4 @settitle T-gnus 6.17 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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294 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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303 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
305 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
311 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
333 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
334 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
336 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
337 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
338 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
339 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
340 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
341 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
342 License'' in the Emacs manual.
344 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
345 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
346 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
348 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
349 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
350 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
351 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
357 @title T-gnus 6.17 Manual
359 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
362 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
363 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
365 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
367 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
368 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
369 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
370 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
371 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
372 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
373 License'' in the Emacs manual.
375 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
376 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
377 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
379 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
380 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
381 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
382 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
391 @top The gnus Newsreader
395 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
396 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
397 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
400 T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
401 T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
402 or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
403 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
404 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
405 if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
407 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.17.
418 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
419 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
421 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
422 being accused of plagiarism:
424 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
425 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
426 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
427 can even read news with it!
429 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
430 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
431 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
432 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
433 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
439 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
440 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
441 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
442 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
443 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
444 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
445 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
446 * Various:: General purpose settings.
447 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
448 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
449 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
450 * Key Index:: Key Index.
452 Other related manuals
454 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
455 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
456 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
457 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
458 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
461 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
465 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
466 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
467 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
468 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
469 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
470 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
471 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
472 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
473 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
474 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
475 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
479 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
480 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
481 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
485 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
486 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
487 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
488 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
489 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
490 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
491 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
492 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
493 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
494 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
495 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
496 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
497 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
498 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
499 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
500 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
501 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
505 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
506 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
507 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
511 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
512 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
513 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
514 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
515 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
519 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
520 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
521 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
522 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
523 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
527 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
528 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
529 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
530 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
531 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
532 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
533 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
534 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
535 * Threading:: How threads are made.
536 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
537 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
538 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
539 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
540 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
541 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
542 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
543 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
544 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
545 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
546 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
547 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
548 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
549 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
550 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
551 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
552 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
553 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
554 or reselecting the current group.
555 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
556 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
557 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
558 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
560 Summary Buffer Format
562 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
563 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
564 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
565 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
569 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
570 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
572 Reply, Followup and Post
574 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
575 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
576 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
577 * Canceling and Superseding::
581 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
582 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
583 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
587 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
588 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
589 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
593 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
594 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
596 Customizing Threading
598 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
599 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
600 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
601 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
605 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
606 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
607 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
608 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
609 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
610 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
614 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
615 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
616 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
620 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
621 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
622 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
623 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
624 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
625 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
626 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
627 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
628 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
629 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
630 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
632 Alternative Approaches
634 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
635 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
637 Various Summary Stuff
639 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
640 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
641 * Summary Generation Commands::
642 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
646 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
647 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
648 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
649 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
650 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
654 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
655 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
656 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
657 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
658 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
659 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
660 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
661 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
665 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
666 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
667 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
668 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
669 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
670 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
671 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
672 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
676 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
677 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
678 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
679 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
680 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
681 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
682 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
686 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
687 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
691 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
692 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
693 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
697 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
698 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
699 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
700 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
701 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
702 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
703 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
704 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
705 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
706 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
707 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
708 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
709 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
713 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
714 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
715 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
717 Choosing a Mail Back End
719 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
720 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
721 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
722 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
723 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
724 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
725 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
730 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
731 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
732 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
733 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
734 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
735 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
739 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
740 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
741 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
742 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
743 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
744 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
748 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
749 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
750 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
751 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
752 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
756 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
760 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
761 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
762 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
766 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
767 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
771 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
772 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
773 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
774 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
775 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
776 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
777 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
778 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
779 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
780 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
781 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
782 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
783 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
787 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
788 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
789 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
793 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
794 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
795 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
799 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
800 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
801 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
802 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
803 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
804 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
805 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
806 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
807 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
808 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
809 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
810 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
811 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
812 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
813 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
814 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
818 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
819 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
820 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
824 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
825 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
826 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
827 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
828 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
829 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
830 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
831 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
832 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
833 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
834 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
835 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
836 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
837 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
838 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
839 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
840 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
841 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
842 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
843 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
847 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
848 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
849 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
850 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
851 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
852 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
853 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
854 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
858 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
859 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
860 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
861 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
862 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
866 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
867 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
868 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
869 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
870 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
871 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
873 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
875 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
876 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
877 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
878 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
879 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
881 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
882 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
884 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
886 * ifile spam filtering::
887 * spam-stat spam filtering::
889 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
891 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
893 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
894 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
895 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
899 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
900 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
901 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
902 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
903 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
904 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
905 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
906 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
907 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
911 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
912 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
913 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
914 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
915 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
916 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
917 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
918 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
919 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
923 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
924 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
925 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
926 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
927 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
928 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
929 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
933 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
934 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
935 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
936 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
940 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
941 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
942 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
943 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
944 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
945 * Group Info:: The group info format.
946 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
947 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
948 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
952 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
953 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
954 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
955 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
956 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
957 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
961 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
962 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
966 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
967 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
973 @chapter Starting gnus
978 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
979 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
982 @findex gnus-other-frame
983 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
984 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
985 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
987 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
988 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
989 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
991 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
992 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
995 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
996 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
997 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
998 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
999 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
1000 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
1001 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
1002 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
1003 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
1004 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1005 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1009 @node Finding the News
1010 @section Finding the News
1011 @cindex finding news
1013 @vindex gnus-select-method
1015 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
1016 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1017 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1018 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1021 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1022 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1025 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1028 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1031 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1034 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1035 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1036 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1038 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1040 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1041 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1042 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1043 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1044 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1045 If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1046 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1048 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1049 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1050 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1051 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1053 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1054 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1055 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1056 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1057 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1058 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1059 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1060 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1061 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1064 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1066 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1067 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1068 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1069 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1070 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1071 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1073 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1075 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1076 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1077 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1078 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1079 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1080 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1083 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1084 you would typically set this variable to
1087 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1091 @node The First Time
1092 @section The First Time
1093 @cindex first time usage
1095 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1096 be subscribed by default.
1098 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1099 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1100 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1101 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1104 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1105 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1106 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1108 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1109 help you with most common problems.
1111 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1112 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1116 @node The Server is Down
1117 @section The Server is Down
1118 @cindex server errors
1120 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1121 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1122 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1124 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1125 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1126 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1127 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1128 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1129 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1130 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1132 @findex gnus-no-server
1133 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1135 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1136 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1137 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1138 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1139 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1140 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1141 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1145 @section Slave Gnusae
1148 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1149 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1150 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1151 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1153 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1154 @file{.newsrc} file.
1156 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1157 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1158 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1159 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1160 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1161 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1162 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1165 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1166 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1167 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1168 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1169 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1170 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1171 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1172 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1174 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1175 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1177 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1178 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1179 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1180 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1181 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1183 @node Fetching a Group
1184 @section Fetching a Group
1185 @cindex fetching a group
1187 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1188 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1189 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1190 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1191 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1192 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1198 @cindex subscription
1200 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1201 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1202 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1203 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1204 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1205 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1206 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1207 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1208 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1211 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1212 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1213 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1217 @node Checking New Groups
1218 @subsection Checking New Groups
1220 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1221 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1222 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1223 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1224 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1225 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1226 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1227 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1228 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1229 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1231 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1232 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1233 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1234 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1235 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1236 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1237 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1238 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1239 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1240 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1241 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1243 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1244 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1245 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1246 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1247 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1248 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1251 @node Subscription Methods
1252 @subsection Subscription Methods
1254 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1255 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1256 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1258 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1259 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1261 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1265 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1266 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1267 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1268 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1269 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1273 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1274 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1276 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1277 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1278 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1280 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1282 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1283 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1284 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1285 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1286 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1287 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1288 up. Or something like that.
1290 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1291 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1292 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1293 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1294 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1296 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1297 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1298 Kill all new groups.
1300 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1301 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1302 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1303 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1304 topic parameter that looks like
1310 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1313 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1318 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1319 A closely related variable is
1320 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1321 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1322 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1323 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1326 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1327 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1328 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1329 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1332 @node Filtering New Groups
1333 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1335 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1336 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1337 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1340 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1343 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1344 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1345 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1346 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1347 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1348 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1349 subscribing these groups.
1350 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1351 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1353 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1354 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1355 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1356 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1357 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1358 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1359 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1360 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1362 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1363 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1364 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1365 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1366 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1367 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1368 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1369 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1370 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1371 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1374 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1375 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1378 @node Changing Servers
1379 @section Changing Servers
1380 @cindex changing servers
1382 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1383 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1384 very flaky and you want to use another.
1386 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1387 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1391 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1392 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1393 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1394 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1397 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1398 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1399 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1400 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1402 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1403 @findex gnus-change-server
1404 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1405 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1406 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1407 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1408 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1410 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1411 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1412 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1413 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1414 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1416 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1417 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1418 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1419 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1420 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1421 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1423 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1424 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1425 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1426 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1428 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1429 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1430 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1431 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1432 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1433 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1434 cache for all groups).
1438 @section Startup Files
1439 @cindex startup files
1444 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1445 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1447 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1448 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1449 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1450 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1451 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1452 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1453 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1455 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1456 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1457 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1458 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1459 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1460 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1462 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1463 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1464 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1465 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1466 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1467 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1468 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1469 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1470 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1471 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1473 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1474 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1475 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1476 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1477 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1478 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1479 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1480 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1481 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1482 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1483 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1484 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1486 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1487 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1488 @vindex version-control
1489 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1490 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1491 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1492 If you want version control for this file, set
1493 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1494 @code{version-control} variable.
1496 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1497 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1498 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1499 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1500 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1501 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1502 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1503 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1504 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1505 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1508 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1509 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1511 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1512 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1515 @vindex gnus-init-file
1516 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1517 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1518 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1519 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1520 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1521 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1522 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1523 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1524 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1525 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1531 @cindex dribble file
1534 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1535 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1536 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1537 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1538 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1541 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1542 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1545 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1546 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1547 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1549 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1550 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1551 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1552 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1553 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1554 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1556 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1557 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1558 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1561 @node The Active File
1562 @section The Active File
1564 @cindex ignored groups
1566 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1567 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1568 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1570 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1571 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1572 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1573 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1574 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1575 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1576 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1579 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1580 @c if you set it to anything else.
1582 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1584 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1585 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1586 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1588 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1589 you actually subscribe to.
1591 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1592 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1593 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1594 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1596 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1597 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1598 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1599 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1600 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1601 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1603 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1604 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1605 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1608 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1609 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1610 @acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1611 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1612 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1613 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1615 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1616 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1618 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1619 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1621 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1622 secondary select methods.
1625 @node Startup Variables
1626 @section Startup Variables
1630 @item gnus-load-hook
1631 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1632 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1633 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1634 times you start gnus.
1636 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1637 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1638 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1640 @item gnus-startup-hook
1641 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1642 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1644 @item gnus-started-hook
1645 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1646 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1649 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1650 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1651 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1652 generating the group buffer.
1654 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1655 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1656 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1657 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1658 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1659 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1660 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1661 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1663 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1664 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1665 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1666 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1667 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1668 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1670 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1671 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1672 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1674 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1675 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1676 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1678 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1679 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1680 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1681 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1687 @chapter Group Buffer
1688 @cindex group buffer
1690 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1692 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1693 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1694 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1695 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1696 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1697 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1698 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1699 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1700 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1701 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1702 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1703 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1704 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1705 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1706 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1707 @c human rights at 9...
1710 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1711 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1712 long as gnus is active.
1716 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1717 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1718 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1719 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1720 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1721 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1722 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1723 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1729 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1730 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1731 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1732 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1733 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1734 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1735 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1736 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1737 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1738 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1739 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1740 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1741 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1742 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1743 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1744 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1745 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1749 @node Group Buffer Format
1750 @section Group Buffer Format
1753 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1754 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1755 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1759 @node Group Line Specification
1760 @subsection Group Line Specification
1761 @cindex group buffer format
1763 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1764 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1766 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1769 25: news.announce.newusers
1770 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1775 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1776 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1777 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1778 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1780 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1781 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1782 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1783 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1784 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1785 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1787 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1789 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1790 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1791 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1792 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1793 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1795 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1796 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1797 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1799 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1804 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1807 Whether the group is subscribed.
1810 Level of subscribedness.
1813 Number of unread articles.
1816 Number of dormant articles.
1819 Number of ticked articles.
1822 Number of read articles.
1825 Number of unseen articles.
1828 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1829 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1831 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1832 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1833 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1834 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1835 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1836 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1837 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1838 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1841 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1844 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1853 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1854 comment element in the group parameters.
1857 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1858 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1859 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1863 @samp{m} if moderated.
1866 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1872 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1878 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1882 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1885 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1886 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1887 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1888 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1889 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1892 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1894 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1898 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1901 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1905 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1906 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1907 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1908 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1909 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1910 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1915 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1916 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1917 group, or a bogus native group.
1920 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1921 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1922 @cindex group mode line
1924 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1925 The mode line can be changed by setting
1926 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1927 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1931 The native news server.
1933 The native select method.
1937 @node Group Highlighting
1938 @subsection Group Highlighting
1939 @cindex highlighting
1940 @cindex group highlighting
1942 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1943 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1944 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1945 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1946 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1948 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1952 (cond (window-system
1953 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1954 (defface my-group-face-1
1955 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1956 (defface my-group-face-2
1957 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1958 "Second group face")
1959 (defface my-group-face-3
1960 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1961 (defface my-group-face-4
1962 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1963 (defface my-group-face-5
1964 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1966 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1967 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1968 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1969 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1970 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1971 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1974 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1976 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1983 The number of unread articles in the group.
1987 Whether the group is a mail group.
1989 The level of the group.
1991 The score of the group.
1993 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1995 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1996 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1998 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1999 topic being inserted.
2002 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2003 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
2004 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2006 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2007 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2008 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2009 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2010 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2013 @node Group Maneuvering
2014 @section Group Maneuvering
2015 @cindex group movement
2017 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2018 expected, hopefully.
2024 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2025 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2026 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2032 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2033 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2034 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2039 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2043 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2044 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2048 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2049 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2050 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2054 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2055 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2056 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2059 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2065 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2066 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2067 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2072 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2073 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2074 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2078 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2079 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2080 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2083 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2084 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2085 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2086 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2090 @node Selecting a Group
2091 @section Selecting a Group
2092 @cindex group selection
2097 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2098 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2099 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2100 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2101 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2102 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2103 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2104 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2105 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2106 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2108 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2109 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2110 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2112 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2113 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2118 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2119 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2120 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2121 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2122 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2126 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2127 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2128 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2129 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2130 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2131 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2132 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2133 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2134 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2135 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2138 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2139 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2140 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2141 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2142 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2145 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2146 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2147 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2148 doing any processing of its contents
2149 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2150 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2151 manner will have no permanent effects.
2155 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2156 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2157 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2158 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2159 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2160 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2161 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2162 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2163 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2164 most recently will be fetched.
2166 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2167 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2168 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2171 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2172 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2173 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2174 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2175 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2176 Which article this is is controlled by the
2177 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2183 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2186 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2189 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2191 @item unseen-or-unread
2192 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2193 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2197 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2201 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2202 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2204 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2205 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2206 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2207 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2211 @node Subscription Commands
2212 @section Subscription Commands
2213 @cindex subscription
2221 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2222 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2223 Toggle subscription to the current group
2224 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2230 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2231 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2232 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2233 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2239 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2240 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2241 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2247 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2248 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2251 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2252 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2253 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2254 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2255 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2261 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2262 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2266 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2267 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2270 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2271 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2272 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2273 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2274 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2275 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2276 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2277 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2278 @file{.newsrc} file.
2282 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2292 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2293 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2294 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2295 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2296 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2297 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2302 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2303 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2304 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2308 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2309 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2310 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2312 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2313 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2314 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2315 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2316 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2317 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2324 @section Group Levels
2328 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2329 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2330 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2331 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2332 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2334 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2340 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2341 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2342 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2343 prompted for a level.
