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11028 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11029 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11030 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11031 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11033 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11034 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11035 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11036 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11038 @item nnsoup-active-file
11039 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11040 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11041 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11042 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11043 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11045 @item nnsoup-packer
11046 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11047 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11048 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11050 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11051 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11052 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11053 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11055 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11056 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11057 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11060 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11061 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11062 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11065 @item nnsoup-always-save
11066 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11067 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11073 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11075 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11076 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11077 more for that to happen.
11079 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11080 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11081 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11084 In specific, this is what it does:
11087 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11088 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11091 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11092 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11093 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11097 @subsection Web Searches
11101 @cindex InReference
11102 @cindex Usenet searches
11103 @cindex searching the Usenet
11105 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11106 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11107 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11108 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11109 searches without having to use a browser.
11111 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11112 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11113 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11114 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11115 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11117 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11118 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11119 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11120 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11121 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11122 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11123 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11124 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11125 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11126 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11129 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11130 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11131 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'
\e,Aj
\e(Btre} is to
11132 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11133 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11134 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11136 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11137 to use @code{nnweb}.
11139 Virtual server variables:
11144 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11145 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11149 @vindex nnweb-search
11150 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11152 @item nnweb-max-hits
11153 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11154 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11157 @item nnweb-type-definition
11158 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11159 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11160 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11165 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11169 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11172 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11175 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11179 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11186 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11187 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11188 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11191 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11192 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11193 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11195 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11201 @item nngateway-address
11202 @vindex nngateway-address
11203 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11205 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11206 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11207 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11208 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11209 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11210 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11211 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11214 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11215 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11216 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11219 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11222 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11225 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11228 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11230 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11233 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11234 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11235 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11237 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11239 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11240 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11241 @code{nngateway-address}.
11246 (setq gnus-post-method
11247 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11248 (nngateway-header-transformation
11249 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11257 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11260 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11264 @node Combined Groups
11265 @section Combined Groups
11267 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11271 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11272 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11276 @node Virtual Groups
11277 @subsection Virtual Groups
11279 @cindex virtual groups
11280 @cindex merging groups
11282 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11285 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11286 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11287 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11289 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11290 regexp to match component groups.
11292 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11293 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11294 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11295 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11296 the virtual group.)
11298 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11299 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11302 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11305 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11306 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11308 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11309 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11310 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11311 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11314 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11317 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11318 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11319 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11321 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11322 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11323 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11324 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11325 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11327 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11328 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11329 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11331 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11332 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11333 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11334 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11335 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11336 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11337 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11338 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11339 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11340 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11341 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11343 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11344 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11345 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11346 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11347 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11348 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11349 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11351 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11352 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11356 @node Kibozed Groups
11357 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11361 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11362 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11363 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11364 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11366 @kindex G k (Group)
11367 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11370 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11371 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11372 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11373 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11375 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11376 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11377 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11379 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11380 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11381 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11382 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11383 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11384 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11385 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11386 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11388 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11389 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11390 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11391 Stranger things have happened.
11393 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11394 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11396 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11397 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11398 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11399 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11400 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11401 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11403 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11404 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11407 @node Gnus Unplugged
11408 @section Gnus Unplugged
11413 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11415 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11416 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11417 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11418 read news. Believe it or not.
11420 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11421 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11422 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11423 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11424 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11426 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11427 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11428 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11429 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11430 reading news on a machine.
11432 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11436 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11437 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11441 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11442 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11449 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11451 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11454 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11455 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11456 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11457 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11458 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11459 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11460 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11461 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11466 @subsection Agent Basics
11468 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11470 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11471 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11472 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11473 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11475 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11476 connected to the net continuously.
11478 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11479 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11481 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11486 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11487 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11488 already fetched while in this mode.
11491 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11492 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11493 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11496 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11497 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11498 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11499 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11502 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11503 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11504 then you read the news offline.
11507 And then you go to step 2.
11510 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11516 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11517 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11518 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11519 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11520 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11521 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11524 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11531 @node Agent Categories
11532 @subsection Agent Categories
11534 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11535 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11536 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11537 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11538 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11539 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11540 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11542 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11543 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11544 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11547 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11548 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11549 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11553 @node Category Syntax
11554 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11556 A category consists of two things.
11560 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11561 are eligible for downloading; and
11564 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11565 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11566 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11569 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11572 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11574 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11575 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11581 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11582 short (for some value of ``short'').
11584 Here's a more complex predicate:
11593 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11594 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11597 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11598 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11599 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11601 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11602 you want to do, you can write your own.
11606 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11607 lines; default 100.
11610 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11611 lines; default 200.
11614 True iff the article has a download score less than
11615 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11618 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11619 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11622 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11623 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11624 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11633 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11634 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11635 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11638 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11639 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11640 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11641 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11642 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11643 and @code{References}.
11646 @node The Category Buffer
11647 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11649 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11650 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11651 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11653 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11657 @kindex q (Category)
11658 @findex gnus-category-exit
11659 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11662 @kindex k (Category)
11663 @findex gnus-category-kill
11664 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11667 @kindex c (Category)
11668 @findex gnus-category-copy
11669 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11672 @kindex a (Category)
11673 @findex gnus-category-add
11674 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11677 @kindex p (Category)
11678 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11679 Edit the predicate of the current category
11680 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11683 @kindex g (Category)
11684 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11685 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11686 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11689 @kindex s (Category)
11690 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11691 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11692 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11695 @kindex l (Category)
11696 @findex gnus-category-list
11697 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11701 @node Category Variables
11702 @subsubsection Category Variables
11705 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11706 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11707 Hook run in category buffers.
11709 @item gnus-category-line-format
11710 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11711 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11712 Variables}). Valid elements are:
11716 The name of the category.
11719 The number of groups in the category.
11722 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11723 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11724 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
11726 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11727 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11728 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11730 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11731 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11732 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11734 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11735 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11736 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11739 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11740 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11741 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11747 @node Agent Commands
11748 @subsection Agent Commands
11750 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11751 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11752 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11756 * Group Agent Commands::
11757 * Summary Agent Commands::
11758 * Server Agent Commands::
11761 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11762 following incantation:
11764 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11766 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11771 @node Group Agent Commands
11772 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11776 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11777 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11778 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11779 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11782 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11783 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11784 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11787 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11788 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11789 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11790 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11793 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11794 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11795 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11796 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11799 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11800 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11801 Add the current group to an Agent category
11802 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11807 @node Summary Agent Commands
11808 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11812 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11813 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11814 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11817 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11818 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11819 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11820 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11823 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11824 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11825 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11828 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11829 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11830 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11835 @node Server Agent Commands
11836 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11840 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11841 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11842 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11843 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11846 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11847 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11848 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11849 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11855 @subsection Agent Expiry
11857 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11858 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11859 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11860 @cindex Agent expiry
11861 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11864 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11865 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11866 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11867 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11868 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11869 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11871 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11872 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11873 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11874 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11875 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11878 @node Outgoing Messages
11879 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11881 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11882 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11883 after posting, and edit them at will.
11885 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11886 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11887 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11888 messages in the draft group.
11892 @node Agent Variables
11893 @subsection Agent Variables
11896 @item gnus-agent-directory
11897 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11898 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11899 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11901 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11902 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11903 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11904 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11905 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11908 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11909 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11910 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11912 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11913 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11914 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11919 @node Example Setup
11920 @subsection Example Setup
11922 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11923 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11924 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11927 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11928 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11931 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11932 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11933 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11934 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11936 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11937 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11939 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11943 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11944 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11947 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11948 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11949 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11950 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11951 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11954 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11955 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11956 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11957 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11958 back all the killed groups.)
11960 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11961 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11962 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11965 @node Batching Agents
11966 @subsection Batching Agents
11968 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11969 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11970 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11974 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11983 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11984 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11985 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11988 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11989 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11990 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11991 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11992 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11994 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11995 before generating the summary buffer.
11997 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11998 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11999 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12001 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12002 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12003 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12004 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12007 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12008 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12009 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12010 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12011 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12012 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12013 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12014 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12015 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12016 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12017 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12018 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12019 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12020 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12021 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12022 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12026 @node Summary Score Commands
12027 @section Summary Score Commands
12028 @cindex score commands
12030 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12031 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12032 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12033 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12034 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12036 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12037 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12038 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12039 score file the current one.