2346 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2347 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2348 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2349 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2350 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2351 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2352 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2353 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2354 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2355 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2356 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2357 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2358 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2359 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2360 reasons of efficiency.
2362 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2363 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2365 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2366 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2367 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2368 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2369 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2370 groups are hidden, in a way.
2372 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2373 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2374 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2375 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2376 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2377 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2379 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2380 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2381 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2382 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2383 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2384 list of killed groups.)
2386 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2387 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2388 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2390 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2391 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2392 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2393 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2394 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2395 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2396 relevant valid ranges.
2398 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2399 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2400 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2401 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2402 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2403 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2406 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2407 one with the best level.
2409 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2410 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2411 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2414 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2415 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2416 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2417 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2420 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2421 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2422 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2423 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2425 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2426 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2427 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2428 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2429 to 5. The default is 6.
2433 @section Group Score
2438 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2439 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2440 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2443 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2444 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2445 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2446 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2447 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2448 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2449 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2450 least significant part.))
2452 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2453 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2454 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2455 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2456 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2457 action after each summary exit, you can add
2458 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2459 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2460 slow things down somewhat.
2463 @node Marking Groups
2464 @section Marking Groups
2465 @cindex marking groups
2467 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2468 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2469 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2470 bidding on those groups.
2472 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2473 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2474 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2482 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2483 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2489 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2490 Remove the mark from the current group
2491 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2496 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2501 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2505 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2506 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2510 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2511 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2512 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2515 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2517 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2518 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2519 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2520 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2521 the command to be executed.
2524 @node Foreign Groups
2525 @section Foreign Groups
2526 @cindex foreign groups
2528 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2529 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2530 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2531 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2538 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2539 @cindex making groups
2540 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2541 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2542 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2546 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2547 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2548 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2552 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2553 @cindex renaming groups
2554 Rename the current group to something else
2555 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2556 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2562 @findex gnus-group-customize
2563 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2567 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2568 @cindex renaming groups
2569 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2570 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2574 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2575 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2576 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2580 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2581 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2582 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2586 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2588 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2589 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2594 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2595 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2599 @cindex (ding) archive
2600 @cindex archive group
2601 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2602 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2603 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2604 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2605 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2606 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2607 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2611 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2613 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2614 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2615 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2616 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2620 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2622 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2623 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2624 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2628 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2629 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2631 Make a group based on some file or other
2632 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2633 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2634 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2635 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2636 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2637 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2638 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2639 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2640 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2644 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2645 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2646 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2647 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2651 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2655 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2656 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2657 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2658 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2659 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2660 @xref{Web Searches}.
2662 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2663 to a particular group by using a match string like
2664 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2668 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2669 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2670 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2674 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2675 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2676 This function will delete the current group
2677 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2678 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2679 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2680 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2681 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2685 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2686 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2687 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2691 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2692 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2693 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2696 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2699 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2700 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2701 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2702 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2703 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2704 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2708 @node Group Parameters
2709 @section Group Parameters
2710 @cindex group parameters
2712 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2713 Here's an example group parameter list:
2716 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2720 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2721 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2722 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2723 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2725 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2726 is an alist of regexps and values.
2728 The following group parameters can be used:
2733 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2736 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2739 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2740 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2741 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2742 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2743 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2745 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2746 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2747 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2748 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2749 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2750 list address instead.
2752 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2756 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2759 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2762 It is totally ignored
2763 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2764 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2766 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2767 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2768 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2769 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2770 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2772 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2773 @cindex mail list groups
2774 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2775 entering summary buffer.
2777 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2782 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2783 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2784 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2785 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2786 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2787 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2788 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2789 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2792 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2793 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2796 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2797 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2801 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2802 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2803 of whether it has any unread articles.
2805 @item broken-reply-to
2806 @cindex broken-reply-to
2807 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2808 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2809 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2810 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2811 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2812 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2816 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2817 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2821 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2822 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2823 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2828 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2829 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2830 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2831 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2832 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2833 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2834 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2836 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2837 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2838 doesn't accept articles.
2842 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2843 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2844 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2846 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2849 @cindex total-expire
2850 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2851 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2852 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2853 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2856 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2860 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2861 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2862 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2863 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2864 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2865 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2866 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2869 @cindex expiry-target
2870 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2871 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2874 @cindex score file group parameter
2875 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2876 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2877 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2880 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2881 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2882 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2883 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2886 @cindex admin-address
2887 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2888 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2889 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2890 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2894 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2895 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2899 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2902 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2903 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2906 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2910 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2912 Here are some examples:
2916 Display only unread articles.
2919 Display everything except expirable articles.
2921 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2922 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2926 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2927 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2928 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2929 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2930 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2934 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2935 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2936 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2940 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2941 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2942 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2946 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2947 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2948 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2950 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2952 @item ignored-charsets
2953 @cindex ignored-charset
2954 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2955 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2956 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2958 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2961 @cindex posting-style
2962 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2963 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2964 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2965 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2966 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2968 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2969 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2970 like this in the group parameters:
2975 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2976 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2981 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2982 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2986 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2987 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2988 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2989 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2990 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2994 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2995 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2996 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2997 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2999 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3000 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3001 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3002 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3005 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
3006 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
3010 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3011 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3013 @item (agent parameters)
3014 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3015 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3016 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3017 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3018 minimize the configuration effort.
3020 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3021 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3022 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3023 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3024 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3025 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3026 @code{eval}ed there.
3028 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3029 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3030 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3031 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3032 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3033 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3034 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3035 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3038 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3041 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3042 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3043 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3046 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3049 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3050 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3051 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3052 into the group parameters for the group.
3054 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3055 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3056 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3057 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3058 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3062 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3063 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3064 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3065 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3066 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3068 @vindex gnus-parameters
3069 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3070 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3074 (setq gnus-parameters
3076 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3077 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3078 (gnus-summary-line-format
3079 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3083 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3087 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3091 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3094 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3095 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3098 @node Listing Groups
3099 @section Listing Groups
3100 @cindex group listing
3102 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3110 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3111 List all groups that have unread articles
3112 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3113 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3114 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3115 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3122 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3123 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3124 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3125 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3126 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3127 unsubscribed groups).
3131 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3132 List all unread groups on a specific level
3133 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3134 with no unread articles.
3138 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3139 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3140 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3141 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3146 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3147 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3151 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3152 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3153 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3157 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3158 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3162 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3163 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3164 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3165 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3166 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3167 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3168 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3169 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3173 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3174 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3175 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3179 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3180 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3181 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3185 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3186 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3190 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3191 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3195 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3196 List groups limited within the current selection
3197 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3201 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3202 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3206 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3207 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3211 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3212 @cindex visible group parameter
3213 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3214 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3215 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3216 get the same effect.
3218 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3219 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3220 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3221 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3222 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3225 @node Sorting Groups
3226 @section Sorting Groups
3227 @cindex sorting groups
3229 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3230 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3231 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3232 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3233 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3234 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3239 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3240 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3241 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3243 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3244 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3245 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3247 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3249 Sort by group level.
3251 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3252 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3253 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3255 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3256 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3257 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3258 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3260 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3261 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3262 Sort by number of unread articles.
3264 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3265 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3266 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3268 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3269 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3270 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3275 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3276 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3280 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3281 some sorting criteria:
3285 @kindex G S a (Group)
3286 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3287 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3288 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3291 @kindex G S u (Group)
3292 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3293 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3294 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3297 @kindex G S l (Group)
3298 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3299 Sort the group buffer by group level
3300 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3303 @kindex G S v (Group)
3304 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3305 Sort the group buffer by group score
3306 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3309 @kindex G S r (Group)
3310 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3311 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3312 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3315 @kindex G S m (Group)
3316 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3317 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3318 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3321 @kindex G S n (Group)
3322 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3323 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3324 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3328 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3329 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3331 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3332 commands will sort in reverse order.
3334 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3338 @kindex G P a (Group)
3339 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3340 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3341 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3344 @kindex G P u (Group)
3345 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3346 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3347 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3350 @kindex G P l (Group)
3351 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3352 Sort the groups by group level
3353 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3356 @kindex G P v (Group)
3357 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3358 Sort the groups by group score
3359 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3362 @kindex G P r (Group)
3363 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3364 Sort the groups by group rank
3365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3368 @kindex G P m (Group)
3369 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3370 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3374 @kindex G P n (Group)
3375 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3376 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3380 @kindex G P s (Group)
3381 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3382 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3386 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3390 @node Group Maintenance
3391 @section Group Maintenance
3392 @cindex bogus groups
3397 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3398 Find bogus groups and delete them
3399 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3403 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3404 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3405 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3406 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3407 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3411 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3412 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3413 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3414 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3415 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3416 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3419 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3420 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3421 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3422 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3427 @node Browse Foreign Server
3428 @section Browse Foreign Server
3429 @cindex foreign servers
3430 @cindex browsing servers
3435 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3436 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3437 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3438 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3441 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3442 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3443 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3444 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3446 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3451 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3452 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3456 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3457 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3460 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3461 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3462 Enter the current group and display the first article
3463 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3466 @kindex RET (Browse)
3467 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3468 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3472 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3473 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3474 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3480 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3481 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3485 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3486 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3490 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3491 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3492 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3497 @section Exiting gnus
3498 @cindex exiting gnus
3500 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3505 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3506 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3507 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3508 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3512 @findex gnus-group-exit
3513 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3514 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3518 @findex gnus-group-quit
3519 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3520 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3523 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3524 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3525 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3526 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3527 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3528 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3534 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3535 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3536 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3542 @section Group Topics
3545 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3546 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3547 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3548 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3549 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3550 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3554 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3555 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3566 2: alt.religion.emacs
3569 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3571 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3572 13: comp.sources.unix
3575 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3577 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3578 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3579 is a toggling command.)
3581 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3582 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3583 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3584 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3587 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3588 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3589 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3592 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3596 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3597 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3598 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3599 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3600 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3604 @node Topic Commands
3605 @subsection Topic Commands
3606 @cindex topic commands
3608 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3609 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3610 definitions slightly.
3612 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3613 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3614 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3615 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3616 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3617 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3619 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3626 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3627 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3628 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3632 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3634 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3635 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3636 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3637 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3640 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3641 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3642 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3643 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3647 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3648 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3649 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3650 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3656 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3657 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3658 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3662 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3663 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3664 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3667 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3668 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3669 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3670 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3671 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3673 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3674 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3678 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3679 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3686 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3688 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3689 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3690 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3691 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3692 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3693 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3697 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3703 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3704 Move the current group to some other topic
3705 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3706 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3710 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3711 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3715 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3716 Copy the current group to some other topic
3717 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3718 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3722 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3723 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3724 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3728 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3729 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3730 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3734 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3735 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3736 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3737 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3738 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3739 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3740 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3743 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3744 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3748 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3749 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3750 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3754 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3755 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3756 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3760 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3761 Toggle hiding empty topics
3762 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3766 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3767 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3768 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3769 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3772 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3773 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3774 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3775 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3776 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3779 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3780 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3781 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3782 expiry process (if any)
3783 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3787 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3788 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3791 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3792 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3793 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3797 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3798 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3799 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3802 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3803 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3804 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3807 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3808 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3809 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3813 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3814 @cindex group parameters
3815 @cindex topic parameters
3817 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3818 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3823 @node Topic Variables
3824 @subsection Topic Variables
3825 @cindex topic variables
3827 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3828 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3830 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3831 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3832 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3845 Number of groups in the topic.
3847 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3849 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3852 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3853 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3854 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3857 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3858 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3860 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3861 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3862 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3866 @subsection Topic Sorting
3867 @cindex topic sorting
3869 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3875 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3876 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3877 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3878 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3881 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3882 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3883 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3884 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3887 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3888 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3889 Sort the current topic by group level
3890 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3893 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3894 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3895 Sort the current topic by group score
3896 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3899 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3900 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3901 Sort the current topic by group rank
3902 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3905 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3906 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3907 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3908 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3911 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3912 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3913 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3914 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3917 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3918 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3919 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3920 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3921 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3925 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3926 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3930 @node Topic Topology
3931 @subsection Topic Topology
3932 @cindex topic topology
3935 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3942 2: alt.religion.emacs
3945 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3947 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3948 13: comp.sources.unix
3952 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3953 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3954 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3959 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3960 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3964 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3965 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3966 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3967 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3968 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3969 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3971 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3972 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3973 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3976 @node Topic Parameters
3977 @subsection Topic Parameters
3978 @cindex topic parameters
3980 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3981 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3982 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3983 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3984 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3986 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3991 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3992 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3993 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3996 @item subscribe-level
3997 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3998 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3999 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4003 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4004 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4005 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4006 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4013 2: alt.religion.emacs
4017 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4019 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4020 13: comp.sources.unix
4025 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4026 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4027 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4028 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4029 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4030 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4032 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4033 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4034 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4035 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4036 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4038 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4039 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4040 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4041 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4042 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4043 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4044 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4045 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4048 @node Misc Group Stuff
4049 @section Misc Group Stuff
4052 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4053 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4054 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4055 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4056 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4063 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4064 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4065 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4069 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4070 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4071 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4072 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4073 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4074 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4075 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4079 @findex gnus-group-mail
4080 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4081 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4082 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4083 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4087 @findex gnus-group-news
4088 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4089 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4090 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4092 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4093 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4094 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4095 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4096 for this to work though.
4100 Variables for the group buffer:
4104 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4105 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4106 is called after the group buffer has been
4109 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4110 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4111 is called after the group buffer is
4112 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4115 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4116 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4117 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4118 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4120 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4121 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4122 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4123 whether they are empty or not.
4125 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4126 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4127 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4128 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4132 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4133 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4136 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4137 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4138 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4139 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4140 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4141 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4142 default is @code{nil}.
4146 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4147 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4152 @node Scanning New Messages
4153 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4154 @cindex new messages
4155 @cindex scanning new news
4161 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4162 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4163 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4164 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4165 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4166 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4171 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4172 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4173 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4174 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4175 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4176 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4177 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4179 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4180 @cindex activating groups
4182 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4183 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4188 @findex gnus-group-restart
4189 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4190 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4191 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4195 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4196 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4198 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4199 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4203 @node Group Information
4204 @subsection Group Information
4205 @cindex group information
4206 @cindex information on groups
4213 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4214 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4217 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4218 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4219 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4220 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4221 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4222 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4223 used for fetching the file.
4225 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4226 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4230 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4231 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4233 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4234 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4237 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4238 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4239 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4243 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4244 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4245 @cindex control message
4246 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4247 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4248 group if given a prefix argument.
4250 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4251 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4252 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4253 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4255 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4256 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4257 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4261 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4263 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4264 @cindex describing groups
4265 @cindex group description
4266 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4267 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4268 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4272 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4273 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4274 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4281 @findex gnus-version
4282 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4286 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4287 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4290 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4293 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4294 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4298 @node Group Timestamp
4299 @subsection Group Timestamp
4301 @cindex group timestamps
4303 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4304 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4305 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4308 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4311 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4313 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4314 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4317 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4318 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4321 This will result in lines looking like:
4324 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4325 0: custom 19961002T012713
4328 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4329 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4333 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4334 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4337 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4338 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4342 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4343 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4344 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4345 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4347 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4353 @subsection File Commands
4354 @cindex file commands
4360 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4361 @vindex gnus-init-file
4362 @cindex reading init file
4363 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4364 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4368 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4369 @cindex saving .newsrc
4370 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4371 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4372 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4375 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4376 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4377 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4382 @node Sieve Commands
4383 @subsection Sieve Commands
4384 @cindex group sieve commands
4386 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4387 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4388 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4389 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4390 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4392 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4393 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4394 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4395 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4396 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4397 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4398 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4399 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4400 regenerate the Sieve script.
4402 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4403 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4404 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4405 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4406 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4407 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4408 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4409 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4410 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4411 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4414 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4415 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4420 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4426 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4427 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4428 @cindex generating sieve script
4429 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4430 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4434 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4435 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4436 @cindex updating sieve script
4437 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4438 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4439 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4444 @node Summary Buffer
4445 @chapter Summary Buffer
4446 @cindex summary buffer
4448 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4449 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4451 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4452 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4454 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4457 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4458 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4459 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4460 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4461 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4462 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4463 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4464 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4465 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4466 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4467 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4468 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4469 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4470 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4471 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4472 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4473 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4474 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4475 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4476 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4477 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4478 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4479 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4480 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4481 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4482 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4483 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4484 or reselecting the current group.
4485 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4486 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4487 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4488 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4492 @node Summary Buffer Format
4493 @section Summary Buffer Format
4494 @cindex summary buffer format
4498 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4499 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4500 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4506 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4507 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4508 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4509 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4512 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4513 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4514 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4515 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4516 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4517 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4518 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4519 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4520 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4521 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4522 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4523 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4524 other function instead:
4527 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4528 'mail-extract-address-components)
4531 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4532 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4533 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4534 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4537 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4538 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4540 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4541 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4542 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4543 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4544 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4546 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4547 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4548 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4549 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4550 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4551 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4553 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4555 The following format specification characters and extended format
4556 specification(s) are understood:
4562 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4563 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4565 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4566 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4567 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4569 Full @code{From} header.
4571 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4573 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4576 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4577 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4578 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4579 may be more thorough.
4581 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4584 Number of lines in the article.
4586 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4587 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4589 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4590 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4592 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4594 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4595 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4608 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4609 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4610 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4611 line-drawing glyphs.
4613 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4614 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4615 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4616 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4618 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4619 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4620 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4621 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4623 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4624 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4625 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4626 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4628 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4629 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4630 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4632 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4633 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4634 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4636 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4637 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4638 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4640 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4641 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4642 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4647 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4648 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4650 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4651 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4653 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4654 for adopted articles.
4656 One space for each thread level.
4658 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4660 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4663 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4664 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4665 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4668 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4670 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4671 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4672 default level. If the difference between
4673 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4674 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4682 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4684 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4690 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4691 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4693 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4694 article has any children.
4700 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4701 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4703 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4704 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4705 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4706 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4707 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4708 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4711 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4712 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4713 There can only be one such area.
4715 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4716 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4717 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4718 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4719 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4720 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4722 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4723 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4725 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4728 @node To From Newsgroups
4729 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4733 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4734 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4735 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4736 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4737 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4741 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4742 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4743 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4747 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4748 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4751 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4752 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4755 @findex gnus-extra-header
4756 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4757 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4758 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4761 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4765 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4766 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4767 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4768 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4769 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4770 headers are used instead.
4774 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4775 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4776 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4777 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4778 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4779 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4782 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4783 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4784 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4785 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4787 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4791 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4793 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4794 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4795 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4796 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4800 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4803 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4804 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4807 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4808 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4809 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4815 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4816 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4819 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4820 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4822 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4823 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4824 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4825 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4827 Here are the elements you can play with:
4833 Unprefixed group name.
4835 Current article number.
4837 Current article score.
4841 Number of unread articles in this group.
4843 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4846 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4847 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4848 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4849 and no unselected ones.
4851 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4852 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4854 Subject of the current article.
4856 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4858 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4860 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4862 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4864 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4866 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4870 @node Summary Highlighting
4871 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4875 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4876 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4877 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4878 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4879 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4881 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4882 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4883 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4884 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4886 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4887 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4888 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4889 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4891 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4892 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4893 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4894 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4895 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4896 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4899 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4900 ((> score default) . bold))
4902 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4903 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4907 @node Summary Maneuvering
4908 @section Summary Maneuvering
4909 @cindex summary movement
4911 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4912 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4914 None of these commands select articles.
4919 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4920 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4921 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4922 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4923 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4927 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4928 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4929 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4930 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4931 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4934 @kindex G g (Summary)
4935 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4936 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4937 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4940 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4941 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4942 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4943 to the group buffer.
4945 Variables related to summary movement:
4949 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4950 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4951 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4952 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4953 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4954 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4955 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4956 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4957 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4958 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4959 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4960 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4961 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4962 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4964 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4965 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4966 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4967 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4968 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4969 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4970 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4972 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4974 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4975 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4976 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4977 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4978 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4980 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4981 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4982 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4983 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4984 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4985 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4986 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4987 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4990 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4991 the given number of lines from the top.
4996 @node Choosing Articles
4997 @section Choosing Articles
4998 @cindex selecting articles
5001 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5002 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5006 @node Choosing Commands
5007 @subsection Choosing Commands
5009 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5010 and they all select and display an article.
5012 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5013 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5017 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5019 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5020 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5022 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5023 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5024 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5029 @kindex G n (Summary)
5030 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5031 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5032 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5037 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5038 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5039 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5044 @kindex G N (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5046 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5051 @kindex G P (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5053 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5056 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5058 Go to the next article with the same subject
5059 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5062 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5063 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5064 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5065 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5069 @kindex G f (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5072 Go to the first unread article
5073 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5077 @kindex G b (Summary)
5079 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5080 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5081 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5082 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5087 @kindex G l (Summary)
5088 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5089 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5092 @kindex G o (Summary)
5093 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5095 @cindex article history
5096 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5097 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5098 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5099 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5100 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5101 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5106 @kindex G j (Summary)
5107 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5108 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5109 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5114 @node Choosing Variables
5115 @subsection Choosing Variables
5117 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5120 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5121 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5122 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5123 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5124 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5125 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5127 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5128 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5129 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5130 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5131 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5132 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5134 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5135 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5136 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5137 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5138 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5139 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5140 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5141 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5142 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5143 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5144 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5145 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5146 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5147 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5152 @node Paging the Article
5153 @section Scrolling the Article
5154 @cindex article scrolling
5159 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5160 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5161 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5162 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5163 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5165 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5166 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5167 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5168 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5169 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5170 what is considered uninteresting with
5171 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5172 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5175 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5177 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5180 @kindex RET (Summary)
5181 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5182 Scroll the current article one line forward
5183 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5186 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5187 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5188 Scroll the current article one line backward
5189 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5193 @kindex A g (Summary)
5195 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5196 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5197 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5198 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5199 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5200 the way it came from the server.
5202 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5203 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5204 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5207 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5212 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5217 @kindex A < (Summary)
5218 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5219 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5220 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5225 @kindex A > (Summary)
5226 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5227 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5231 @kindex A s (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5234 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5235 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5239 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5240 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5245 @node Reply Followup and Post
5246 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5249 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5250 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5251 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5252 * Canceling and Superseding::
5256 @node Summary Mail Commands
5257 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5259 @cindex composing mail
5261 Commands for composing a mail message:
5267 @kindex S r (Summary)
5269 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5270 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5271 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5272 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5273 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5278 @kindex S R (Summary)
5279 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5280 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5281 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5282 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5283 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5286 @kindex S w (Summary)
5287 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5288 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5289 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5290 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5291 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5292 present, that's used instead.
5295 @kindex S W (Summary)
5296 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5297 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5298 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5299 the process/prefix convention.
5302 @kindex S v (Summary)
5303 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5304 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5305 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5306 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5307 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5308 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5311 @kindex S V (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5313 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5314 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5315 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5318 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5320 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5321 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5322 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5323 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5324 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5325 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5328 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5330 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5331 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5332 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5336 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5337 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5338 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5339 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5340 Forward the current article to some other person
5341 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5342 headers of the forwarded article.
5347 @kindex S m (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5349 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5350 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5351 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5352 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5357 @kindex S i (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5359 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5360 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5361 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5363 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5364 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5365 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5366 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5367 for this to work though.
5370 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5371 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5372 @cindex bouncing mail
5373 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5374 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5375 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5376 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5377 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5378 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5379 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5380 very well fail, though.
5383 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5384 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5385 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5386 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5387 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5388 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5389 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5390 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5391 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5392 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5394 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5395 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5396 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5397 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5398 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5400 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5401 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5404 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5405 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5407 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5408 if it were a new message before resending.
5411 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5412 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5413 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5414 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5415 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5418 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5419 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5420 @cindex crossposting
5421 @cindex excessive crossposting
5422 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5423 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5425 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5426 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5427 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5428 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5429 command understands the process/prefix convention
5430 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5434 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5435 Manual}, for more information.
5438 @node Summary Post Commands
5439 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5441 @cindex composing news
5443 Commands for posting a news article:
5449 @kindex S p (Summary)
5450 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5451 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5452 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5453 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5454 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5459 @kindex S f (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5461 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5462 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5466 @kindex S F (Summary)
5468 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5469 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5470 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5471 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5472 process/prefix convention.
5475 @kindex S n (Summary)
5476 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5477 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5478 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5481 @kindex S N (Summary)
5482 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5483 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5484 message through mail and include the original message
5485 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5486 the process/prefix convention.
5489 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5490 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5491 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5492 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5493 headers of the forwarded article.
5496 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5497 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5499 @cindex making digests
5500 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5501 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5502 process/prefix convention.
5505 @kindex S u (Summary)
5506 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5507 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5508 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5509 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5512 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5513 Manual}, for more information.
5516 @node Summary Message Commands
5517 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5521 @kindex S y (Summary)
5522 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5523 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5524 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5525 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5526 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5531 @node Canceling and Superseding
5532 @subsection Canceling Articles
5533 @cindex canceling articles
5534 @cindex superseding articles
5536 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5537 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5539 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5541 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5543 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5544 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5545 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5546 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5547 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5548 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5550 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5551 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5554 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5555 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5556 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5558 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5559 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5560 message, Message Manual}).
5562 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5563 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5564 your original article.
5566 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5568 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5569 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5570 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5573 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5574 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5575 have posted almost the same article twice.
5577 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5578 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5579 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5580 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5581 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5582 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5583 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5584 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5585 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5586 canceled/superseded.
5588 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5590 @node Delayed Articles
5591 @section Delayed Articles
5592 @cindex delayed sending
5593 @cindex send delayed
5595 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5596 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5597 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5598 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5601 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5604 @findex gnus-delay-article
5605 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5606 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5607 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5608 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5612 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5613 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5614 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5615 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5618 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5619 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5620 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5623 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5624 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5625 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5626 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5627 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5628 that means a time tomorrow.
5631 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5632 couple of variables:
5635 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5636 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5637 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5638 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5640 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5641 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5642 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5643 formats described above.
5645 @item gnus-delay-group
5646 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5647 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5648 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5649 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5651 @item gnus-delay-header
5652 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5653 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5654 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5655 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5658 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5659 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5660 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5661 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5662 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5664 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5665 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5666 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5667 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5668 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5669 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5670 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5673 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5674 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5676 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5677 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5678 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5679 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5680 argument is ignored.
5682 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5683 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5684 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5688 @node Marking Articles
5689 @section Marking Articles
5690 @cindex article marking
5691 @cindex article ticking
5694 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5696 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5697 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5698 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5700 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5703 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5704 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5705 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5709 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5713 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5714 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5715 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5719 @node Unread Articles
5720 @subsection Unread Articles
5722 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5727 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5728 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5730 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5731 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5732 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5733 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5734 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5735 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5736 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5739 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5740 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5742 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5743 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5744 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5745 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5749 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5750 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5752 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5757 @subsection Read Articles
5758 @cindex expirable mark
5760 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5765 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5766 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5767 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5770 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5771 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5774 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5775 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5776 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5779 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5780 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5783 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5784 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5787 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5788 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5791 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5792 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5795 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5796 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5799 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5800 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5803 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5804 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5808 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5809 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5810 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5814 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5815 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5817 One more special mark, though:
5821 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5822 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5824 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5825 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5826 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5827 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5833 @subsection Other Marks
5834 @cindex process mark
5837 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5843 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5844 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5845 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5846 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5847 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5850 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5851 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5852 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5853 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5856 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5857 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5858 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5861 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5862 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5863 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5866 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5867 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5868 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5869 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5872 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5873 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5874 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5875 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5876 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5877 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5880 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5881 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5882 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5883 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5886 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5887 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5888 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5889 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5890 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5894 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5895 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5896 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5897 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5898 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5899 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5902 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5903 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5904 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5905 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5906 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5907 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5911 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5912 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5913 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5914 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5915 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5918 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5919 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5920 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5921 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5922 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5923 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5927 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5928 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5929 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5931 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5932 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5933 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5937 @subsection Setting Marks
5938 @cindex setting marks
5940 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5945 @kindex M c (Summary)
5946 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5948 @cindex mark as unread
5949 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5950 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5956 @kindex M t (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5958 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5959 @xref{Article Caching}.
5964 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5966 Mark the current article as dormant
5967 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5971 @kindex M d (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5974 Mark the current article as read
5975 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5979 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5980 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5986 @kindex M k (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5988 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5989 and then select the next unread article
5990 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5994 @kindex M K (Summary)
5995 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5996 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5997 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5998 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6001 @kindex M C (Summary)
6002 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6003 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6004 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6007 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6008 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6009 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6010 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6013 @kindex M H (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6015 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6016 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6019 @kindex M h (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6021 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6022 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6025 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6026 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6027 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6028 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6031 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6032 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6033 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6034 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6038 @kindex M e (Summary)
6040 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6041 Mark the current article as expirable
6042 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6045 @kindex M b (Summary)
6046 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6047 Set a bookmark in the current article
6048 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6051 @kindex M B (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6053 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6054 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6057 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6059 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6060 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6063 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6065 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6066 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6069 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6070 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6071 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6072 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6073 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6076 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6077 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6078 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6079 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6080 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6081 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6082 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6083 The default is @code{t}.
6086 @node Generic Marking Commands
6087 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6089 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6090 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6091 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6092 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6093 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6096 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6097 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6100 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6101 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6102 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6103 to list in this manual.
6105 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6106 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6107 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6108 article, you could say something like:
6112 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6113 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6114 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6122 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6123 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6127 @node Setting Process Marks
6128 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6129 @cindex setting process marks
6131 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6132 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6133 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6134 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6135 commands into the cache. For more information,
6136 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6143 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6145 Mark the current article with the process mark
6146 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6147 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6151 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6152 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6153 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6154 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6157 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6158 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6159 Remove the process mark from all articles
6160 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6163 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6164 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6165 Invert the list of process marked articles
6166 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6169 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6171 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6172 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6175 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6176 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6177 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6178 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6181 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6183 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6186 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6188 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6191 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6193 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6194 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6197 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6199 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6200 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6203 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6205 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6206 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6209 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6211 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6214 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6216 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6217 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6220 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6221 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6222 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6225 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6226 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6227 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6228 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6231 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6233 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6237 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6239 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6240 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6243 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6245 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6250 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6251 set process marks based on article body contents.
6258 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6259 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6260 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6263 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6264 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6265 additional articles.
6271 @kindex / / (Summary)
6272 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6273 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6274 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6278 @kindex / a (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6280 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6281 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6285 @kindex / x (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6287 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6288 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6289 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6294 @kindex / u (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6297 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6298 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6299 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6300 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6303 @kindex / m (Summary)
6304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6305 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6306 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6309 @kindex / t (Summary)
6310 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6311 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6312 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6313 articles younger than that number of days.