12041 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12046 @kindex V s (Summary)
12047 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12048 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12051 @kindex V S (Summary)
12052 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12053 Display the score of the current article
12054 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12057 @kindex V t (Summary)
12058 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12059 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12060 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12063 @kindex V R (Summary)
12064 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12065 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12066 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12067 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12068 effect you're having.
12071 @kindex V c (Summary)
12072 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12073 Make a different score file the current
12074 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12077 @kindex V e (Summary)
12078 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12079 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12080 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12084 @kindex V f (Summary)
12085 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12086 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12087 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12090 @kindex V F (Summary)
12091 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12092 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12093 after editing score files.
12096 @kindex V C (Summary)
12097 @findex gnus-score-customize
12098 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12099 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12103 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12108 @kindex V m (Summary)
12109 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12110 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12111 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12114 @kindex V x (Summary)
12115 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12116 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12117 expunge all articles below this score
12118 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12121 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12122 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12125 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12126 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12130 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12131 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12133 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12134 keys are available:
12138 Score on the author name.
12141 Score on the subject line.
12144 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12147 Score on the References line.
12153 Score on the number of lines.
12156 Score on the Message-ID.
12159 Score on followups.
12173 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12174 what headers you are scoring on.
12186 Substring matching.
12189 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12218 Greater than number.
12223 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12224 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12225 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12229 Temporary score entry.
12232 Permanent score entry.
12235 Immediately scoring.
12240 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12241 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12242 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12243 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12245 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12246 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12247 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12248 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12249 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12251 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12252 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12253 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12254 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12255 current score file.
12257 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12258 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12259 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12262 @node Group Score Commands
12263 @section Group Score Commands
12264 @cindex group score commands
12266 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12271 @kindex W f (Group)
12272 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12273 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12274 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12275 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12279 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12281 @findex gnus-batch-score
12282 @cindex batch scoring
12284 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12288 @node Score Variables
12289 @section Score Variables
12290 @cindex score variables
12294 @item gnus-use-scoring
12295 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12296 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12297 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12299 @item gnus-kill-killed
12300 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12301 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12302 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12303 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12304 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12305 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12306 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12308 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12309 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12310 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12311 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12312 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12314 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12315 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12316 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12317 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12319 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12320 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12321 @cindex score cache
12322 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12323 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12324 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
12325 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12326 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12327 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12330 @item gnus-save-score
12331 @vindex gnus-save-score
12332 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12333 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12334 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12336 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12337 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12338 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12339 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12340 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12341 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12342 manually entered data.
12344 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12345 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12346 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12348 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12349 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12350 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12351 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12352 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12353 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12355 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12356 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12357 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12358 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12360 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12361 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12362 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12363 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12365 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12366 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12367 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12368 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12370 Predefined functions available are:
12373 @item gnus-score-find-single
12374 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12375 Only apply the group's own score file.
12377 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12378 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12379 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12380 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12381 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12382 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12383 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12384 then a regexp match is done.
12386 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12387 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12389 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12390 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12391 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12392 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12394 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12395 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12396 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12397 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12398 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12401 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12402 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12403 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12404 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12405 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12406 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12409 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12410 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12411 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12412 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12413 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12415 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12416 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12417 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12418 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12419 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12420 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12421 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12424 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12425 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12426 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12428 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12429 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12430 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12431 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12432 threading---according to the current value of
12433 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12434 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12435 simplified in this manner.
12440 @node Score File Format
12441 @section Score File Format
12442 @cindex score file format
12444 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12445 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12446 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12448 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12452 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12454 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12456 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12458 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12463 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12467 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12468 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12469 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12470 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12474 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12475 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12477 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12478 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12479 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12481 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12486 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12487 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12488 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12489 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12490 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12491 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12492 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12493 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12494 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12495 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12496 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12497 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12498 to articles that matches these score entries.
12500 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12501 score entry has one to four elements.
12505 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12506 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12510 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12511 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12512 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12513 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12514 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12515 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12518 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12519 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12520 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12521 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12522 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12525 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12526 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12527 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12528 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12531 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12532 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12533 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12534 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12535 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12536 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12537 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12538 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12539 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12540 instead, if you feel like.
12543 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12544 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12546 These predicates are true if
12549 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12552 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12553 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12560 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12561 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12562 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12563 it's not. I think.)
12565 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12566 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12567 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12568 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12571 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12572 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12573 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12574 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12575 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12576 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12577 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12581 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12582 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12583 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12584 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12585 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12586 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12587 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12588 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12591 @item Head, Body, All
12592 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12596 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12597 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12598 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12599 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12600 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12601 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12602 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12606 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12607 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12608 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12609 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12610 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12611 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12612 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12613 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12614 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12615 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12619 @cindex Score File Atoms
12621 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12622 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12625 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12626 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12628 @item mark-and-expunge
12629 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12630 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12633 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12634 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12635 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12636 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12637 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12640 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12641 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12644 @item exclude-files
12645 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12646 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12650 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12651 ignored when handling global score files.
12654 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12655 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12656 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12657 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12660 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12661 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12662 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12663 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12665 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12669 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12672 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12673 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12674 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12675 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12676 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12678 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12679 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12680 ordinary scoring rules.
12683 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12684 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12685 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12686 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12687 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12688 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12689 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12690 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12691 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12692 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12693 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12697 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12698 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12699 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12700 file for a number of groups.
12703 @cindex local variables
12704 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12705 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12706 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12707 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12708 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12712 @node Score File Editing
12713 @section Score File Editing
12715 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12716 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12717 with a mode for that.
12719 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12720 additional commands:
12725 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12726 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12727 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12728 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12731 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12732 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12733 Insert the current date in numerical format
12734 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12735 you were wondering.
12738 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12739 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12740 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12741 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12742 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12747 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12749 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12750 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12752 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12753 e} to begin editing score files.
12756 @node Adaptive Scoring
12757 @section Adaptive Scoring
12758 @cindex adaptive scoring
12760 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12761 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12762 stupidity, to be precise.
12764 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12765 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12766 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12767 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12768 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12769 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12770 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12771 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12772 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12774 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12775 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12776 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12777 might look something like this:
12780 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12781 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12782 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12783 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12784 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12785 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12786 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12787 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12788 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12789 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12790 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12791 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12794 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12795 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12796 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12797 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12798 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12799 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12802 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12803 will be applied to each article.
12805 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12806 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12807 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12808 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12810 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12811 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12812 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12813 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12815 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12816 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12817 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12818 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12820 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12821 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12822 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12823 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12824 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12825 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12827 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12828 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12829 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12830 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12831 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12832 aspirins afterwards.)
12834 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12835 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12836 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12838 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12839 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12840 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12842 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12843 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12844 let you use different rules in different groups.
12846 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12847 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12848 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12851 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12852 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12853 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12854 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12855 the length of the match is less than
12856 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12857 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12860 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12861 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12862 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12863 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12864 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12867 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12868 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12869 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12870 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12871 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12874 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12875 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12876 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12877 score with 30 points.
12879 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12880 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12881 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12882 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12883 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12885 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12886 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12887 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12888 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12890 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12891 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12892 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12893 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12895 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12896 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12897 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12899 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12900 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12901 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12902 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12905 @node Home Score File
12906 @section Home Score File
12908 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12909 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12910 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12911 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12913 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12914 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12915 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12917 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12918 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12923 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12927 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12928 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12932 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12936 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12937 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12940 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12941 the home score file.
12944 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12947 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12952 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12955 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12956 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12959 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12960 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12962 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
12964 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12965 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12968 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12969 Other functions include
12972 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
12973 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
12974 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
12975 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
12979 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12980 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12981 their own home score files:
12984 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12985 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12986 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12987 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12988 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
12991 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12992 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12993 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12994 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12995 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12997 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12998 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12999 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13000 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13001 precedence over this variable.
13004 @node Followups To Yourself
13005 @section Followups To Yourself
13007 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13008 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13009 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13010 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13011 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13012 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13016 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13017 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13018 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13021 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13022 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13023 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13027 @vindex message-sent-hook
13028 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13029 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13031 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13032 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13036 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13037 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13040 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13041 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13046 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13050 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13051 is system-dependent.
13055 @section Scoring Tips
13056 @cindex scoring tips
13062 @cindex scoring crossposts
13063 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13064 the @code{Xref} header.