6316 @kindex / n (Summary)
6317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6318 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6319 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6320 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6323 @kindex / w (Summary)
6324 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6325 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6326 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6330 @kindex / . (Summary)
6331 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6332 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6333 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6336 @kindex / v (Summary)
6337 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6338 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6339 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6342 @kindex / p (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6344 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6345 group parameter predicate
6346 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6347 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6350 @kindex / r (Summary)
6351 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6352 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6353 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6358 @kindex M S (Summary)
6359 @kindex / E (Summary)
6360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6361 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6362 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6365 @kindex / D (Summary)
6366 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6367 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6368 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6371 @kindex / * (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6373 Include all cached articles in the limit
6374 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6377 @kindex / d (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6379 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6383 @kindex / M (Summary)
6384 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6385 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6388 @kindex / T (Summary)
6389 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6390 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6393 @kindex / c (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6395 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6396 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6399 @kindex / C (Summary)
6400 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6401 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6402 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6403 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6406 @kindex / N (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6408 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6409 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6412 @kindex / o (Summary)
6413 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6414 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6415 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6423 @cindex article threading
6425 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6426 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6427 hierarchical fashion.
6429 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6430 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6431 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6432 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6433 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6434 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6435 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6437 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6441 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6444 A tree-like article structure.
6447 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6450 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6451 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6452 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6453 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6454 called loose threads.
6456 @item thread gathering
6457 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6459 @item sparse threads
6460 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6461 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6467 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6468 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6472 @node Customizing Threading
6473 @subsection Customizing Threading
6474 @cindex customizing threading
6477 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6478 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6479 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6480 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6485 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6488 @cindex loose threads
6491 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6492 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6493 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6494 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6495 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6496 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6498 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6499 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6500 There are four possible values:
6504 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6505 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6506 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6507 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6508 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6513 @cindex adopting articles
6518 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6519 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6520 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6521 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6524 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6525 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6526 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6527 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6528 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6529 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6530 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6531 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6532 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6533 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6536 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6537 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6538 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6542 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6543 display them after one another.
6546 Don't gather loose threads.
6549 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6550 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6551 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6552 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6553 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6554 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6555 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6556 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6557 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6558 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6559 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6561 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6562 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6563 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6566 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6567 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6568 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6569 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6570 simplification is used.
6572 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6573 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6574 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6575 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6577 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6579 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6585 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6586 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6587 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6588 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6593 (mapconcat 'identity
6594 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6596 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6599 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6602 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6603 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6604 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6605 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6606 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6607 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6609 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6612 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6613 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6614 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6616 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6617 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6620 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6621 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6622 Remove excessive whitespace.
6624 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6625 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6626 Remove all whitespace.
6629 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6632 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6633 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6634 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6635 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6636 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6637 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6638 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6639 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6641 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6642 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6643 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6644 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6645 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6646 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6647 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6648 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6649 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6653 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6654 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6655 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6656 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6658 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6659 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6660 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6663 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6667 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6668 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6674 @node Filling In Threads
6675 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6678 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6679 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6680 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6681 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6682 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6683 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6684 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6685 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6686 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6687 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6688 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6689 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6692 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6693 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6694 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6696 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6697 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6698 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6701 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6702 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6703 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6704 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6705 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6706 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6707 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6708 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6709 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6710 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6711 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6712 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6713 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6714 @code{nil} by default.
6716 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6717 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6718 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6719 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6720 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6721 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6722 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6724 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6725 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6726 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6731 @node More Threading
6732 @subsubsection More Threading
6735 @item gnus-show-threads
6736 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6737 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6738 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6739 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6740 slower and more awkward.
6742 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6743 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6744 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6747 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6748 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6749 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6754 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6755 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6756 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6759 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6760 unread, but you get my drift.)
6763 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6764 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6765 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6766 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6767 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6768 threads are expunged.
6770 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6771 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6772 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6775 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6776 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6777 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6778 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6779 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6780 result in a new thread.
6782 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6783 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6784 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6787 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6788 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6789 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6790 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6791 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6792 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6793 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6794 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6795 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6796 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6797 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6802 @node Low-Level Threading
6803 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6807 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6808 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6809 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6810 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6811 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6812 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6814 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6815 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6816 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6817 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6818 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6819 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6820 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6821 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6822 meaningful. Here's one example:
6825 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6827 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6828 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6830 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6832 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6839 @node Thread Commands
6840 @subsection Thread Commands
6841 @cindex thread commands
6847 @kindex T k (Summary)
6848 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6849 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6850 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6851 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6852 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6857 @kindex T l (Summary)
6858 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6859 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6860 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6861 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6864 @kindex T i (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6866 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6867 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6870 @kindex T # (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6872 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6873 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6876 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6878 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6879 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6882 @kindex T T (Summary)
6883 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6884 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6887 @kindex T s (Summary)
6888 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6889 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6890 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6893 @kindex T h (Summary)
6894 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6895 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6898 @kindex T S (Summary)
6899 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6900 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6903 @kindex T H (Summary)
6904 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6905 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6908 @kindex T t (Summary)
6909 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6910 Re-thread the current article's thread
6911 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6912 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6915 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6916 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6917 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6918 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6922 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6923 understand the numeric prefix.
6928 @kindex T n (Summary)
6930 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6932 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6933 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6934 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6937 @kindex T p (Summary)
6939 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6941 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6942 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6943 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6946 @kindex T d (Summary)
6947 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6948 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6951 @kindex T u (Summary)
6952 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6953 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6956 @kindex T o (Summary)
6957 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6958 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6961 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6962 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6963 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6964 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6965 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6966 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6967 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6968 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6969 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6970 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6971 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6972 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6976 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6977 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6979 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6980 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6981 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6982 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6983 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6984 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6985 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6986 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6987 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6988 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6989 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6990 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6991 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6992 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6994 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6995 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6996 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6997 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6998 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6999 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7000 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7001 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7003 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7004 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7005 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7007 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7008 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7009 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7010 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7011 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7012 ascending article order.
7014 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7015 by number, you could do something like:
7018 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7019 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7020 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7021 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7024 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7025 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7026 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7027 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7028 which the articles arrived.
7030 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7034 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7036 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7037 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7040 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7041 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7042 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7043 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7046 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7047 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7048 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7049 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7050 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7051 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7052 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7053 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7054 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7055 variable. It is very similar to the
7056 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7057 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7058 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7059 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7060 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7061 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7062 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7064 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7068 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7069 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7070 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7075 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7076 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7077 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7078 @cindex article pre-fetch
7081 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7082 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7083 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7084 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7085 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7087 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7088 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
7090 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7091 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7092 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7093 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7094 connection is blocked.
7096 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7097 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7098 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7099 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
7101 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7102 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7103 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7104 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7107 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7110 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7111 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7112 happen automatically.
7114 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7115 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7116 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7117 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7118 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7119 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7120 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7122 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7123 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7124 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7125 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7126 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7127 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7128 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7129 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7130 article data structure as the only parameter.
7132 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7133 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7136 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7137 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7138 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7139 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7142 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7145 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7146 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7147 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7149 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7150 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7151 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7152 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7156 Remove articles when they are read.
7159 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7162 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7164 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7165 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7166 @c from the next group.
7169 @node Article Caching
7170 @section Article Caching
7171 @cindex article caching
7174 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7175 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7176 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7177 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7178 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7180 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7182 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7183 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7184 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7185 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7186 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7187 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7188 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7189 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7191 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7192 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7193 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7194 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7195 as dormant, and don't worry.
7197 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7199 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7200 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7201 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7202 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7203 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7204 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7205 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7206 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7207 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7208 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7210 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7211 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7212 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7213 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7214 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7215 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7216 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7217 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7218 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7219 not then be downloaded by this command.
7221 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7222 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7223 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7224 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7225 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7226 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7228 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7229 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7230 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7231 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7232 variables, the group is not cached.
7234 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7235 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7236 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7237 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7238 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7239 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7240 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7241 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7242 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7245 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7246 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7247 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7248 where, isn't that cool?
7250 @node Persistent Articles
7251 @section Persistent Articles
7252 @cindex persistent articles
7254 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7255 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7256 useful in my opinion.
7258 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7259 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7260 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7261 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7262 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7263 the expiry going on at the news server.
7265 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7266 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7267 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7273 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7274 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7277 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7279 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7280 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7284 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7286 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7287 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7288 interested in persistent articles:
7291 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7295 @node Article Backlog
7296 @section Article Backlog
7298 @cindex article backlog
7300 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7301 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7302 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7303 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7304 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7305 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7306 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7307 increase memory usage some.
7309 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7310 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7311 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7312 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7313 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7314 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7315 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7317 The default value is 20.
7320 @node Saving Articles
7321 @section Saving Articles
7322 @cindex saving articles
7324 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7325 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7326 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7327 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7328 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7330 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7331 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7332 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7334 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7335 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7336 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7338 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7339 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7340 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7341 deleted before saving.
7347 @kindex O o (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7350 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7351 Save the current article using the default article saver
7352 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7355 @kindex O m (Summary)
7356 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7357 Save the current article in mail format
7358 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7361 @kindex O r (Summary)
7362 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7363 Save the current article in Rmail format
7364 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7367 @kindex O f (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7369 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7370 Save the current article in plain file format
7371 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7374 @kindex O F (Summary)
7375 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7376 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7377 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7380 @kindex O b (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7382 Save the current article body in plain file format
7383 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7386 @kindex O h (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7388 Save the current article in mh folder format
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7392 @kindex O v (Summary)
7393 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7394 Save the current article in a VM folder
7395 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7399 @kindex O p (Summary)
7401 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7402 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7403 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7404 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7405 complete headers in the piped output.
7408 @kindex O P (Summary)
7409 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7410 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7411 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7412 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7413 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7414 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7415 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7419 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7420 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7421 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7422 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7423 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7424 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7425 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7426 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7427 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7428 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7429 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7430 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7434 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7435 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7436 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7437 functions below, or you can create your own.
7441 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7442 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7443 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7444 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7445 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7446 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7447 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7449 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7450 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7451 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7452 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7453 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7454 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7456 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7457 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7458 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7459 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7460 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7461 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7462 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7464 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7465 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7466 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7467 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7468 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7469 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7471 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7472 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7473 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7474 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7475 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7477 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7478 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7479 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7480 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7481 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7484 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7485 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7486 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7487 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7488 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7490 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7491 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7492 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7493 reader to use this setting.
7496 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7497 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7498 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7499 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7502 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7503 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7504 available functions that generate names:
7508 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7509 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7510 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7512 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7513 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7514 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7516 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7517 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7518 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7520 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7521 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7522 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7524 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7525 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7526 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7529 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7530 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7531 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7532 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7533 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7537 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7538 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7539 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7540 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7543 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7544 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7545 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7546 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7547 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7548 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7549 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7550 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7551 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7553 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7554 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7555 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7556 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7558 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7559 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7560 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7563 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7564 lots of mail groups called things like
7565 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7566 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7567 following will do just that:
7570 (defun my-save-name (group)
7571 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7572 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7574 (setq gnus-split-methods
7575 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7580 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7581 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7582 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7583 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7584 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7585 all the files in the top level directory
7586 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7587 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7588 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7589 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7591 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7592 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7593 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7594 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7595 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7598 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7602 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7603 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7604 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7607 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7608 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7609 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7610 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7613 @node Decoding Articles
7614 @section Decoding Articles
7615 @cindex decoding articles
7617 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7618 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7621 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7622 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7623 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7624 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7625 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7626 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7630 @cindex article series
7631 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7632 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7633 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7634 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7635 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7637 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7638 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7639 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7641 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7642 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7643 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7645 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7646 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7647 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7650 @node Uuencoded Articles
7651 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7653 @cindex uuencoded articles
7658 @kindex X u (Summary)
7659 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7660 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7661 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7664 @kindex X U (Summary)
7665 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7666 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7667 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7670 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7672 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7675 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7676 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7677 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7678 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7682 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7683 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7684 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7685 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7686 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7688 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7689 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7690 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7691 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7694 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7695 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7696 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7697 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7698 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7699 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7703 @node Shell Archives
7704 @subsection Shell Archives
7706 @cindex shell archives
7707 @cindex shared articles
7709 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7710 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7711 some commands to deal with these:
7716 @kindex X s (Summary)
7717 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7718 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7721 @kindex X S (Summary)
7722 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7723 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7726 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7727 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7728 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7731 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7732 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7733 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7734 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7738 @node PostScript Files
7739 @subsection PostScript Files
7745 @kindex X p (Summary)
7746 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7747 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7750 @kindex X P (Summary)
7751 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7752 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7753 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7756 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7757 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7758 View the current PostScript series
7759 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7762 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7763 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7764 View and save the current PostScript series
7765 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7770 @subsection Other Files
7774 @kindex X o (Summary)
7775 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7776 Save the current series
7777 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7780 @kindex X b (Summary)
7781 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7782 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7783 doesn't really work yet.
7787 @node Decoding Variables
7788 @subsection Decoding Variables
7790 Adjective, not verb.
7793 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7794 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7795 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7799 @node Rule Variables
7800 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7801 @cindex rule variables
7803 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7804 variables are of the form
7807 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7814 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7815 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7817 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7818 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7821 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7822 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7825 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7826 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7827 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7828 user and default view rules.
7830 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7831 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7832 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7837 @node Other Decode Variables
7838 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7841 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7843 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7844 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7845 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7846 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7847 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7851 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7852 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7855 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7856 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7857 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7860 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7861 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7862 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7863 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7864 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7867 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7868 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7869 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7871 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7872 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7873 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7874 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7875 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7878 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7879 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7880 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7882 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7883 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7884 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7885 looking for files to display.
7887 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7888 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7889 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7892 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7893 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7894 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7897 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7898 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7899 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7902 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7903 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7904 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7907 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7908 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7909 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7910 decoded articles as unread.
7912 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7913 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7914 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7915 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7917 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7918 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7919 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7921 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7922 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7924 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7925 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7926 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7927 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7929 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7930 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7931 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7932 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7933 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7934 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7935 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7936 simply dropped them.
7941 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7942 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7946 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7947 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7948 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7949 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7950 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7951 for you when you post the article.
7953 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7954 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7955 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7956 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7958 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7959 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7960 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7961 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7962 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7963 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7964 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7966 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7967 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7968 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7969 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7970 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7971 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7972 Default is @code{t}.
7978 @subsection Viewing Files
7979 @cindex viewing files
7980 @cindex pseudo-articles
7982 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7983 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7984 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7985 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7986 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7987 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7988 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7990 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7991 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7992 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7993 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7995 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7996 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7997 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7999 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8000 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8001 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8002 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8003 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8005 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8006 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8007 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8008 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8009 a list of parameters to that command.
8011 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8012 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8013 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8015 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8016 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8017 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8020 @node Article Treatment
8021 @section Article Treatment
8023 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8024 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8025 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8026 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8027 these articles easier.
8030 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8031 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8032 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8033 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8034 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8035 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8036 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8037 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8038 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8039 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8040 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8044 @node Article Highlighting
8045 @subsection Article Highlighting
8046 @cindex highlighting
8048 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8049 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8054 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8055 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8056 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8057 Do much highlighting of the current article
8058 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8059 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8062 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8063 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8064 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8065 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8066 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8067 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8068 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8069 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8070 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8071 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8072 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8073 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8076 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8077 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8078 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8080 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8083 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8085 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8086 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8087 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8089 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8090 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8091 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8093 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8094 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8095 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8096 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8097 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8098 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8100 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8101 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8102 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8104 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8105 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8106 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8108 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8109 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8110 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8111 that it's a citation.
8113 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8114 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8115 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8117 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8118 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8119 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8121 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8122 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8123 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8124 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8130 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8131 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8132 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8133 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8134 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8135 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8136 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8137 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8142 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8145 @node Article Fontisizing
8146 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8148 @cindex article emphasis
8150 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8151 @kindex W e (Summary)
8152 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8153 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8154 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8155 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8157 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8158 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8159 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8160 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8161 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8162 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8163 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8164 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8168 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8169 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8170 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8179 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8180 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8181 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8182 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8183 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8184 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8185 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8186 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8187 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8188 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8189 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8190 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8191 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8193 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8194 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8195 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8199 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8202 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8204 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8205 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8206 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8207 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8209 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8212 @node Article Hiding
8213 @subsection Article Hiding
8214 @cindex article hiding
8216 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8217 too much cruft in most articles.
8222 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8223 @findex gnus-article-hide
8224 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8225 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8226 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8229 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8230 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8231 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8235 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8236 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8237 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8238 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8241 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8242 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8243 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8247 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8249 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8250 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8251 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8252 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8253 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8254 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8258 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8259 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8260 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8261 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8266 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8267 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8268 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8269 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8272 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8273 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8274 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8275 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8278 @cindex stripping advertisements
8279 @cindex advertisements
8280 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8281 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8282 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8283 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8284 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8285 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8286 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8287 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8288 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8289 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8292 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8293 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8294 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8298 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8299 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8300 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8301 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8302 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8303 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8304 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8305 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8306 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8307 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8308 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8311 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8312 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8318 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8319 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8320 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8321 customizing the hiding:
8325 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8326 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8327 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8328 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8329 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8330 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8331 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8336 Starting point of the hidden text.
8338 Ending point of the hidden text.
8340 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8342 Number of lines of hidden text.
8345 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8346 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8347 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8348 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8349 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8354 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8355 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8357 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8358 following two variables:
8361 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8362 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8363 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8364 50), hide the cited text.
8366 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8367 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8368 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8373 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8374 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8375 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8376 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8377 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8378 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8382 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8383 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8384 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8386 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8387 citation customization.
8389 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8393 @node Article Washing
8394 @subsection Article Washing
8396 @cindex article washing
8398 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8399 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8401 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8402 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8405 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8406 articles by default.
8411 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8412 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8416 Force redisplaying of the current article
8417 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8418 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8419 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8420 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8423 @kindex W l (Summary)
8424 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8425 Remove page breaks from the current article
8426 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8430 @kindex W r (Summary)
8431 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8432 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8433 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8434 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8435 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8436 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8438 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8439 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8440 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8441 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8444 @kindex W m (Summary)
8445 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8446 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8450 @kindex W t (Summary)
8452 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8453 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8454 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8457 @kindex W v (Summary)
8458 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8459 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8460 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8463 @kindex W m (Summary)
8464 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8465 Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
8466 displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8469 @kindex W o (Summary)
8470 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8471 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8474 @kindex W d (Summary)
8475 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8476 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8478 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8480 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8481 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8482 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8483 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8486 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8487 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8488 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8489 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8492 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8493 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8494 @cindex Outlook Express
8495 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8496 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8497 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8500 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8502 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8503 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8504 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8505 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8506 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8507 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8508 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8509 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8512 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8514 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8515 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8518 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8520 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8521 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8524 @kindex W w (Summary)
8525 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8526 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8528 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8532 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8533 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8534 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8537 @kindex W C (Summary)
8538 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8539 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8540 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8543 @kindex W c (Summary)
8544 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8545 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8546 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8547 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8548 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8550 @kindex W q (Summary)
8551 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8552 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8553 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8554 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8555 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8556 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8557 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8558 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8559 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8562 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8563 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8564 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8565 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8566 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8567 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8568 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8569 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8572 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8573 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8574 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8575 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8576 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8579 @kindex W A (Summary)
8580 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8581 Translate ANSI SGR control sequences into overlays or extents
8582 (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). ANSI sequences are used in
8583 some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8586 @kindex W u (Summary)
8587 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8588 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8589 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8590 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8591 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8594 @kindex W h (Summary)
8595 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8596 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8597 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8598 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8600 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8602 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8603 The default is to use the function specified by
8604 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8605 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8606 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8607 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8615 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8618 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8621 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8624 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8629 @kindex W b (Summary)
8630 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8631 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8632 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8635 @kindex W B (Summary)
8636 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8637 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8638 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8641 @kindex W p (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8643 Verify a signed control message
8644 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8645 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8646 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8647 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8648 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8649 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8652 @kindex W s (Summary)
8653 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8654 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8655 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8656 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8659 @kindex W a (Summary)
8660 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8661 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8662 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8665 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8667 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8668 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8671 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8672 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8673 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8674 lines with a single empty line.
8675 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8678 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8679 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8680 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8681 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8684 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8685 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8686 Do all the three commands above
8687 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8690 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8691 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8692 Remove all blank lines
8693 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8696 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8697 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8698 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8699 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8702 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8703 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8704 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8705 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8709 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8712 @node Article Header
8713 @subsection Article Header
8715 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8720 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8721 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8722 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8725 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8726 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8727 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8728 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8731 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8732 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8733 Fold all the message headers
8734 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8737 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8738 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8739 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8740 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8745 @node Article Buttons
8746 @subsection Article Buttons
8749 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8750 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8751 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8752 button on these references.
8754 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8755 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8756 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8757 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8758 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8762 @item gnus-button-alist
8763 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8764 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8767 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8773 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8774 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8775 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8776 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8777 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8780 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8781 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8782 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8785 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8786 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8787 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8788 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8789 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8791 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8794 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8797 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8798 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8802 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8805 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8808 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8809 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8810 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8811 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8812 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8815 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8818 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8821 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8824 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8825 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8827 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8829 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8830 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8831 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8832 default values of the variables above.
8834 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8836 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8837 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8838 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8839 argument with a string naming the man page.
8841 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8843 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8844 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8845 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8847 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8848 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8849 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8850 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8851 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8852 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8853 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8854 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8855 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8856 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8857 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8858 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8860 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8861 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8862 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8863 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8864 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8867 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8868 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8869 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8870 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8872 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8874 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8875 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8876 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8877 argument, the string naming the URL.
8880 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8881 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8882 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8886 @item gnus-article-button-face
8887 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8888 Face used on buttons.
8890 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8891 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8892 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8896 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8899 @node Article Button Levels
8900 @subsection Article button levels
8901 @cindex button levels
8902 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8903 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8904 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8905 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8906 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8907 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8908 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8909 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8912 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8913 (setq gnus-parameters
8914 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8915 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8916 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8921 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8922 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8923 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8924 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8925 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8926 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8928 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8929 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8930 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8931 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8932 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8933 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8934 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8935 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8936 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8937 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8938 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8939 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8940 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8942 @item gnus-button-man-level
8943 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8944 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8945 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8947 @item gnus-button-message-level
8948 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8949 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8950 Related variables and functions include
8951 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8952 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8953 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8954 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8956 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8957 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8958 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8959 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8960 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8961 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8962 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8968 @subsection Article Date
8970 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8971 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8972 when the article was sent.
8977 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8979 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8980 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8983 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8984 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8986 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8987 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8990 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8991 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8992 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8995 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8996 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8997 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8998 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9001 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9002 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9003 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9004 @findex format-time-string
9005 Display the date using a user-defined format
9006 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9007 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9008 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9009 for a list of possible format specs.
9012 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9013 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9014 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9015 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9016 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9017 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9020 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9023 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9024 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9025 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9028 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9029 into wonderful absurdities.
9031 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9034 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9037 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9038 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9042 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9043 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9044 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9045 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9046 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9047 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9048 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9052 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9053 preferred format automatically.
9056 @node Article Display
9057 @subsection Article Display
9062 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9063 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9065 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9066 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9068 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9069 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9071 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9072 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9074 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9075 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9077 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9082 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9083 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9084 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9085 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9088 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9089 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9090 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9091 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9094 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9095 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9096 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9099 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9100 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9101 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9104 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9105 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9106 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9107 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9110 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9111 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9112 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9113 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9116 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9117 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9118 Remove all images from the article buffer
9119 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9125 @node Article Signature
9126 @subsection Article Signature
9128 @cindex article signature
9130 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9131 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9132 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9133 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9134 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9135 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9136 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9137 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9138 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9141 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9142 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9143 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9144 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9145 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9146 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9147 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9148 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9151 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9154 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9155 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9156 signature when displaying articles.
9160 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9163 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9166 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9167 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9169 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9170 in question is not a signature.
9173 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9174 listed above. Here's an example:
9177 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9178 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9181 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9182 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9183 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9184 signature after all.
9187 @node Article Miscellanea
9188 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9192 @kindex A t (Summary)
9193 @findex gnus-article-babel
9194 Translate the article from one language to another
9195 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9201 @section MIME Commands
9202 @cindex MIME decoding
9204 @cindex viewing attachments
9206 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9207 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9213 @kindex K v (Summary)
9214 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9217 @kindex K o (Summary)
9218 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9221 @kindex K c (Summary)
9222 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9225 @kindex K e (Summary)
9226 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9229 @kindex K i (Summary)
9230 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9233 @kindex K | (Summary)
9234 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9237 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9242 @kindex K b (Summary)
9243 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9244 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9248 @kindex K m (Summary)
9249 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9250 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9251 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9252 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9253 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9256 @kindex X m (Summary)
9257 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9258 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9259 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9260 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9263 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9264 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9265 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9266 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9269 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9270 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9271 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9272 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9275 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9276 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9277 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9278 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9280 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9281 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9282 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9283 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9284 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9285 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9288 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9289 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9290 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9291 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9298 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9299 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9300 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9301 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9304 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9307 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9311 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9312 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9313 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9314 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9315 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9316 default is @code{nil}.
9318 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9319 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9320 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9321 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9322 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9323 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9324 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9326 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9327 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9328 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9329 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9330 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9331 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9332 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9333 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9335 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9336 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9337 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9338 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9339 displayed. This variable overrides
9340 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9341 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9344 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9345 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9346 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9348 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9349 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9350 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9351 default value is @code{nil}.
9353 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9354 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9355 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9356 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9357 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9358 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9359 save all jpegs into some directory).
9361 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9364 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9365 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9367 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9368 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9369 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9370 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9371 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9374 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9375 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9376 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9378 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9379 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9380 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9381 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9383 Ready-made functions include@*
9384 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9385 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9386 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9387 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9388 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9389 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9390 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9391 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9392 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9393 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9394 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9395 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9397 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9398 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9400 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9401 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9402 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9405 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9406 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9407 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9408 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9412 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9421 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9422 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9423 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9424 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9425 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9426 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9427 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9429 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9430 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9431 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9432 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9434 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9435 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9436 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9437 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9438 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9439 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9440 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9441 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9442 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9444 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9445 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9446 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9447 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9448 quoted-printable header encoding.
9450 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9451 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9452 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9456 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9459 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9460 means encode all charsets),
9462 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9463 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9464 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9471 @cindex coding system aliases
9472 @cindex preferred charset
9474 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9476 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9477 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9480 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9481 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9484 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9485 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9487 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9490 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9493 This will almost do the right thing.
9495 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9499 (codepage-setup 1251)
9500 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9504 @node Article Commands
9505 @section Article Commands
9512 @kindex A P (Summary)
9513 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9514 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9515 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9516 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9517 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9518 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9523 @node Summary Sorting
9524 @section Summary Sorting
9525 @cindex summary sorting
9527 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9528 can't really see why you'd want that.
9533 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9534 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9535 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9538 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9539 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9540 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9543 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9544 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9545 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9548 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9549 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9550 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9553 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9554 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9555 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9558 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9559 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9560 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9563 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9564 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9565 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9568 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9569 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9570 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9573 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9574 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9575 Sort using the default sorting method
9576 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9579 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9580 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9581 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9582 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9583 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9587 @node Finding the Parent
9588 @section Finding the Parent
9589 @cindex parent articles
9590 @cindex referring articles
9595 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9596 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9597 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9598 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9599 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9600 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9601 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9602 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9603 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9605 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9606 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9607 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9608 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9609 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9613 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9614 @kindex A R (Summary)
9615 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9616 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9619 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9620 @kindex A T (Summary)
9621 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9622 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9623 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9624 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9625 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9626 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9627 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9629 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9630 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9631 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9632 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9633 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9634 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9637 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9638 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9640 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9641 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9642 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9643 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9644 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9645 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9646 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9649 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9650 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9651 by giving this command a prefix.
9653 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9654 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9655 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9656 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9657 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9658 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9661 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9662 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9663 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9666 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9667 then ask Google if that fails:
9670 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9672 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9675 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9676 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9677 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9678 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9679 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9680 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9681 not support this at all.
9684 @node Alternative Approaches
9685 @section Alternative Approaches
9687 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9688 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9691 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9692 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9697 @subsection Pick and Read
9698 @cindex pick and read
9700 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9701 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9702 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9703 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9705 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9706 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9707 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9708 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9709 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9710 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9712 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9717 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9718 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9719 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9720 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9721 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9722 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9723 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9724 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9727 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9728 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9729 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9730 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9734 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9735 Unpick the thread or article
9736 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9737 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9738 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9739 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9740 the thread or article at that line.
9744 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9745 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9746 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9747 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9748 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9749 will still be visible when you are reading.
9753 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9754 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9755 which is mapped to the same function
9756 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9758 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9761 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9764 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9765 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9767 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9768 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9769 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9771 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9772 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9773 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9774 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9775 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9776 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9777 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9781 @subsection Binary Groups
9782 @cindex binary groups
9784 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9785 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9786 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9787 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9788 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9789 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9790 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9793 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9794 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9795 command, when you have turned on this mode
9796 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9798 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9799 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9803 @section Tree Display
9806 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9807 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9808 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9809 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9812 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9815 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9816 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9817 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9819 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9820 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9821 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9822 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9823 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9825 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9826 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9827 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9828 default is @code{modeline}.
9830 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9831 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9832 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9833 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9834 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9835 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9836 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9842 The name of the poster.
9844 The @code{From} header.
9846 The number of the article.
9848 The opening bracket.
9850 The closing bracket.
9855 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9857 Variables related to the display are:
9860 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9861 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9862 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9863 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9865 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9866 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9867 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9869 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9871 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9872 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9873 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9874 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9878 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9879 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9880 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9881 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9882 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9883 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9884 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9885 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9886 other windows displayed next to it.
9888 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9892 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9893 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9896 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9897 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9898 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9899 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9900 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9901 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9902 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9906 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9909 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9919 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9924 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9925 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9927 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9929 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9935 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9936 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9937 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9940 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9941 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9942 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9943 (gnus-add-configuration
9947 (summary 0.75 point)
9952 @xref{Window Layout}.
9955 @node Mail Group Commands
9956 @section Mail Group Commands
9957 @cindex mail group commands
9959 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9960 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9962 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9963 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9968 @kindex B e (Summary)
9969 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9970 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9971 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9972 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9973 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9976 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9977 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9978 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9979 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9980 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9981 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9984 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9985 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9986 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9987 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9988 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9989 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9992 @kindex B m (Summary)
9994 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9995 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9996 Move the article from one mail group to another
9997 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9998 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10001 @kindex B c (Summary)
10003 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10004 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10005 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10006 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10007 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10010 @kindex B B (Summary)
10011 @cindex crosspost mail
10012 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10013 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10014 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10015 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10016 be properly updated.
10019 @kindex B i (Summary)
10020 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10021 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10022 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10023 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10026 @kindex B I (Summary)
10027 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10028 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10029 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10030 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10033 @kindex B r (Summary)
10034 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10035 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10036 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10037 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10038 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10039 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10040 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10041 (which is the default).
10045 @kindex B w (Summary)
10046 @kindex e (Summary)
10047 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10048 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10049 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10050 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10051 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10052 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10053 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10056 @kindex B q (Summary)
10057 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10058 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10059 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10060 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10063 @kindex B t (Summary)
10064 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10065 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10066 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10069 @kindex B p (Summary)
10070 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10071 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10072 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10073 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10074 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10075 article from your news server (or rather, from
10076 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10077 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10078 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10079 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10080 just not have arrived yet.