13066 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13069 @item Multiple crossposts
13070 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13071 more than, say, 3 groups:
13073 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13076 @item Matching on the body
13077 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13078 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13079 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13080 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13081 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13082 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13083 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13086 @item Marking as read
13087 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13088 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13089 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13093 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13095 @item Negated character classes
13096 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13097 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13098 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13102 @node Reverse Scoring
13103 @section Reverse Scoring
13104 @cindex reverse scoring
13106 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13107 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13108 like this in your score file:
13112 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13117 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13118 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13121 @node Global Score Files
13122 @section Global Score Files
13123 @cindex global score files
13125 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13126 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13127 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13129 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13130 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13131 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13133 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13134 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13135 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13136 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13137 files are applicable to which group.
13139 Say you want to use the score file
13140 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13141 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13144 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13145 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13146 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13149 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13150 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13151 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13152 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13153 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13155 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13156 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13158 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13159 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13160 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13161 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13162 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13163 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13165 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13171 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13173 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13175 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13177 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13178 lowered out of existence.
13180 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13181 articles completely.
13184 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13185 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13186 old articles for a long time.
13189 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13190 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13191 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13192 holding our breath yet?
13196 @section Kill Files
13199 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13200 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13201 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13203 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13204 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13205 files into score files.
13207 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13208 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13209 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13210 that isn't a very good idea.
13212 Normal kill files look like this:
13215 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13216 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13220 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13221 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13223 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13224 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13227 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13232 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13233 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13234 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13237 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13238 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13239 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13242 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13247 @kindex M-k (Group)
13248 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13249 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13252 @kindex M-K (Group)
13253 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13254 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13257 Kill file variables:
13260 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13261 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13262 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13263 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13264 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13265 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13266 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13268 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13269 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13270 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13271 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13274 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13275 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13276 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13277 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13278 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13279 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13280 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13281 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13282 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13284 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13285 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13286 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13291 @node Converting Kill Files
13292 @section Converting Kill Files
13294 @cindex converting kill files
13296 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13297 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13298 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13301 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13302 You can fetch it from
13303 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13305 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13306 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13307 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13315 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13316 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13317 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13319 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13320 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13321 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13322 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13323 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13324 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13325 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13326 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13330 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13331 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13332 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13333 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13337 @node Using GroupLens
13338 @subsection Using GroupLens
13340 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13342 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13343 better bit in town at the moment.
13345 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13349 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13350 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13351 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13352 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13354 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13355 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13356 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13357 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13359 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13360 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13361 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13365 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13366 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13367 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13368 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13369 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13370 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13373 @node Rating Articles
13374 @subsection Rating Articles
13376 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13377 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13378 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13379 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13382 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13387 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13388 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13389 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13392 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13393 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13394 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13395 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13396 threads in rec.humor.
13400 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13401 the score of the article you're reading.
13406 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13407 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13408 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13411 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13412 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13413 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13417 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13418 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13421 @node Displaying Predictions
13422 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13424 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13425 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13426 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13427 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13428 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13430 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13431 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13432 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13433 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13434 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13435 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13436 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13437 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13438 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13439 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13440 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13441 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13442 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13444 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13445 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13446 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13447 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13449 The following are valid values for that variable.
13452 @item prediction-spot
13453 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13456 @item confidence-interval
13457 A numeric confidence interval.
13459 @item prediction-bar
13460 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13462 @item confidence-bar
13463 Numerical confidence.
13465 @item confidence-spot
13466 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13468 @item prediction-num
13469 Plain-old numeric value.
13471 @item confidence-plus-minus
13472 Prediction +/- confidence.
13477 @node GroupLens Variables
13478 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13482 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13483 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13484 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13485 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13488 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13489 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13492 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13493 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13495 @item grouplens-score-offset
13496 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13497 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13500 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13501 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13502 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13507 @node Advanced Scoring
13508 @section Advanced Scoring
13510 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13511 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13512 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13513 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13514 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13516 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13520 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13521 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13522 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13526 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13527 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13529 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13530 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13531 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13532 non-@code{nil} value.
13534 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13535 operator, and various match operators.
13542 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13543 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13544 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13549 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13550 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13551 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13556 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13557 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13561 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13562 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13563 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13564 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13565 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13566 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13567 the ancestry you want to go.
13569 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13570 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13571 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13572 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13573 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13576 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13577 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13579 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13580 when he's talking about Gnus:
13584 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13585 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13591 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13595 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13602 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13603 really don't want to read what he's written:
13607 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13608 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13612 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13613 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13614 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13621 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13622 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13623 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13624 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13628 The possibilities are endless.
13631 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13632 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13634 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13635 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13636 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13637 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13638 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13639 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13640 @samp{subject}) first.
13642 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13643 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13654 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13655 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13661 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13668 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13669 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13674 @section Score Decays
13675 @cindex score decays
13678 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13679 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13680 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13681 use them in any sensible way.
13683 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13684 @findex gnus-decay-score
13685 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
13686 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13687 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13688 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13689 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13690 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
13691 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13692 definition of that function:
13695 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13697 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
13698 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13701 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13703 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13705 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13708 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13709 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13710 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13711 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13715 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13718 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13721 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13725 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13726 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13727 the new score, which should be an integer.
13729 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13730 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13737 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13738 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13739 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13740 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13741 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13742 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13743 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13744 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13745 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13746 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13747 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13748 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13749 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13750 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13751 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13752 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13753 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
13754 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13758 @node Process/Prefix
13759 @section Process/Prefix
13760 @cindex process/prefix convention
13762 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13763 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13765 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13766 command to be performed on.
13770 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13771 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13772 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13773 with the current one.
13775 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13776 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13777 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13779 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13780 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13783 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13784 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13786 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13789 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13790 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13791 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13792 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13794 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13795 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13796 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13797 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13798 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13799 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13800 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13801 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13805 @section Interactive
13806 @cindex interaction
13810 @item gnus-novice-user
13811 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13812 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13813 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13814 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13815 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13818 @item gnus-expert-user
13819 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13820 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13821 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13822 matter how strange.
13824 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13825 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13826 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13827 is @code{t} by default.
13829 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13830 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13831 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13836 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13837 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13838 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13840 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13841 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
13842 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13843 rule of 900 to the current article.
13845 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13846 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13847 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13848 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13849 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13850 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13851 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13853 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13854 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13855 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13856 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13857 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13858 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13859 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13860 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13861 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13863 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13864 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13865 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13867 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13871 @node Formatting Variables
13872 @section Formatting Variables
13873 @cindex formatting variables
13875 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
13876 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13877 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13878 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13879 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13882 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13883 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13884 lots of percentages everywhere.
13887 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13888 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
13889 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13890 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13891 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13894 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13895 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13896 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13897 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13898 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13899 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13900 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13901 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13903 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13904 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13906 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13907 @findex gnus-update-format
13908 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13909 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13910 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13911 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13915 @node Formatting Basics
13916 @subsection Formatting Basics
13918 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13919 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13920 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13922 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13923 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13924 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13925 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13926 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13929 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13930 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13931 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13932 less than 4 characters wide.
13935 @node Mode Line Formatting
13936 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
13938 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
13939 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
13940 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
13941 with the following two differences:
13946 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
13949 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
13950 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
13951 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
13952 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
13953 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
13954 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
13955 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
13960 @node Advanced Formatting
13961 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13963 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13964 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13965 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13966 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13968 These are the valid modifiers:
13973 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13977 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13982 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13985 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13990 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13993 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13996 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13999 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14003 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14004 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14005 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14006 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14007 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14008 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14009 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14011 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14012 last operation, padding.
14014 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14015 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14016 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14017 @xref{Compilation}.
14020 @node User-Defined Specs
14021 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14023 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14024 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14025 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14026 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14027 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14028 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14029 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14030 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14031 should protect against that.
14033 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14034 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14035 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14036 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14040 @node Formatting Fonts
14041 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14043 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14044 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14045 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14046 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14049 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14050 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14051 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14052 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14053 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14054 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14056 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14059 ;; Create three face types.
14060 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14061 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14063 ;; We want the article count to be in
14064 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14065 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14066 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14068 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14069 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14071 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14072 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14073 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14076 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14077 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14079 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14080 mode-line variables.
14083 @node Windows Configuration
14084 @section Windows Configuration
14085 @cindex windows configuration
14087 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14089 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14090 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14091 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14092 @code{t} by default.