10083 @kindex K E (Summary)
10084 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10085 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10086 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10087 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10088 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10092 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10093 @cindex moving articles
10094 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
10095 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10096 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10097 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10098 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10099 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10100 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10103 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10104 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10105 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10106 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10110 @node Various Summary Stuff
10111 @section Various Summary Stuff
10114 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10115 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10116 * Summary Generation Commands::
10117 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10121 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10122 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10123 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10124 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10125 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10126 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10128 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10129 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10130 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10133 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10134 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10135 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10137 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10138 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10139 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10140 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10141 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10142 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10145 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10146 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10147 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10148 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10149 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10151 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10152 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10153 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10156 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10157 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10158 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10159 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10160 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10161 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10162 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10163 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10164 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10165 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10167 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10168 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10169 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10170 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10171 list of articles to be selected.
10173 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10174 the list in one particular group:
10177 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10178 (if (string= group "some.group")
10179 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10183 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10184 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10185 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10186 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10187 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10188 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10189 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10190 other buffers. For example:
10193 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10194 '(message-use-followup-to
10195 (gnus-visible-headers .
10196 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10202 @node Summary Group Information
10203 @subsection Summary Group Information
10208 @kindex H f (Summary)
10209 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10210 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10211 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10212 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10213 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10214 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10215 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10216 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10217 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10220 @kindex H d (Summary)
10221 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10222 Give a brief description of the current group
10223 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10224 rereading the description from the server.
10227 @kindex H h (Summary)
10228 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10229 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10230 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10233 @kindex H i (Summary)
10234 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10235 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10239 @node Searching for Articles
10240 @subsection Searching for Articles
10245 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10246 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10247 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10248 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10251 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10252 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10253 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10254 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10257 @kindex & (Summary)
10258 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10259 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10260 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10261 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10262 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10263 search backward instead.
10265 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10266 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10269 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10270 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10271 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10272 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10275 @node Summary Generation Commands
10276 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10281 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10282 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10283 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10286 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10287 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10288 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10289 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10292 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10293 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10294 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10295 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10300 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10301 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10307 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10308 @kindex A D (Summary)
10309 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10310 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10311 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10312 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10313 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10314 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10315 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10316 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10320 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10321 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10322 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10323 several documents into one biiig group
10324 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10325 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10326 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10327 command understands the process/prefix convention
10328 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10331 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10332 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10333 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10334 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10335 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10336 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10339 @kindex = (Summary)
10340 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10341 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10342 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10345 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10346 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10347 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10348 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10351 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10352 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10353 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10354 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10359 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10360 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10361 @cindex summary exit
10362 @cindex exiting groups
10364 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10365 group and return you to the group buffer.
10372 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10373 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10374 @kindex q (Summary)
10375 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10376 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10377 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10378 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10379 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10380 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10381 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10382 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10383 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10384 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10385 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10386 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10390 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10391 @kindex Q (Summary)
10392 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10393 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10394 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10398 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10399 @kindex c (Summary)
10400 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10401 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10402 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10403 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10406 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10407 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10408 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10409 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10412 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10413 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10414 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10415 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10419 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10420 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10421 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10422 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10423 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10424 all articles, both read and unread.
10428 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10429 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10430 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10431 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10432 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10433 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10434 articles, both read and unread.
10437 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10438 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10439 Exit the group and go to the next group
10440 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10443 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10444 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10445 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10446 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10449 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10450 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10451 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10452 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10453 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10454 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10457 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10458 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10459 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10460 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10462 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10463 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10464 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10465 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10466 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10467 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10468 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10469 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10470 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10471 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10472 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10473 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10475 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10477 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10478 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10479 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10480 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10481 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10482 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10483 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10484 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10485 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10488 @node Crosspost Handling
10489 @section Crosspost Handling
10493 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10494 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10495 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10496 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10497 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10498 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10501 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10502 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10503 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10504 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10505 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10507 @cindex cross-posting
10509 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10510 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10511 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10512 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10513 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10514 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10515 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10516 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10517 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10518 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10519 the cross reference mechanism.
10521 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10522 @cindex overview.fmt
10523 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10524 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10525 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10526 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10527 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10528 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10531 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10532 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10533 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10538 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10541 @node Duplicate Suppression
10542 @section Duplicate Suppression
10544 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10545 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10546 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10547 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10552 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10553 is evil and not very common.
10556 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10557 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10560 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10561 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10564 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10567 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10568 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10570 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10571 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10572 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10573 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10574 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10575 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10576 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10579 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10580 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10581 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10582 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10583 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10584 saw the article in.
10587 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10588 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10589 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10591 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10592 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10593 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10594 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10595 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10596 session are suppressed.
10598 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10599 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10600 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10601 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10603 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10604 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10605 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10606 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10609 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10610 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10611 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10612 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10613 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10614 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10615 to you to figure out, I think.
10620 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10621 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10622 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10627 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10628 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10629 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10630 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10633 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10634 or newer is recommended.
10638 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10639 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10642 @item mm-verify-option
10643 @vindex mm-verify-option
10644 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10645 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10646 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10648 @item mm-decrypt-option
10649 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10650 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10651 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10652 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10655 @vindex mml1991-use
10656 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10657 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10658 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10662 @vindex mml2015-use
10663 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10664 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10665 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10670 @cindex snarfing keys
10671 @cindex importing PGP keys
10672 @cindex PGP key ring import
10673 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10674 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10675 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10676 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10677 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10678 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10679 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10680 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10681 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10684 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10687 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10688 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10691 @section Mailing List
10692 @cindex mailing list
10695 @kindex A M (summary)
10696 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10697 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10698 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10699 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10702 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10707 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10708 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10709 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10712 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10713 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10714 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10717 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10718 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10719 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10723 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10724 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10725 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10728 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10729 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10730 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10733 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10734 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10735 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10740 @node Article Buffer
10741 @chapter Article Buffer
10742 @cindex article buffer
10744 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10745 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10746 tell gnus otherwise.
10749 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10750 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10751 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10752 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10753 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10757 @node Hiding Headers
10758 @section Hiding Headers
10759 @cindex hiding headers
10760 @cindex deleting headers
10762 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10763 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10765 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10766 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10767 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10768 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10769 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10770 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10771 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10772 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10773 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10775 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10779 @item gnus-visible-headers
10780 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10781 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10782 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10783 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10785 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10786 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10789 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10792 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10795 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10796 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10797 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10798 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10799 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10800 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10802 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10803 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10806 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10809 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10812 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10813 variable will have no effect.
10817 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10818 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10819 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10820 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10821 the headers are to be displayed.
10823 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10824 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10827 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10830 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10831 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10833 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10834 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10835 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10836 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10837 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10838 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10839 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10842 These conditions are:
10845 Remove all empty headers.
10847 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10848 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10850 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10851 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10854 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10857 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10858 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10860 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10861 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10863 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10864 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10866 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10869 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10871 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10874 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10877 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10878 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10881 This is also the default value for this variable.
10885 @section Using MIME
10886 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10888 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10889 while people stand around yawning.
10891 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10892 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10894 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10895 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10896 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10898 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10899 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10900 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10901 gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
10902 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10903 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10904 calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
10905 more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
10906 (however it is not existed yet, sorry).
10908 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10909 @acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
10910 then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10911 These can't be avoided.
10913 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10914 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10915 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10916 @acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
10917 horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
10918 can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
10919 starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
10920 and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
10921 in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
10922 feel rather stupid.)
10924 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10926 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10927 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10928 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10929 buffer when there are nobody else.
10931 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10934 @node Customizing Articles
10935 @section Customizing Articles
10936 @cindex article customization
10938 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10939 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10940 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10941 called automatically when you select the articles.
10943 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10944 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10945 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10946 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10948 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10949 for sensible values.
10953 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10956 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10959 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10962 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10965 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10969 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10970 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10971 regexps in the list.
10974 A list where the first element is not a string:
10976 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10977 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10978 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10982 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10986 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10991 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10992 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
10993 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10994 considered to contain just a single part.
10996 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10997 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10998 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10999 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11000 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11001 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11002 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11004 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11005 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11006 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11007 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11010 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11011 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11013 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11015 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11016 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11017 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11018 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11019 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11020 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11021 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11022 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11023 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11024 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11025 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
11027 @xref{Article Washing}.
11029 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11030 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11031 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11032 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11033 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11034 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11035 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11037 @xref{Article Date}.
11039 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11040 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11041 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11045 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11047 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11049 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11050 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11051 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11055 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11059 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11063 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11064 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11065 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11066 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11067 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11068 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11069 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11070 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11071 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11072 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11074 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11076 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11077 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11078 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11080 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11082 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11083 @item gnus-treat-translate
11084 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11086 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11087 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11088 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11089 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11091 @xref{Article Header}.
11096 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11097 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11098 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11099 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11100 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11104 @node Article Keymap
11105 @section Article Keymap
11107 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11108 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11109 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11110 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11113 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11118 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11119 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11120 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11121 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11124 @kindex DEL (Article)
11125 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11126 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11127 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11130 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11131 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11132 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11133 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11134 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11137 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11138 @findex gnus-article-mail
11139 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11140 given a prefix, include the mail.
11143 @kindex s (Article)
11144 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11145 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11146 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11149 @kindex ? (Article)
11150 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11151 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11152 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11155 @kindex TAB (Article)
11156 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11157 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11158 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11161 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11162 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11163 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11166 @kindex R (Article)
11167 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11168 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11169 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11170 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11174 @kindex F (Article)
11175 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11176 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11177 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11178 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11186 @section Misc Article
11190 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11191 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11192 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11193 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11196 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11197 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11198 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11199 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11200 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11202 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11203 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11204 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11205 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11206 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11207 the contents of the article buffer.
11209 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11210 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11211 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11213 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11214 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11215 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11216 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11218 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11219 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11220 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11221 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11223 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11224 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11225 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11226 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11227 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11233 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11234 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11235 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11240 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11243 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11246 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11247 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11248 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11251 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11254 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11257 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11262 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11266 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11268 @item gnus-break-pages
11269 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11270 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11271 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11272 paging will not be done.
11274 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11275 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11276 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11280 @cindex internationalized domain names
11281 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11282 @item gnus-use-idna
11283 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11284 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11285 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11286 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11287 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11292 @node Composing Messages
11293 @chapter Composing Messages
11294 @cindex composing messages
11297 @cindex sending mail
11302 @cindex using s/mime
11303 @cindex using smime
11305 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11306 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11307 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11308 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11309 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11310 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11313 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11314 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11315 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11316 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11317 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11318 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11319 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11320 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11323 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11324 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11330 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11333 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11334 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11335 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11336 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11337 @code{nil} include all headers.
11339 @item gnus-add-to-list
11340 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11341 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11342 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11344 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11345 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11346 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11347 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11348 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11349 confirmation is should be asked for.
11351 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11352 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11354 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11355 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11356 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11357 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11358 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11363 @node Posting Server
11364 @section Posting Server
11366 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11367 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11369 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11371 It can be quite complicated.
11373 @vindex gnus-post-method
11374 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11375 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11376 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11377 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11378 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11379 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11380 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11381 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11382 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11385 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11388 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11389 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11390 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11391 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11393 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11394 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11396 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11397 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11400 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11401 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11403 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11404 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11405 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11406 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11407 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11408 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11409 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11410 package correctly. An example:
11413 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11414 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11415 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11416 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11417 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11420 To the thing similar to this, there is
11421 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11422 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11423 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11425 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11426 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11427 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11429 @node Mail and Post
11430 @section Mail and Post
11432 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11436 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11437 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11438 @cindex mailing lists
11440 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11441 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11442 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11443 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11444 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11445 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11446 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11447 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11448 still a pain, though.
11450 @item gnus-user-agent
11451 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11454 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11455 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11456 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11457 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11458 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11459 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11460 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11464 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11465 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11466 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11469 @findex ispell-message
11471 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11474 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11475 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11478 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11482 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11483 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11485 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11488 Modify to suit your needs.
11491 @node Archived Messages
11492 @section Archived Messages
11493 @cindex archived messages
11494 @cindex sent messages
11496 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11497 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11498 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11499 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11502 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11503 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11506 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11507 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11508 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11511 (nnfolder "archive"
11512 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11513 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11514 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11515 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11518 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11519 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11520 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11521 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11524 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11525 '(nnfolder "archive"
11526 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11527 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11528 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11531 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11533 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11534 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11535 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11537 This variable can be used to do the following:
11541 Messages will be saved in that group.
11543 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11544 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11545 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11546 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11547 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11548 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11549 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11550 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11553 @item a list of strings
11554 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11556 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11557 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11560 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11565 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11567 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11570 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11572 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11575 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11577 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11578 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11579 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11580 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11583 More complex stuff:
11585 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11586 '((if (message-news-p)
11591 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11592 messages in one file per month:
11595 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11596 '((if (message-news-p)
11598 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11601 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11602 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11604 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11605 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11606 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11607 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11608 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11609 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11610 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11611 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11612 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11613 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11615 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11616 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11617 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11618 this will disable archiving.
11621 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11622 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11623 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11624 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11625 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11628 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11629 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11630 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11633 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11634 but the latter is the preferred method.
11636 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11637 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11638 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11640 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11641 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11642 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11643 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11644 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11645 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11646 changed in the future.
11651 @node Posting Styles
11652 @section Posting Styles
11653 @cindex posting styles
11656 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11658 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11659 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11660 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11663 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11664 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11665 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11666 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11667 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11672 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11673 (organization "What me?"))
11675 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11676 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11677 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11680 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11681 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11682 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11683 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11684 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11685 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11686 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11687 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11689 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11690 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11691 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11692 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11693 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11694 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11695 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11696 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11697 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11698 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11699 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11700 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11701 said to @dfn{match}.
11703 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11704 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11705 attribute name can be one of:
11708 @item @code{signature}
11709 @item @code{signature-file}
11710 @item @code{x-face-file}
11711 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11712 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11716 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11717 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11718 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11719 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11720 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11722 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11723 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11724 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11725 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11726 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11727 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11728 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11729 references chars lines xref extra.
11731 @vindex message-reply-headers
11733 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11734 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11735 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11737 @findex message-mail-p
11738 @findex message-news-p
11740 So here's a new example:
11743 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11745 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11747 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11748 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11750 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11751 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11752 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11753 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11754 (signature my-news-signature))
11755 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11756 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11757 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11758 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11759 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11760 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11761 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11762 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11763 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11764 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11766 (From (save-excursion
11767 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11768 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11770 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11773 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11774 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11775 if you fill many roles.
11777 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11778 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11779 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11780 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11781 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11782 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11783 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11784 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11789 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11791 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11793 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11794 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11797 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11800 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11801 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11808 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11809 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11810 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11811 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11812 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11814 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11815 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11816 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11817 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11818 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11822 @vindex nndraft-directory
11823 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11824 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11825 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11826 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11827 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11828 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11830 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11831 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11832 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11833 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11834 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11835 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11836 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11837 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11838 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11840 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11841 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11842 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11843 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11844 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11845 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11846 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11847 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11848 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11849 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11850 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11851 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11852 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11853 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11855 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11856 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11857 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11859 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11860 @kindex D e (Draft)
11861 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11862 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11863 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11865 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11868 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11869 @kindex D s (Draft)
11870 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11871 @kindex D S (Draft)
11872 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11873 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11874 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11875 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11876 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11879 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11880 @kindex D t (Draft)
11881 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11882 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11883 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11886 @node Rejected Articles
11887 @section Rejected Articles
11888 @cindex rejected articles
11890 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11891 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11892 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11893 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11895 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11896 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11897 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11898 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11899 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11901 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11902 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11903 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11905 @node Signing and encrypting
11906 @section Signing and encrypting
11908 @cindex using s/mime
11909 @cindex using smime
11911 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11912 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11913 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11914 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11916 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11917 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11918 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11919 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11920 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11921 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11922 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11923 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11924 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11925 automatically encrypted messages.