14094 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14095 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14096 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14099 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14100 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14101 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14105 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14106 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14107 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14108 possible names is listed below.
14110 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14111 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14114 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14118 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14119 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14120 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14121 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14122 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14123 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14124 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14125 size spec per split.
14127 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14128 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14129 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14130 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14131 present) gets focus.
14133 Here's a more complicated example:
14136 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14137 (summary 0.25 point)
14138 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14142 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14143 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14144 occupy, not a percentage.
14146 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14147 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14148 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14149 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14150 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14153 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14156 (article (horizontal 1.0
14161 (summary 0.25 point)
14166 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14167 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14169 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14170 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14171 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14172 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14173 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14175 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14176 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14177 lines from the splits.
14179 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14183 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14184 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14185 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14186 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14187 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14188 size = number | frame-params
14189 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14192 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14193 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14194 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14195 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14197 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14198 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14199 @cindex window height
14200 @cindex window width
14201 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14202 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14203 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14204 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14205 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14206 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14208 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14209 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14210 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14211 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14213 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14214 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14215 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14216 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14217 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14218 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14219 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14220 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14221 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14222 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14223 configuration list.
14226 (gnus-configure-frame
14230 (article 0.3 point))
14238 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14239 @code{frame} split:
14242 (gnus-configure-frame
14245 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14247 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14248 (user-position . t)
14249 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14254 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14255 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14256 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14257 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14258 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14259 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14260 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14261 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14264 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14265 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14267 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14268 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14269 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14270 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14271 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14272 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14274 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14275 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14276 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14280 (message (horizontal 1.0
14281 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14283 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14288 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14289 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14290 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14291 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14292 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14295 (gnus-add-configuration
14296 '(article (vertical 1.0
14298 (summary .25 point)
14302 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14303 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14304 Gnus has been loaded.
14306 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14307 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14308 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14309 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14310 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14313 @node Faces and Fonts
14314 @section Faces and Fonts
14319 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14320 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14321 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14326 @section Compilation
14327 @cindex compilation
14328 @cindex byte-compilation
14330 @findex gnus-compile
14332 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14333 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14334 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14335 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14336 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14337 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14340 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14341 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14342 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14343 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14344 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14345 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14346 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14350 @section Mode Lines
14353 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14354 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14355 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14356 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14357 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14358 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14359 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14362 @cindex display-time
14364 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14365 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14366 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14367 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14368 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14369 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14370 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14371 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14374 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14376 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14377 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14379 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14380 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14381 (length display-time-string)))))
14384 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14385 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14386 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14387 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14388 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14391 @node Highlighting and Menus
14392 @section Highlighting and Menus
14394 @cindex highlighting
14397 @vindex gnus-visual
14398 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14399 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14400 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14403 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14404 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14407 @item group-highlight
14408 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14409 @item summary-highlight
14410 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14411 @item article-highlight
14412 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14415 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14417 Create menus in the group buffer.
14419 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14421 Create menus in the article buffer.
14423 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14425 Create menus in the server buffer.
14427 Create menus in the score buffers.
14429 Create menus in all buffers.
14432 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14433 buffers, you could say something like:
14436 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14439 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14442 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14445 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14446 in all Gnus buffers.
14448 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14451 @item gnus-mouse-face
14452 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14453 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14454 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14458 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14462 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14463 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14464 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14466 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14467 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14468 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14470 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14471 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14472 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14474 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14475 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14476 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14478 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14479 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14480 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14482 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14483 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14484 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14495 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14496 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14497 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14498 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14499 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14503 @vindex gnus-carpal
14504 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14505 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14506 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14511 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14512 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14513 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14515 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14516 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14517 Face used on buttons.
14519 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14520 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14521 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14523 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14524 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14525 Buttons in the group buffer.
14527 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14528 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14529 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14531 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14532 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14533 Buttons in the server buffer.
14535 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14536 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14537 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14540 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14541 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14542 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14550 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14551 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14552 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14553 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14554 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14556 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14557 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14558 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14560 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14561 been idle for thirty minutes:
14564 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14567 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14571 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14574 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14575 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14576 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14578 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14579 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14580 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14581 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14583 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14584 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14585 @var{idle} minutes.
14587 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14588 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14591 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14592 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14593 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14595 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14596 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14597 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14598 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14600 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14601 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14602 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14604 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14605 your @file{.gnus} file:
14607 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14609 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14612 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14613 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14614 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14615 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14616 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14617 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14618 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14619 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14620 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14621 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14622 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14624 @findex gnus-demon-init
14625 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14626 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14627 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14628 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14629 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14631 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14632 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14633 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14642 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14643 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14645 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14646 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14647 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14648 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14651 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14652 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14653 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14654 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14656 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14657 this will make spam disappear.
14659 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14662 @item gnus-use-nocem
14663 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14664 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14667 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14668 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14669 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14670 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14671 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14673 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14674 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14675 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14676 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14677 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14678 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14679 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14681 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14684 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14685 @cindex Chris Lewis
14686 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14687 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14690 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14691 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14692 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14694 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14696 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14699 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14700 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14701 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14704 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14705 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14706 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14707 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14708 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14709 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14710 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14711 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14712 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14713 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14715 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14716 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14719 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14722 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14723 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14726 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14729 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14732 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14733 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14735 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14736 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14737 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14738 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14740 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14741 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14744 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14746 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14754 This might be dangerous, though.
14756 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14757 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14758 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14759 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14761 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14762 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14763 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14764 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14765 might then see old spam.
14769 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14770 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14771 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14772 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14779 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14780 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14781 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14783 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14784 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14785 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14786 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14787 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14788 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14789 @code{undo} function.
14791 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14792 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14793 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14794 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14795 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14796 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14797 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14798 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14799 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14800 never be totally undoable.
14802 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14803 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14805 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14806 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14807 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14808 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14813 @section Moderation
14816 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14817 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14818 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14821 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14825 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14828 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14830 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14835 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14836 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14837 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14840 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14841 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14844 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14845 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14849 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14852 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14853 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14857 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14858 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14861 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14865 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14866 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14867 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14868 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14881 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14882 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14883 over your shoulder as you read news.
14886 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14887 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14888 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14889 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14890 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14895 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14897 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14906 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14907 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14908 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14909 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14910 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14911 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14912 @code{GIF} formats.
14915 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14916 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14917 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14918 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
14919 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14921 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14922 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14923 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
14924 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14925 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14926 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14929 @node Picon Requirements
14930 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14932 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14933 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14936 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14937 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14938 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14940 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14941 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14942 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14943 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14944 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14948 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14950 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14951 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14954 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14955 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14956 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14957 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14958 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14961 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14962 containing the Picons databases.
14964 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14967 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14968 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14973 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14981 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14982 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14983 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14984 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14985 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14990 @item gnus-picons-database
14991 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14992 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14993 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14994 subdirectories. This is only useful if
14995 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
14996 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
14998 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14999 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15000 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15001 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15002 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15003 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15004 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15006 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15007 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15008 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15009 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15010 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15011 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15012 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15013 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15015 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15016 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15017 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15022 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15023 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15025 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15026 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15029 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15030 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15032 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15033 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15034 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15035 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15036 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15038 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15039 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15040 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15041 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15045 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15046 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15049 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15053 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15054 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15062 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15063 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15064 don't need to worry about.
15068 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15069 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15070 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15071 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15073 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15074 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15075 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15076 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15078 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15079 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15080 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15081 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15082 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15084 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15085 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15086 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15087 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15088 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15089 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15090 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15092 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15093 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15094 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15095 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15097 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15098 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15099 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15100 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15101 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15102 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15103 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15105 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15106 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15107 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15108 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15110 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15111 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15112 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15113 Defaults to @code{t}.
15115 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15116 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15117 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15118 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15120 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15121 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15122 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15123 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15125 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15126 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15127 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15128 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15129 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15130 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15131 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15132 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15143 @subsection Smileys
15148 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15153 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15154 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15156 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15157 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15160 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15163 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15164 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15165 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15166 text and maps that to file names.
15168 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15169 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15170 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15171 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15172 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15173 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15175 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15176 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15178 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15179 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15180 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15182 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15183 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15187 @item smiley-data-directory
15188 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15189 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15191 @item smiley-flesh-color
15192 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15193 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15195 @item smiley-features-color
15196 @vindex smiley-features-color
15197 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15199 @item smiley-tongue-color
15200 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15201 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15203 @item smiley-circle-color
15204 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15205 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15207 @item smiley-mouse-face
15208 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15209 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15215 @subsection Toolbar
15225 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15226 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15227 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15228 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15229 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15231 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15232 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15233 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15235 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15236 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15237 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15239 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15240 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15241 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15247 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15250 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15251 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15252 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15253 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15254 unusual directory structure.
15256 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15257 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15258 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15259 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15261 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15262 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15263 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15264 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15265 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15266 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15268 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15269 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15270 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15284 @node Fuzzy Matching
15285 @section Fuzzy Matching
15286 @cindex fuzzy matching
15288 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15289 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15291 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15292 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15293 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15295 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15296 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15297 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15298 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15299 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15302 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15303 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15307 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15309 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15310 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15311 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15312 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15313 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15314 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15315 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15316 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15319 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15320 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15321 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15322 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15323 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15324 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15328 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15329 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15331 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15332 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15333 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15334 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15335 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15336 part of the mail address.)
15339 (setq message-default-news-headers
15340 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15343 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15344 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15349 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15350 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15351 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15357 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15358 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15359 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15360 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15362 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15363 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15364 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15365 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15366 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15367 your fancy split rule in this way:
15372 (to "larsi" "misc")
15376 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15377 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15378 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15379 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15380 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15382 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15383 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15384 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15385 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15386 cosmic balance somewhat.
15388 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15389 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15390 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15391 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15394 @node Various Various
15395 @section Various Various
15401 @item gnus-home-directory
15402 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15403 defaults to @file{~/}.
15405 @item gnus-directory
15406 @vindex gnus-directory
15407 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15408 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15409 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15411 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15412 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15413 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15414 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15416 @item gnus-default-directory
15417 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15418 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15419 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15420 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15421 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15422 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15423 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15426 @vindex gnus-verbose
15427 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15428 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15429 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15430 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15431 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15433 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15434 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15435 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15436 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15438 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15439 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15440 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15441 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15442 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15443 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15444 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15445 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15446 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15447 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15449 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15450 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15451 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15452 read when doing the operation described above.
15454 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15455 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15457 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15458 @cindex characters in file names
15459 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15460 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15461 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15464 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15468 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15469 Windows (phooey) systems.
15471 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15472 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15473 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15474 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15475 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15477 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15478 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15479 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15480 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15481 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15483 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15484 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15485 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15494 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15495 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15497 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15499 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15505 Not because of victories @*
15508 but for the common sunshine,@*
15510 the largess of the spring.
15514 but for the day's work done@*
15515 as well as I was able;@*
15516 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15517 but at the common table.@*
15522 @chapter Appendices
15525 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15526 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15527 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15528 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15529 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15530 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15531 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15539 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15540 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15542 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15543 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15544 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15545 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15546 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15548 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15549 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15550 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15551 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15552 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15553 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15555 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15556 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15557 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15558 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15560 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15561 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15562 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15564 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15565 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15567 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15568 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
15570 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
15571 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
15573 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15574 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15575 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15576 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15577 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15581 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15582 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15583 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15584 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15585 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15586 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15587 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15594 What's the point of Gnus?
15596 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15597 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15598 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15599 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15600 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15601 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15602 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15603 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15604 keep track of millions of people who post?
15606 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15607 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15608 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15609 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15610 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15611 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15612 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15613 every one of you to explore and invent.
15615 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15616 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15619 @node Compatibility
15620 @subsection Compatibility
15622 @cindex compatibility
15623 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15624 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15625 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15630 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15634 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15637 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15640 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15641 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15642 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15643 important variables have their values copied into their global
15644 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15645 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15647 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15648 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15649 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15650 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15651 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15655 @cindex highlighting
15656 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15657 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15658 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15659 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15660 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15661 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15664 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15665 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15666 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15667 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15669 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15670 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15671 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15672 to stop doing it the old way.
15674 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15676 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15678 @cindex reporting bugs
15680 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15681 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15682 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15684 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
15685 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
15686 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
15687 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
15692 @subsection Conformity
15694 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15695 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15702 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15706 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15708 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15709 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15710 We do have some breaches to this one.
15715 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
15716 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15719 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15720 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15721 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15722 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15723 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15728 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15729 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15734 @subsection Emacsen
15740 Gnus should work on :
15745 Emacs 19.32 and up.
15748 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
15751 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
15755 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15756 reliably, at least.
15758 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15759 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15760 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15765 @subsection Contributors
15766 @cindex contributors
15768 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15769 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15770 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15771 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15772 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15773 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15774 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15775 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15776 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15777 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15779 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15785 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15788 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15789 well as numerous other things).
15792 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15795 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15798 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15799 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15802 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15805 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15806 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15809 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15812 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15815 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15818 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15821 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15822 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15825 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15828 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15831 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15834 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15838 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15841 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15844 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15847 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15848 well as autoconf support.
15852 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15853 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15855 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15860 David K
\e,Ae
\e(Bgedal,
15864 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15868 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15890 Massimo Campostrini,
15898 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15904 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15907 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15911 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15917 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15919 Michelangelo Grigni,
15922 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15924 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
15926 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15931 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Felix Ingrand,
15932 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15934 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15943 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15944 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15945 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
15946 Thor Kristoffersen,
15949 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15966 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15967 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15974 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15978 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15981 John McClary Prevost,
15987 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
15992 Christian von Roques,
15994 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16000 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16002 Randal L. Schwartz,
16031 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
16033 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
16035 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16036 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16037 (550kB and counting).
16039 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16042 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16043 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16047 @subsection New Features
16048 @cindex new features
16051 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16052 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16053 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16054 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16057 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16058 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16059 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16063 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16065 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16070 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16071 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16074 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16075 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16078 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16081 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16082 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16083 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16086 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16087 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16088 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16089 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16092 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16093 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16096 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16097 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16098 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16101 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16102 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16105 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16106 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16107 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16110 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16111 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16112 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16115 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16116 the @file{.emacs} file.
16119 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16120 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16123 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16124 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16127 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16128 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16131 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16132 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16135 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16136 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16139 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16142 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16143 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16146 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16147 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16150 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16151 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16154 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16157 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16158 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16161 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16165 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16169 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16170 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16173 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16179 @node September Gnus
16180 @subsubsection September Gnus
16184 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16188 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16193 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16194 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16198 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16199 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16203 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16207 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16208 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16211 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16215 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16218 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16221 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16224 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16228 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16229 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16232 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16236 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16240 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16244 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16248 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16251 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16252 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16255 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16259 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16260 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16263 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16266 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16267 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16268 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16271 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16275 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16278 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16282 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16283 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16286 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16287 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16290 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16291 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16294 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16295 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16296 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16299 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16300 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16303 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16306 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16309 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16310 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16314 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16317 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16320 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16321 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16324 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16328 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16331 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16336 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16339 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16343 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16346 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16350 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16353 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16356 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16357 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16360 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16361 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16365 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16366 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16369 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16373 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16374 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16377 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16380 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16384 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16388 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16389 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16392 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16396 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16397 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16400 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16401 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16404 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16408 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16411 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16412 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16416 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16419 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16425 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16427 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16431 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16438 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16441 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16442 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16445 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16446 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16450 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16451 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16454 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16457 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16458 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16461 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16465 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16466 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16470 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16471 Server Internals}).
16474 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16478 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16481 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16482 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16485 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16486 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16487 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16490 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16491 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16494 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16495 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16498 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16502 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16503 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16506 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16507 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16510 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16514 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16517 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16521 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16522 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16525 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16526 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16529 A new command for reading collections of documents
16530 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16531 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16534 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16538 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16539 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16542 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16543 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16544 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16547 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16548 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16552 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16556 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16560 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16565 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16569 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16573 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16574 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16577 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16580 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16581 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16588 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16590 New features in Gnus 5.6:
16595 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16596 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16597 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16600 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16601 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16602 group, which is created automatically.
16605 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16609 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16612 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16613 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16616 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16620 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16623 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16624 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16627 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16630 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16631 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16634 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16635 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16638 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16639 control over simplification.