11927 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11928 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11929 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11934 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
11935 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11937 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11940 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
11941 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11943 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11946 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
11947 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11949 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11952 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
11953 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11955 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11958 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
11959 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11961 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11964 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
11965 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11967 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11970 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
11971 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11972 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
11976 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11978 @node Select Methods
11979 @chapter Select Methods
11980 @cindex foreign groups
11981 @cindex select methods
11983 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11984 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11985 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11986 personal mail group.
11988 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11989 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11990 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11991 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11992 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11993 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11995 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11996 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11998 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12001 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12002 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12003 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12004 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12005 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12007 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12010 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12011 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12012 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12013 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12014 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12015 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12016 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12017 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12021 @node Server Buffer
12022 @section Server Buffer
12024 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12025 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12026 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12027 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12028 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12029 back end represents a virtual server.
12031 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12032 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12033 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12034 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12036 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12037 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12038 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12039 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12040 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12041 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12042 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12044 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12045 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12048 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12049 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12050 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12051 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12052 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12053 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12054 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12057 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12058 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12061 @node Server Buffer Format
12062 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12063 @cindex server buffer format
12065 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12066 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12067 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12068 variable, with some simple extensions:
12073 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12076 The name of this server.
12079 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12082 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12085 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12086 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12087 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12088 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12098 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12101 @node Server Commands
12102 @subsection Server Commands
12103 @cindex server commands
12109 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12110 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12114 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12115 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12118 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12119 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12120 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12124 @findex gnus-server-exit
12125 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12129 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12130 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12134 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12135 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12139 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12140 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12144 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12145 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12149 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12150 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12151 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12156 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12157 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12158 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12159 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12164 @node Example Methods
12165 @subsection Example Methods
12167 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12170 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12173 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12179 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12180 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12183 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12184 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12186 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12187 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12191 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12194 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12195 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12197 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12198 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12199 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12203 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12206 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12209 Here's the method for a public spool:
12213 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12214 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12220 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12221 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12222 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12223 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12224 should probably look something like this:
12228 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12229 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12230 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12231 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12234 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12235 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12236 configuration to the example above:
12239 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12242 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12244 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12245 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12246 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12250 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12251 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12252 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12253 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12256 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12257 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12258 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12259 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12262 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12263 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12265 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12266 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12268 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12269 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12270 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12272 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12274 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12275 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12276 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12277 will contain the following:
12287 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12288 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12291 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12292 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12293 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12296 @node Server Variables
12297 @subsection Server Variables
12298 @cindex server variables
12299 @cindex server parameters
12301 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12302 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12303 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12304 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12305 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12307 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12308 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12309 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12310 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12311 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12312 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12313 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12314 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12315 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12319 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12320 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12321 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12324 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12326 @node Servers and Methods
12327 @subsection Servers and Methods
12329 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12330 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12331 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12332 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12336 @node Unavailable Servers
12337 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12339 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12340 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12341 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12342 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12343 actually the case or not.
12345 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12346 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12347 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12348 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12349 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12350 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12351 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12352 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12354 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12355 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12357 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12358 with the following commands:
12364 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12365 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12366 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12370 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12371 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12372 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12376 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12377 Mark the current server as unreachable
12378 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12381 @kindex M-o (Server)
12382 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12383 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12384 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12387 @kindex M-c (Server)
12388 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12389 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12390 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12394 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12395 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12396 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12400 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12401 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12407 @section Getting News
12408 @cindex reading news
12409 @cindex news back ends
12411 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12412 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12413 or it can read from a local spool.
12416 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12417 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12425 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12426 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12427 server as the, uhm, address.
12429 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12430 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12431 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12432 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12434 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12435 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12436 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12438 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12443 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12444 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12445 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12447 @cindex authentification
12448 @cindex nntp authentification
12449 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12450 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12451 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12452 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12453 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12454 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12455 present in this hook.
12457 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12458 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12459 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12460 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12461 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12462 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12463 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12464 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12465 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12466 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12467 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12468 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12472 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12475 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12477 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12478 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12479 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12480 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12481 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12482 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12483 @samp{force} is explained below.
12487 Here's an example file:
12490 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12491 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12494 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12495 have to be first, for instance.
12497 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12498 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12499 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12500 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12501 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12502 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12503 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12505 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12506 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12512 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12513 previously mentioned.
12515 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12517 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12518 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12519 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12520 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12521 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12524 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12525 '(("innd" (ding))))
12528 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12530 The default value is
12533 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12534 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12535 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12538 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12539 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12541 @item nntp-maximum-request
12542 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12543 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12544 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12545 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12546 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12547 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12548 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12550 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12551 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12552 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12553 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12554 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12555 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12556 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12557 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12558 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12559 no timeouts are done.
12561 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12562 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12563 @c @cindex PPP connections
12564 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12565 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12566 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12567 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12568 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12569 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12570 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12571 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12572 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12573 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12575 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12576 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12577 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12578 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12579 @c described above.
12581 @item nntp-server-hook
12582 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12583 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12586 @item nntp-buggy-select
12587 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12588 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12590 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12591 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12592 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12593 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12596 @item nntp-xover-commands
12597 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12598 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12600 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12601 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12605 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12606 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12607 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12608 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12609 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12610 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12611 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12612 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12613 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12614 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12615 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12617 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12618 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12619 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12621 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12622 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12623 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12624 server closes connection.
12626 @item nntp-record-commands
12627 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12628 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12629 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12630 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12631 that doesn't seem to work.
12633 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12634 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12635 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12636 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12637 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12638 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12639 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12640 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12642 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12643 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12644 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12645 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12646 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12647 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12648 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12651 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12654 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12655 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12657 @item nntp-read-timeout
12658 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12659 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12660 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12661 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12662 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12665 @item nntp-list-options
12666 @vindex nntp-list-options
12667 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12668 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12669 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12670 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12671 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12675 (setq gnus-select-method
12676 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12677 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12680 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12681 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12682 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12683 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12684 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12685 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12686 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12689 (setq gnus-select-method
12690 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12691 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12694 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12695 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12696 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12697 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12698 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12699 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12700 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12703 (setq gnus-select-method
12704 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12705 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12710 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12711 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12712 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12716 @node Direct Functions
12717 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12718 @cindex direct connection functions
12720 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12721 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12722 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12723 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12726 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12727 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12728 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12731 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12732 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12733 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12734 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12735 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12738 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12739 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12741 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12742 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12743 (nntp-port-number )
12744 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12747 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12748 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12749 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12750 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12751 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12752 then define a server as follows:
12755 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12756 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12758 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12759 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12760 (nntp-port-number 563)
12761 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12764 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12765 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12766 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12767 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12768 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12769 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12770 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12771 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12775 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12776 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12777 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12780 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12781 session, which is not a good idea.
12785 @node Indirect Functions
12786 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12787 @cindex indirect connection functions
12789 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12790 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12791 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12792 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12793 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12794 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12797 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12798 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12799 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12800 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12801 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12803 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12806 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12807 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12808 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12809 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12811 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12812 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12813 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12814 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12815 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12816 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12817 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12818 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12822 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12823 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12824 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12825 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12827 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12830 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12831 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12832 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12835 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12836 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12837 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12838 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12840 @item nntp-via-user-password
12841 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12842 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12844 @item nntp-via-envuser
12845 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12846 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12847 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12848 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12850 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12851 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12852 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12853 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12860 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12865 @item nntp-via-user-name
12866 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12867 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12869 @item nntp-via-address
12870 @vindex nntp-via-address
12871 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12876 @node Common Variables
12877 @subsubsection Common Variables
12879 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12880 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12885 @item nntp-pre-command
12886 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12887 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12888 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12889 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12890 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12893 @vindex nntp-address
12894 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12896 @item nntp-port-number
12897 @vindex nntp-port-number
12898 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12899 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12900 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12901 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12902 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12903 not work with named ports.
12905 @item nntp-end-of-line
12906 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12907 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12908 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12909 using a non native connection function.
12911 @item nntp-telnet-command
12912 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12913 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12914 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12915 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12918 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12919 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12920 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12927 @subsection News Spool
12931 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12932 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12933 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12936 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12937 anything else) as the address.
12939 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12940 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12941 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12942 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12946 @item nnspool-inews-program
12947 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12948 Program used to post an article.
12950 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12951 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12952 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12954 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12955 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12956 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12957 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12959 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12960 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12961 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12962 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12964 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12965 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12966 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12968 @item nnspool-active-file
12969 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12970 The name of the active file.
12972 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12973 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12974 The name of the group descriptions file.
12976 @item nnspool-history-file
12977 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12978 The name of the news history file.
12980 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12981 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12982 The name of the active date file.
12984 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12985 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12986 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12989 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12990 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12992 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12993 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12994 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13001 @section Getting Mail
13002 @cindex reading mail
13005 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13009 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13010 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13011 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13012 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13013 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13014 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13015 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13016 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13017 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13018 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13019 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13020 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13021 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13025 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13026 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13028 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13029 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13030 of a culture shock.
13032 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13033 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13035 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13036 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13037 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13038 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13040 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13042 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13043 deleted? How awful!
13045 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13046 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13047 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13048 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13051 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13052 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13053 they want to treat a message.
13055 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13056 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13057 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13058 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13059 archived somewhere else.
13061 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13062 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13063 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13064 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13065 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13067 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13068 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13069 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13071 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13072 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13075 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13076 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13077 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13078 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13079 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13081 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13082 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13083 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13084 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13085 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13086 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13090 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13091 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13093 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13094 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13095 and things will happen automatically.
13097 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13098 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13101 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13104 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13105 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13106 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13107 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13108 like any other group.
13110 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13113 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13114 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13115 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13119 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13120 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13121 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13124 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13125 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13126 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13129 @node Splitting Mail
13130 @subsection Splitting Mail
13131 @cindex splitting mail
13132 @cindex mail splitting
13133 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13135 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13136 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13137 to be split into groups.
13140 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13141 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13142 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13143 ("mail.other" "")))
13146 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13147 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13148 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13149 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13150 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13151 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13152 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13155 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13158 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13159 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13160 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13161 mail belongs in that group.
13163 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13164 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13165 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13166 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13167 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13168 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13170 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13171 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13172 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13173 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13174 thinks should carry this mail message.
13176 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13177 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13178 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13179 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13181 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13182 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13183 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13184 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13185 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13187 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13190 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13191 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13192 links. If that's the case for you, set
13193 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13194 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13196 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13197 @findex nnmail-split-history
13198 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13199 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13200 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13201 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13204 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13205 Header lines longer than the value of
13206 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13209 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13210 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13211 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13212 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13213 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13214 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13215 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13216 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13218 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13219 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13220 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13221 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13222 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13223 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13224 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13225 other kinds of entries.)
13227 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13228 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13229 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13230 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13231 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13232 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13233 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13234 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13235 month's rent money.
13239 @subsection Mail Sources
13241 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13242 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13243 maildir, for instance.
13246 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13247 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13248 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13252 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13253 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13255 @cindex mail server
13258 @cindex mail source
13260 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13261 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13266 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13269 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13270 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13271 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13274 The following mail source types are available:
13278 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13284 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13285 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13286 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13290 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13293 An example file mail source:
13296 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13299 Or using the default file name:
13305 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13306 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13307 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13308 mail spool while moving the mail.
13310 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13314 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13317 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13321 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13324 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13326 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13329 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13333 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13334 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13335 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13336 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13337 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13338 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13339 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13340 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13341 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13342 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13344 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13345 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13346 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13347 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13353 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13357 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13361 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13362 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13363 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13364 predicate are considered.
13368 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13372 An example directory mail source:
13375 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13380 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13386 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13387 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13390 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13391 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13392 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13393 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13394 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13397 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13401 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13402 the user is prompted.
13405 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13406 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13409 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13412 The valid format specifier characters are:
13416 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13417 included in this string.
13420 The name of the server.
13423 The port number of the server.
13426 The user name to use.
13429 The password to use.
13432 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13433 corresponding keywords.
13436 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13437 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13440 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13441 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13444 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13445 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13446 mail should be moved to.
13448 @item :authentication
13449 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13450 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13454 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13455 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13456 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13457 programs and libraries:
13461 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13462 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13463 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13465 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13466 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13471 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13472 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13476 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13477 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13479 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13480 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13486 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13489 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13490 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13493 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13496 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13500 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13501 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13502 contains exactly one mail.
13508 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13509 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13512 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13513 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13515 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13516 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13517 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13520 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13521 from locking problems).
13525 Two example maildir mail sources:
13528 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13529 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13533 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13538 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13539 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13540 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13541 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13542 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13544 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13545 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13551 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13552 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13555 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13556 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13559 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13563 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13567 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13568 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13569 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13570 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13572 @item :authentication
13573 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13574 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13575 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13576 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13579 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13580 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13581 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13587 The valid format specifier characters are:
13591 The name of the server.
13594 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13597 The port number of the server.
13600 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13601 corresponding keywords.
13604 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13605 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13608 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13609 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13610 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13611 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13612 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13613 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13616 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13617 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13618 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13619 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13622 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13623 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13627 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13630 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13632 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13636 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13637 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13638 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13640 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13641 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13643 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13649 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13650 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13653 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13657 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13661 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13662 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13666 An example webmail source:
13669 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13671 :password "secret")
13676 @item Common Keywords
13677 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13683 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13684 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13689 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13694 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13695 useful when you use local mail and news.
13700 @subsubsection Function Interface
13702 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13703 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13704 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13705 consider the following mail-source setting:
13708 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13709 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13712 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13713 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13714 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13715 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13716 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13718 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13721 @node Mail Source Customization
13722 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13724 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13725 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13729 @item mail-source-crash-box
13730 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13731 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13732 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13734 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13735 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13736 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13737 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13738 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13739 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13740 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13741 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13743 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13744 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13745 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13746 files. This variable only applies when
13747 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13749 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13750 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13751 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13753 @item mail-source-directory
13754 @vindex mail-source-directory
13755 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13756 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13757 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13760 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13761 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13762 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13763 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13764 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13765 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13767 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13768 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13769 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13771 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13772 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13773 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13774 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13779 @node Fetching Mail
13780 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13782 @vindex mail-sources
13783 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13784 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13785 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13786 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13788 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13789 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13792 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13793 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13798 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13799 :password "secret")))
13802 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13806 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13807 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13810 :password "secret")))
13814 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13815 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13816 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13817 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13818 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13819 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13823 @node Mail Back End Variables
13824 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13826 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13830 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13831 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13832 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13833 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13835 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13836 @item nnmail-split-hook
13837 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13838 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13839 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13840 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13841 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13842 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13843 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13844 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13845 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13848 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13849 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13850 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13851 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13852 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13853 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13854 starting to handle the new mail) and
13855 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13856 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13857 default file modes the new mail files get:
13860 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13861 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13863 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13864 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13867 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13868 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13869 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13870 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13871 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13872 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13873 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13875 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13876 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13877 @findex delete-file
13878 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13880 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13881 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13882 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13883 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13884 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13886 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13887 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13888 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13889 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13890 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13892 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13893 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13894 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13899 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13900 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13901 @cindex mail splitting
13902 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13904 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13905 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13906 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13907 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13908 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13909 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13911 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13914 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13915 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13916 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13917 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13919 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13920 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13921 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13922 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13923 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13924 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13925 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13926 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13927 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13928 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13929 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13930 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13931 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13932 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13933 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13934 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13935 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13939 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13940 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13941 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13946 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13947 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13949 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13950 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13951 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13952 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13953 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13954 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13955 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13957 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13958 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13959 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13960 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13961 stored in one or more groups.