16642 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16645 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16649 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16652 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16655 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16656 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16657 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16660 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16661 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16664 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16668 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16669 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16672 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16673 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16676 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16680 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16683 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16686 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16687 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16690 A new function for citing in Message has been
16691 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16694 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16697 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16701 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16702 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16705 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16706 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16709 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16712 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16717 @node Newest Features
16718 @subsection Newest Features
16721 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16724 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16726 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16727 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16730 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16735 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16738 Really do unbinhexing.
16741 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16742 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16745 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16748 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16751 facep is not declared.
16754 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16755 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16758 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16763 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16764 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16765 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16766 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16767 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16768 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16769 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16774 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16777 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16780 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16782 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16783 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16785 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16787 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16789 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16790 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16792 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16794 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16795 be marked as unread.
16797 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
16799 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16801 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16802 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16804 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
16806 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16808 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16809 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16811 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16812 articles aren't displayed.
16814 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16816 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16817 make the mail groups killed.
16819 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16821 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16822 and articles have to be removed.
16824 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16827 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16829 finding short score file names takes forever.
16831 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16833 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16835 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16837 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16839 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16841 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16843 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16844 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16848 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16850 really unbinhex binhex files.
16852 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16853 bar and the Gnus bar.
16856 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16857 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16858 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16859 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16860 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16861 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16866 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16870 postponed commands.
16872 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16874 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16877 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16878 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
16880 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16881 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16883 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16885 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16886 for backends that support that.
16888 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16890 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16891 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16893 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16894 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16896 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16898 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16900 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16902 server mode command: close/open all connections
16904 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16905 has been changed before using it.
16907 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16909 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16911 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16913 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16915 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16916 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16918 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16919 contain groups that match a regexp.
16921 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16924 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16927 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16928 from subject lines.
16930 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16932 nntp-ping-before-connect
16934 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16936 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16937 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16939 message annotations.
16941 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16943 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16944 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16946 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16951 support qmail maildir spools
16953 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16955 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16957 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16959 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16960 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16962 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16964 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16966 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16967 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16969 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16970 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16972 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16974 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16976 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16977 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16979 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16981 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16983 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16984 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16987 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16989 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
16991 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
16992 `C-c C-c' when posting.
16994 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
16997 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
16998 should be marker as expirable.
17000 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17002 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17003 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17005 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17006 Also consult Date headers.
17008 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17010 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17012 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17013 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17015 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17016 into a See-Also header.
17018 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17020 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17022 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17023 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17025 generate font names dynamically.
17027 score file mode auto-alist.
17029 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17030 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17032 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17033 absolutely all headers there is.
17035 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17036 and pipe them to the process.
17038 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17039 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17040 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17042 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17043 the current mail group.
17045 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17047 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17048 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17050 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17051 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17053 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17055 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17056 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17058 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17059 groups it has been mailed to.
17061 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17063 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17065 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17067 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17068 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17070 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17071 newlines) should be ignored.
17073 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17074 groups in subtopics as well.
17076 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17078 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17081 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17083 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17085 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17087 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17089 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17091 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17093 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17094 or the formatted article.
17096 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17098 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17099 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17101 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17103 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17105 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17107 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17108 even unread articles.
17110 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17112 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17114 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17116 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17118 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17120 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17123 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17124 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17126 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17127 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17129 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17131 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17133 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17134 from a particular server? Hm.
17136 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17137 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17139 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17141 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17142 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17144 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17145 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17147 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17148 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17149 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17152 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17153 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17155 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17157 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17159 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17161 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17164 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17167 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17168 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17170 command to show and edit group scores
17172 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17175 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17177 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17179 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17180 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17183 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17184 that are of that length.
17186 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17188 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17190 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17192 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17194 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17196 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17198 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17199 a score lower than this number.
17201 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17203 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17205 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17206 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17208 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17210 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17211 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17213 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17216 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17217 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17218 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17219 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17221 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17224 command to remove all topic stuff.
17226 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17227 and splitting the resulting digests.
17229 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17231 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17233 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17234 matches an alist -- before saving.
17236 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17238 variable to activate each group before entering them
17239 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17241 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17242 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17244 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17245 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17247 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17249 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17250 of several groups at once.
17252 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17253 matches some regexp(s).
17255 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17257 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17259 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17261 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17263 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17265 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17267 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17269 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17270 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17271 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17272 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17274 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17275 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17277 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17279 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17280 recently cited text.
17282 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17284 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17287 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17288 server and just read the articles in the server
17290 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17291 value of nnoo variables.
17293 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17295 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17296 listed in each group info.
17298 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17301 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17302 should only be applied to some groups.
17304 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17305 mail-copies-to: never.
17307 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17308 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17310 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
17312 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17315 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17318 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17320 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17323 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17327 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17329 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17330 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17331 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17332 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17333 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17335 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17336 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17343 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17344 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17346 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17347 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17349 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17350 "Return the date the group was last read."
17351 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17356 tanken var at n
\e,Ae
\e(Br du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til ilete
17357 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en
17358 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17359 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17363 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17364 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17366 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17369 They could be used like this:
17373 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17374 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17375 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17377 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17379 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17382 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17385 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17386 affect the summary line format.
17390 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17392 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17393 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17395 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17398 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17400 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17402 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17404 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17406 - For other files, just find them normally.
17408 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17409 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17412 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17413 tell him what you are doing.
17416 Currently, I get prompted:
17420 decend into sci.something ?
17424 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17425 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17426 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17427 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17430 Ja, det burde v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en m
\e,Ae
\e(Bte
\e,Ae
\e(B si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17431 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? S
\e,Ae
\e(B kunne score-regler legges til den
17432 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17433 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17436 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17437 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17443 more than n blank lines
17445 more than m identical lines
17446 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17448 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17452 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17453 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17454 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17455 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17458 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17459 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17460 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17461 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17464 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17467 soup - bowl of soup
17468 score below - dim light bulb
17469 score over - bright light bulb
17472 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17477 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17478 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17479 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17480 if (articles-selected)
17481 start-reading-selected-articles;
17482 junk-unread-articles;
17487 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17488 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17489 select-thread-under-cursor;
17491 select-article-under-cursor;
17495 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17496 if (more-pages-in-article)
17498 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17505 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17506 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17507 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17510 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17511 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17512 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17513 the wildcard expression).
17516 It would be nice if it also handled
17518 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17520 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17525 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17526 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17527 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17528 article versions) variable.
17530 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17532 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17533 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17537 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17540 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17541 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17542 (message-sent-hook).
17544 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17547 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17551 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17552 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17555 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17556 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17557 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17560 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17561 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17565 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17568 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17572 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17573 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17576 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17577 value of the signature file.
17580 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17581 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17584 (setq message-tab-alist
17585 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17586 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17588 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17592 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17595 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17598 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17601 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17602 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17605 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17608 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17609 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17610 do more gathering by subject.
17613 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17614 article numerical order.
17617 (gnus-thread-total-score
17618 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17622 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17625 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17626 in the summary buffer.
17629 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17630 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17633 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17634 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17635 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17636 and/or newsgroup name.
17639 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17642 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17645 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17648 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17649 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17650 will automatically get the process mark.
17653 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17654 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17655 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17658 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17662 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17663 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17666 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17667 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17671 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17672 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17675 be able to post via DejaNews.
17678 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17681 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
17682 allow them to be displayed separately.
17685 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17686 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17689 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17690 articles that match a certain From header.
17693 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17694 saving living summary buffers.
17697 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17698 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17701 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17702 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17705 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17706 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17709 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17710 (goto-char (point-min))
17711 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17712 (replace-match "`" t t))
17713 (goto-char (point-min))
17714 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17715 (replace-match "'" t t))
17716 (goto-char (point-min))
17717 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17718 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17719 (goto-char (point-min))
17720 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17721 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17726 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17728 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17729 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17730 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17731 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17735 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17738 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17739 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17743 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17744 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17745 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17747 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17748 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17750 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17751 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17756 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17757 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17760 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17761 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt islette den dersom teksten matcher
17763 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17765 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17766 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17769 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17770 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17773 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17777 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17778 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17781 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17784 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17787 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17790 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17794 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17800 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17803 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17807 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17808 X characters in the body.
17811 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17814 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17817 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17820 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17823 command to display all dormant articles.
17826 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17829 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17830 to something someone else has said.
17833 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17834 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17837 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17838 the displayed version.
17841 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17845 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17848 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17849 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17850 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17854 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17855 in the head or body.
17858 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17861 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17864 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17865 in a special, unique buffer.
17868 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17871 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17872 is less than a certain number of days old.
17875 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
17878 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
17881 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
17882 file, for instance.
17885 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
17886 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
17887 dummy root instead of the first article.
17890 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
17891 topics for displaying.
17894 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
17895 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
17898 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
17901 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
17902 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
17903 summary buffer for each article.
17906 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
17909 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
17913 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
17916 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
17920 Solve the halting problem.
17929 @section The Manual
17933 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17934 either @code{texi2dvi}
17936 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17937 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17939 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17941 The following conventions have been used:
17946 This is a @samp{string}
17949 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17952 This is a @file{file}
17955 This is a @code{symbol}
17959 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17963 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17966 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17969 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17972 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17973 ever get them confused.
17977 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17978 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17979 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17980 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17981 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17982 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17983 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
17991 @section Terminology
17993 @cindex terminology
17998 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
17999 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18000 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18001 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18002 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18006 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18007 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18008 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18009 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18013 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18017 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18022 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18023 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18024 is all done by the backends.
18028 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18029 default, way of getting news.
18033 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18034 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18039 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18040 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18044 A message that has been posted as news.
18047 @cindex mail message
18048 A message that has been mailed.
18052 A mail message or news article
18056 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18061 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18066 A line from the head of an article.
18070 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18071 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18075 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18076 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18077 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18078 normal @sc{head} format.
18082 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18083 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18084 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18085 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18086 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18087 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18089 @item killed groups
18090 @cindex killed groups
18091 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18092 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18094 @item zombie groups
18095 @cindex zombie groups
18096 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18099 @cindex active file
18100 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18101 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18102 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18105 @cindex bogus groups
18106 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18107 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18108 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18111 @cindex activating groups
18112 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18113 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18114 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18118 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18120 @item select method
18121 @cindex select method
18122 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18125 @item virtual server
18126 @cindex virtual server
18127 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18128 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18129 whole is a virtual server.
18133 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18134 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18137 @item ephemeral groups
18138 @cindex ephemeral groups
18139 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18140 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18141 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18144 @cindex solid groups
18145 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18146 group buffer are solid groups.
18148 @item sparse articles
18149 @cindex sparse articles
18150 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18151 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18155 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18156 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18160 @cindex thread root
18161 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18162 articles in the thread.
18166 An article that has responses.
18170 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18174 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18175 specified by RFC1153.
18181 @node Customization
18182 @section Customization
18183 @cindex general customization
18185 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18186 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18187 for some quite common situations.
18190 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18191 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18192 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18193 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18197 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18198 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18200 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18201 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18202 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18206 @item gnus-read-active-file
18207 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18208 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18209 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18210 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18211 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18213 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18214 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18215 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18216 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18220 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18221 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18223 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18224 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18225 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18229 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18230 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18231 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18232 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18233 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18235 @item gnus-visible-headers
18236 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18237 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18238 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18239 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18241 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18242 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18244 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18245 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18246 gnus-article-hide-signature
18247 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18250 @item gnus-use-full-window
18251 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18252 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18253 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18254 want to read them anyway.
18256 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18257 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18260 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18261 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18262 lines, which might save some time.
18266 @node Little Disk Space
18267 @subsection Little Disk Space
18270 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18271 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18275 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18276 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18277 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18278 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18281 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18282 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18283 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18284 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18285 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18291 @subsection Slow Machine
18292 @cindex slow machine
18294 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18295 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18297 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18298 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18300 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18301 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18302 summary buffer faster.
18304 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18305 processing a bit faster.
18309 @node Troubleshooting
18310 @section Troubleshooting
18311 @cindex troubleshooting
18313 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18321 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18324 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18325 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18329 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18330 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18331 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18332 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18335 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18339 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18340 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18341 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18342 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18343 something like that.
18346 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18349 @cindex reporting bugs
18351 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18353 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18354 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18355 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18356 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18358 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18359 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18360 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18361 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18364 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18365 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18366 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18367 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18368 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18369 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18371 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18372 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18373 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18376 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18377 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18379 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18380 @cindex ding mailing list
18381 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18382 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18386 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
18387 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
18389 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18390 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18391 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18392 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18395 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18396 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18397 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18398 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18399 and general methods of operation.
18402 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18403 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18404 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18405 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18406 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18407 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18408 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18409 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18410 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18414 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18415 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18416 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18417 @cindex utility functions
18419 @cindex internal variables
18421 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18422 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18423 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18427 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18428 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18429 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18431 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18432 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18433 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18435 @item gnus-group-real-name
18436 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18437 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18440 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18441 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18442 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18443 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18445 @item gnus-get-info
18446 @findex gnus-get-info
18447 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18449 @item gnus-group-unread
18450 @findex gnus-group-unread
18451 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18455 @findex gnus-active
18456 The active entry for @var{group}.
18458 @item gnus-set-active
18459 @findex gnus-set-active
18460 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18462 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18463 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18464 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18467 @item gnus-continuum-version
18468 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18469 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18470 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18473 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18474 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18475 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18477 @item gnus-news-group-p
18478 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18479 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18481 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18482 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18483 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18485 @item gnus-server-to-method
18486 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18487 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18489 @item gnus-server-equal
18490 @findex gnus-server-equal
18491 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18493 @item gnus-group-native-p
18494 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18495 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18497 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18498 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18499 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18501 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18502 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18503 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18505 @item group-group-find-parameter
18506 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18507 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18508 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18510 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18511 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18512 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18514 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18515 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18516 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18518 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18519 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18520 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18521 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18524 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18528 @item gnus-read-method
18529 @findex gnus-read-method
18530 Prompts the user for a select method.
18535 @node Backend Interface
18536 @subsection Backend Interface
18538 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18539 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18540 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18541 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18542 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18543 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18545 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18546 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18547 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18548 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18549 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18550 been opened, the function should fail.
18552 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18553 name. Take this example:
18557 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18558 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18561 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18562 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18564 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18565 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18566 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18568 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18569 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18570 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18572 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18573 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18574 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18575 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18576 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18577 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18580 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18581 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18582 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18583 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18586 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18589 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18592 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18593 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18594 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18595 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18596 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18597 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18601 @node Required Backend Functions
18602 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18606 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18608 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18609 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18610 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18611 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18613 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18614 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18615 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18616 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18618 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18619 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18620 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18621 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18622 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18623 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18624 number, do maximum fetches.
18626 Here's an example HEAD:
18629 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18630 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18631 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18632 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18633 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18634 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18635 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18637 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18638 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18639 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18643 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18644 these in the data buffer.
18646 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18650 head = error / valid-head
18651 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18652 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18653 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18654 header = <text> eol
18657 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18658 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18662 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18663 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18664 field = <text except TAB>
18667 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18671 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18673 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18674 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18676 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18677 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18678 server. In fact, it should do so.
18680 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18681 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18684 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18686 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18687 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18690 There should be no data returned.
18693 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18695 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18696 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18697 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18698 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18700 There should be no data returned.
18703 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18705 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18706 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18707 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18708 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18710 There should be no data returned.
18713 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18715 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18717 There should be no data returned.
18720 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18722 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18723 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18724 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18725 it would be nice if that were possible.
18727 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18728 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18729 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18730 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18731 into its article buffer.
18733 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18734 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18735 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18736 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18737 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18738 on successful article retrieval.
18741 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18743 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18744 making @var{group} the current group.
18746 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18749 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18752 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18755 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18756 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18757 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18758 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18759 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18760 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18761 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18762 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18765 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18766 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18767 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18771 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18773 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18774 a no-op on most backends.
18776 There should be no data returned.
18779 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18781 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18784 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18787 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18788 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18791 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18792 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18795 active-file = *active-line
18796 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18798 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18801 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18802 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18803 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18806 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18808 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18809 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18810 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18811 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18812 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18813 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18815 There should be no result data from this function.
18820 @node Optional Backend Functions
18821 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18825 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18827 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18828 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18829 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18831 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18832 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18833 former is in the same format as the data from
18834 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18835 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18838 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18842 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18844 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18845 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18846 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18847 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18848 should return the (altered) group info.
18850 There should be no result data from this function.
18853 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18855 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18856 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18857 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18858 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18859 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18860 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18861 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18862 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18864 There should be no result data from this function.
18867 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18869 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18870 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18871 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18872 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18873 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18875 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18876 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18877 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18880 There should be no result data from this function.
18883 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18885 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18886 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18887 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18888 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18889 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18890 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18891 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18893 There should be no result data from this function.
18896 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18898 The result data from this function should be a description of
18902 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18904 description = <text>
18907 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18909 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18910 groups available on the server.
18913 description-buffer = *description-line
18917 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18919 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18920 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18921 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18924 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18926 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18928 There should be no return data.
18931 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18933 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18934 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18935 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18936 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18937 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18940 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18943 There should be no result data returned.
18946 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18949 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18950 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18952 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18953 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18954 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18955 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18956 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18957 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18959 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18960 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18963 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18964 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18966 There should be no data returned.
18969 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18971 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18972 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18973 this function in short order.
18975 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18976 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18978 There should be no data returned.
18981 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18983 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18984 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18986 There should be no data returned.
18989 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
18991 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
18992 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
18993 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
18995 There should be no data returned.
18998 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19000 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19001 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19003 There should be no data returned.
19008 @node Error Messaging
19009 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19011 @findex nnheader-report
19012 @findex nnheader-get-report
19013 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19014 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19015 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19016 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19017 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19018 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19021 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19023 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19026 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19027 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19028 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19029 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19031 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19032 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19033 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19036 @node Writing New Backends
19037 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19039 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19040 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19041 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19042 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19043 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19046 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19047 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19048 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19050 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19051 package called @code{nnoo}.
19053 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19054 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19060 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19061 parameters. For instance:
19064 (nnoo-declare nndir
19068 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19069 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19072 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19073 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19074 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19076 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19077 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19078 a function in those backends.
19081 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19082 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19083 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19086 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19087 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19088 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19090 @item nnoo-define-basics
19091 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19095 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19099 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19100 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19101 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19103 @item nnoo-map-functions
19104 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19105 functions from the parent backends.
19108 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19109 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19110 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19113 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19114 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19115 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19116 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19119 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19120 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19121 haven't already been defined.
19127 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19131 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19132 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19133 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19138 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19141 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19142 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19146 (require 'nnheader)
19150 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19152 (nnoo-declare nndir
19155 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19156 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19157 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19159 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19160 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19163 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19164 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19165 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19167 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19168 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19170 ;;; Interface functions.
19172 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19174 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19175 (setq nndir-directory
19176 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19178 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19179 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19180 (push `(nndir-current-group
19181 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19183 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19184 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19186 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19188 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19189 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19190 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19191 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19192 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19196 nnmh-status-message
19198 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19204 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19205 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19207 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19208 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19209 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19210 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19212 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19213 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19218 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19221 The abilities can be:
19225 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19227 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19229 This backend supports both mail and news.
19231 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19234 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19235 articles and groups.
19237 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19238 true for almost all backends.
19239 @item prompt-address
19240 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19241 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19242 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19246 @node Mail-like Backends
19247 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19249 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19250 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19251 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19252 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19255 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19256 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19257 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19260 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19261 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19264 This function takes four parameters.
19268 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19271 @item exit-function
19272 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19274 @item temp-directory
19275 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19278 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19279 performed for one group only.
19282 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19283 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19284 find the article number assigned to this article.
19286 The function also uses the following variables:
19287 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19288 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19289 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19290 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19294 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19295 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19299 @node Score File Syntax
19300 @subsection Score File Syntax
19302 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19303 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19304 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19306 Here's a typical score file:
19310 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19317 BNF definition of a score file:
19320 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19321 element = rule / atom
19322 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19323 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19324 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19325 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19327 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19328 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19329 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19330 date-header = "date"
19331 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19332 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19333 score = "nil" / <integer>
19334 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19335 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19336 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19337 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19338 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19339 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19340 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19341 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19342 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19343 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19344 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19345 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19346 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19347 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19348 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19349 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19350 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19351 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19352 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19353 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19354 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19355 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19356 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19357 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19358 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19359 eval = "eval" space <form>
19360 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19363 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19366 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19367 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19368 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19369 one looong line, then that's ok.
19371 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19372 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19376 @subsection Headers
19378 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19379 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19380 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19381 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19383 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19384 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19385 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19386 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19387 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19388 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19389 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19391 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19392 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19393 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
19394 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19395 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19397 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
19404 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19405 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19407 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19408 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19409 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19410 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19412 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19416 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19419 is transformed into
19422 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19425 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19426 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19429 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19432 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19433 is slightly tricky:
19436 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19442 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19445 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19451 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19458 and is equal to the previous range.
19460 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19461 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19462 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19466 range = simple-range / normal-range
19467 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19468 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19469 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19470 number *[ " " contents ]
19473 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19474 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19475 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19476 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19477 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19482 @subsection Group Info
19484 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19485 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19486 describes the group.
19488 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19489 second is a more complex one:
19492 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19494 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19495 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19497 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19500 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19501 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19502 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19503 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19504 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19505 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19506 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19507 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19508 this section is about.
19510 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19511 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19512 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19514 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19517 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19518 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19519 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19520 group = quote <string> quote
19521 ralevel = rank / level
19522 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19523 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19524 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19526 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19527 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19528 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19529 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19532 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19533 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19536 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19537 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19540 @item gnus-info-group
19541 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19542 @findex gnus-info-group
19543 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19544 Get/set the group name.
19546 @item gnus-info-rank
19547 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19548 @findex gnus-info-rank
19549 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19550 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19552 @item gnus-info-level
19553 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19554 @findex gnus-info-level
19555 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19556 Get/set the group level.
19558 @item gnus-info-score
19559 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19560 @findex gnus-info-score
19561 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19562 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19564 @item gnus-info-read
19565 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19566 @findex gnus-info-read
19567 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19568 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19570 @item gnus-info-marks
19571 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19572 @findex gnus-info-marks
19573 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19574 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19576 @item gnus-info-method
19577 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19578 @findex gnus-info-method
19579 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19580 Get/set the group select method.
19582 @item gnus-info-params
19583 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19584 @findex gnus-info-params
19585 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19586 Get/set the group parameters.
19589 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19590 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19592 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19593 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19594 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19595 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19598 @node Extended Interactive
19599 @subsection Extended Interactive
19600 @cindex interactive
19601 @findex gnus-interactive
19603 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19604 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19605 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19608 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19609 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19614 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19615 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19616 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19617 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19618 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19619 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19620 @code{interactive}.
19622 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19627 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19628 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19632 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19633 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19634 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19637 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19641 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19645 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19651 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19652 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19656 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19657 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19658 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19660 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19661 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19662 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19663 Gnus, that's very useful.
19665 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19666 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19667 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19668 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19669 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19670 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19671 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19672 following function:
19675 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19679 (,function ,@@args))
19683 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19684 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19685 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19688 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19689 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19690 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19692 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19693 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19694 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19697 @node Various File Formats
19698 @subsection Various File Formats
19701 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19702 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19706 @node Active File Format
19707 @subsubsection Active File Format
19709 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19710 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19713 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19716 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19717 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19718 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19719 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19720 no.general 1000 900 y
19723 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19726 active = *group-line
19727 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19728 group = <non-white-space string>
19730 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19731 low-number = <positive integer>
19732 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19735 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19736 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19739 @node Newsgroups File Format
19740 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19742 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19743 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19744 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19747 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19748 Here's the definition:
19752 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19753 group = <non-white-space string>
19755 description = <string>
19760 @node Emacs for Heathens
19761 @section Emacs for Heathens
19763 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19764 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19765 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19766 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19767 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19768 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19769 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19773 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19774 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19779 @subsection Keystrokes
19783 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19786 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19789 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19790 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19791 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19792 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19793 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19794 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19796 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19797 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19798 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19799 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19800 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19801 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19802 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19804 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19805 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19806 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19807 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19808 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19809 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19810 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19812 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19813 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19814 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19815 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19816 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19822 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19824 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19825 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19826 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19827 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19829 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19830 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19831 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19832 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19833 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19834 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19835 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19838 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19839 write the following:
19842 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19845 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19846 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19847 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19850 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19851 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19852 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19853 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19854 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19856 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19857 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19858 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19862 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19866 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19869 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19870 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19873 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19876 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19877 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19880 @include gnus-faq.texi