13963 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13964 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13965 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13968 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13969 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13971 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13972 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13973 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13974 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13977 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13978 body of the messages:
13981 (defun split-on-body ()
13985 (goto-char (point-min))
13986 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13990 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13991 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13992 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
13993 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
13994 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
13995 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
13996 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
13998 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
13999 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14000 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14001 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14002 should return a split.
14005 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14009 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14010 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14011 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14012 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14013 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14015 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14016 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14017 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14018 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14019 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14020 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14021 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14025 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14027 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14028 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14030 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14033 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14034 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14035 when all this splitting is performed.
14037 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14038 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14039 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14042 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14045 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14046 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14048 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14049 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14050 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14051 groupings 1 through 9.
14053 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14054 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14055 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14057 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14058 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14059 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14060 surrounded by anything.
14063 (any "joe" "joemail")
14066 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14067 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14068 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14069 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14070 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14072 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14073 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14074 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14075 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14076 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14077 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14078 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14079 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14080 it once per thread.
14082 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14083 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14084 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14085 using the colon feature, like so:
14087 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14088 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14090 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14091 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14095 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14096 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14097 in the file specified by the variable
14098 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14099 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14100 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14101 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14102 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14103 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14104 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14105 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14106 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14107 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14108 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14109 300 kBytes in size.)
14110 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14111 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14112 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14113 messages goes into the new group.
14115 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14116 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14117 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14118 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14119 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14120 ``outgoing'' group.
14123 @node Group Mail Splitting
14124 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14125 @cindex mail splitting
14126 @cindex group mail splitting
14128 @findex gnus-group-split
14129 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14130 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14131 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14132 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14133 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14134 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14135 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14136 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14138 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14139 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14140 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14141 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14143 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14144 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14145 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14146 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14147 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14148 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14149 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14151 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14152 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14153 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14154 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14155 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14156 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14157 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14159 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14160 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14161 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14162 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14163 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14164 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14165 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14166 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14167 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14168 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14169 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14170 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14171 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14173 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14178 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14179 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14181 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14182 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14183 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14184 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14186 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14189 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14190 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14191 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14194 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14195 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14196 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14200 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14201 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14202 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14206 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14209 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14210 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14211 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14212 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14213 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14214 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14215 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14216 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14217 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14219 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14220 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14221 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14222 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14223 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14224 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14225 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14226 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14227 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14229 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14230 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14231 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14232 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14233 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14234 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14237 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14240 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14241 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14242 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14243 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14244 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14247 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14248 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14249 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14250 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14252 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14253 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14254 @cindex incorporating old mail
14255 @cindex import old mail
14257 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14258 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14259 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14262 Doing so can be quite easy.
14264 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14265 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14266 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14267 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14268 your @code{nnml} groups.
14274 Go to the group buffer.
14277 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14278 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14281 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14284 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14285 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14288 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14289 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14292 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14293 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14294 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14295 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14296 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14298 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14299 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14300 using the new mail back end.
14303 @node Expiring Mail
14304 @subsection Expiring Mail
14305 @cindex article expiry
14307 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14308 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14309 different approach to mail reading.
14311 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14312 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14313 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14314 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14315 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14316 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14319 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14320 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14321 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14322 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14323 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14324 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14325 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14326 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14327 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14329 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14330 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14331 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14332 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14333 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14334 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14335 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14338 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14339 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14340 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14341 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14342 into its own group.)
14344 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14345 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14346 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14347 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14348 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14349 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14350 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14351 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14354 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14355 Groups that match the regular expression
14356 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14357 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14358 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14360 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14361 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14362 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14363 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14364 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14366 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14368 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14369 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14370 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14373 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14374 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14375 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14376 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14377 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14379 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14380 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14383 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14384 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14387 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14388 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14390 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14391 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14392 don't really mix very well.
14394 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14395 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14396 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14397 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14400 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14401 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14402 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14403 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14406 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14408 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14410 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14412 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14414 ((string= group "important")
14420 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14421 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14423 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14424 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14425 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14428 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14429 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14431 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14432 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14433 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14434 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14435 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14436 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14437 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14438 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14439 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14440 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14441 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14442 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14443 name or @code{delete}.
14445 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14447 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14450 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14451 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14452 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14453 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14454 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14457 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14458 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14459 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14460 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14461 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14464 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14465 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14466 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14467 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14468 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14469 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14471 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14472 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14473 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14474 easier for procmail users.
14476 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14477 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14478 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14479 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14480 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14481 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14482 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14483 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14484 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14485 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14486 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14487 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14488 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14491 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14493 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14494 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14495 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14496 auto-expire turned on.
14500 @subsection Washing Mail
14501 @cindex mail washing
14502 @cindex list server brain damage
14503 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14505 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14506 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14507 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14508 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14509 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14510 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14512 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14513 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14514 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14517 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14518 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14519 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14520 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14523 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14524 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14525 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14526 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14527 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14530 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14531 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14532 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14533 Emacs running on MS machines.
14537 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14538 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14539 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14540 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14543 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14544 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14545 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14546 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14548 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14549 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14550 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14551 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14552 into a feature by documenting it.)
14554 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14555 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14556 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14557 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14558 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14559 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14560 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14563 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14564 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14567 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14568 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14571 This can also be done non-destructively with
14572 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14574 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14575 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14576 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14578 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14579 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14581 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14582 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14583 @code{References} headers.
14587 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14588 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14589 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14593 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14594 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14595 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14602 @subsection Duplicates
14604 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14605 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14606 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14607 @cindex duplicate mails
14608 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14609 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14610 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14611 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14612 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14613 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14614 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14615 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14616 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14617 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14618 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14619 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14620 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14622 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14623 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14624 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14625 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14627 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14630 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14631 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14635 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14636 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14637 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14638 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14639 (any mail "mail.misc")
14640 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14646 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14647 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14648 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14652 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14653 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14654 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14655 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14656 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14659 @node Not Reading Mail
14660 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14662 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14663 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14664 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14666 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14667 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14668 mail, which should help.
14670 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14671 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14672 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14673 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14674 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14675 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14676 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14677 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14678 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14679 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14680 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14682 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14683 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14687 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14688 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14690 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14691 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14692 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14694 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14695 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14696 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14700 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14701 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14702 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14703 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14704 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14705 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14706 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14710 @node Unix Mail Box
14711 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14713 @cindex unix mail box
14715 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14716 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14717 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14718 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14719 which group it belongs in.
14721 Virtual server settings:
14724 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14725 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14726 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14729 @item nnmbox-active-file
14730 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14731 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14732 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14734 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14735 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14736 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14737 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14742 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14746 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14747 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14748 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14749 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14750 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14752 Virtual server settings:
14755 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14756 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14757 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14759 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14760 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14761 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14762 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14764 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14765 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14766 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14772 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14774 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14776 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14777 format. It should be used with some caution.
14779 @vindex nnml-directory
14780 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14781 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14782 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14783 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14785 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14788 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14789 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14790 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14791 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14792 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14793 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14794 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14795 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14797 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14798 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14799 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14800 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14802 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14804 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14805 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14806 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14807 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14808 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14809 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14810 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14811 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14814 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14815 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14816 them next time it starts.
14818 Virtual server settings:
14821 @item nnml-directory
14822 @vindex nnml-directory
14823 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14824 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14827 @item nnml-active-file
14828 @vindex nnml-active-file
14829 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14830 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14832 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14833 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14834 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14835 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14837 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14838 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14839 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14842 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14843 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14844 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14845 default is @code{nil}.
14847 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14848 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14849 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14851 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14852 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14853 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14855 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14856 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14857 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14858 default is @code{nil}.
14860 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14861 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14862 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14864 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14865 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14866 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14871 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14872 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
14873 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14874 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14875 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14876 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14877 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14882 @subsubsection MH Spool
14884 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14886 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14887 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
14888 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
14889 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
14892 Virtual server settings:
14895 @item nnmh-directory
14896 @vindex nnmh-directory
14897 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14898 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14901 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14902 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14903 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14907 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14908 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14909 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
14910 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14911 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14912 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
14913 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14918 @subsubsection Maildir
14922 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14923 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14924 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14925 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
14926 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
14929 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14930 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14931 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14932 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14933 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
14934 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
14935 that appear as group in Gnus.
14937 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
14938 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
14939 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
14941 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
14942 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
14943 another, and you will keep your marks.
14945 Virtual server settings:
14949 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
14950 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
14951 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
14952 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
14953 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
14954 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
14955 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
14956 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
14957 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
14958 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
14960 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14961 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14962 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14963 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14964 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14965 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14966 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14967 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14968 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14969 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
14972 @item target-prefix
14973 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14974 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14975 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14978 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
14979 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14980 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14981 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14982 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14983 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
14984 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14985 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14986 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14988 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14989 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14990 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14991 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14992 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14994 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14995 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14996 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14997 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14998 @code{force} argument.
15000 @item directory-files
15001 This should be a function with the same interface as
15002 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15003 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15004 parameter is optional; the default is
15005 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15006 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15007 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15008 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15009 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15010 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15013 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15014 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15015 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15016 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15017 value is @code{nil}.
15019 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15020 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15021 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15022 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15023 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15026 @subsubsection Group parameters
15028 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15029 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15030 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15031 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15032 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15033 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15036 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15037 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15038 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15039 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15040 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15041 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15042 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15043 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15044 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15048 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15049 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15050 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15051 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15052 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15053 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15054 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15055 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15056 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15057 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15058 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15059 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15062 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15064 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15066 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15067 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15068 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15069 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15070 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15071 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15072 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15073 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15074 article. So that form can refer to
15075 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15076 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15077 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15078 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15081 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15082 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15083 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15084 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15085 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15086 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15087 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15088 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15089 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15090 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15091 contain extra copies of the articles.
15093 @item directory-files
15094 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15095 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15096 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15097 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15099 @item distrust-Lines:
15100 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15101 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15102 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15105 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15106 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15107 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15108 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15109 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15110 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15113 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15114 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15115 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15116 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15117 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15118 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15119 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15121 @item nov-cache-size
15122 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15123 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15124 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15125 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15126 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15127 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15128 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15129 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15130 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15131 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15132 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15135 @subsubsection Article identification
15136 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15137 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15138 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15139 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15140 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15141 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15142 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15143 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15144 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15145 request the article in the summary buffer.
15147 @subsubsection NOV data
15148 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15149 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15150 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15151 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15152 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15153 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15154 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15155 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15156 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15157 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15158 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15160 @subsubsection Article marks
15161 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15162 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15163 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15164 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15165 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15166 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15167 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15168 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15170 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15171 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15172 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15173 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15174 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15175 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15176 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15177 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15178 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15182 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15184 @cindex mbox folders
15185 @cindex mail folders
15187 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15188 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15189 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15190 numbers and arrival dates.
15192 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15194 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15195 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15196 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15197 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15198 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15199 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15200 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15201 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15202 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15203 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15205 Virtual server settings:
15208 @item nnfolder-directory
15209 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15210 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15211 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15212 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15214 @item nnfolder-active-file
15215 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15216 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15218 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15219 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15220 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15221 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15223 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15224 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15225 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15226 default is @code{t}
15228 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15229 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15230 @cindex backup files
15231 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15232 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15233 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15234 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15237 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15238 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15240 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15243 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15244 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15245 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15246 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15247 extract some information from it before removing it.
15249 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15250 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15251 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15252 default is @code{nil}.
15254 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15255 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15256 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15258 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15259 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15260 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15261 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15263 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15264 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15265 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15266 default is @code{nil}.
15268 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15269 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15270 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15272 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15273 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15274 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15275 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15280 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15281 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15282 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15283 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15284 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15285 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15288 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15289 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15291 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15292 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15293 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15294 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15295 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15297 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15298 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15299 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15300 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15301 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15302 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15303 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15304 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15307 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15308 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15309 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15310 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15315 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15316 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15317 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15318 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15319 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15320 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15321 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15322 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15323 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15324 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15325 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15326 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15327 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15332 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15333 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15334 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15335 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15336 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15337 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15338 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15339 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15340 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15341 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15342 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15343 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15344 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15345 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15347 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15348 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15353 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15354 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15355 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15356 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15357 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15358 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15359 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15360 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15361 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15362 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15363 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15364 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15365 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15366 provided by the active file and overviews.
15368 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15369 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15370 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15371 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15372 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15375 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15376 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15381 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15382 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15383 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15384 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15385 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15386 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15387 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15391 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15392 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15393 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15394 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15395 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15396 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15397 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15398 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15399 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15401 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15402 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15403 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15404 friendly mail back end all over.
15408 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15409 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15412 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15413 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15414 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15415 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15416 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15417 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15418 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15419 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15422 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15423 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15424 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15425 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15426 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15427 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15428 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15429 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15430 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15431 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15432 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15434 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15435 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15436 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15437 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15438 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15441 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15442 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15443 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15444 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15445 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15446 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15447 removed in the future.
15449 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15450 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15451 on your file system.
15453 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15454 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15459 @node Browsing the Web
15460 @section Browsing the Web
15462 @cindex browsing the web
15466 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15467 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15468 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15469 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15470 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15471 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15472 even know what a news group is.
15474 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15475 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15476 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15477 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15478 you mad in the end.
15480 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15483 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15484 interfaces to these sources.
15488 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15489 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15490 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15491 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15492 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15493 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15496 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15498 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15499 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15500 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15501 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15502 though, you should be ok.
15504 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15505 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15506 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15507 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15508 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15510 @node Archiving Mail
15511 @subsection Archiving Mail
15512 @cindex archiving mail
15513 @cindex backup of mail
15515 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15516 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15517 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15518 marks is fairly simple.
15520 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15521 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15524 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15525 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15526 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15527 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15528 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15529 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15530 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15531 before you restore the data.
15533 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15534 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15535 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15536 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15537 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15538 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15539 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15540 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15541 is unnecessary in that case.
15544 @subsection Web Searches
15549 @cindex Usenet searches
15550 @cindex searching the Usenet
15552 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15553 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15554 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15555 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15556 searches without having to use a browser.
15558 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15559 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15560 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15561 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15562 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15564 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15565 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15566 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15567 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15568 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15569 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15570 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15571 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15572 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15573 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15576 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15577 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15578 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15579 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15580 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15581 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15583 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15584 to use @code{nnweb}.
15586 Virtual server variables:
15591 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15592 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15593 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15596 @vindex nnweb-search
15597 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15599 @item nnweb-max-hits
15600 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15601 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15604 @item nnweb-type-definition
15605 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15606 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15607 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15612 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15616 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15619 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15622 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15626 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15633 @subsection Slashdot
15637 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15638 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15639 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15641 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15642 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15645 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15646 '((nnslashdot "")))
15649 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15650 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15651 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15652 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15653 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15656 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15657 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15659 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15660 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15661 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15662 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15663 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15664 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15665 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15667 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15670 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15671 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15672 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15673 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15674 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15675 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15676 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15678 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15679 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15680 The login name to use when posting.
15682 @item nnslashdot-password
15683 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15684 The password to use when posting.
15686 @item nnslashdot-directory
15687 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15688 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15689 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15691 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15692 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15693 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15694 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15695 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15697 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15698 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15699 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15701 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15702 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15703 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15704 article. The default is
15705 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15707 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15708 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15709 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15711 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15712 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15713 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15714 updated. The default is 0.
15721 @subsection Ultimate
15723 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15725 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15726 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15727 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15728 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15730 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15731 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15732 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15733 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15734 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15735 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15736 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15738 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15741 @item nnultimate-directory
15742 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15743 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15744 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15749 @subsection Web Archive
15751 @cindex Web Archive
15753 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15754 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15755 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15756 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15759 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15760 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15761 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15762 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15763 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15764 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15765 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15766 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15768 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15771 @item nnwarchive-directory
15772 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15773 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15774 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15776 @item nnwarchive-login
15777 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15778 The account name on the web server.
15780 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15781 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15782 The password for your account on the web server.
15790 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15791 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15792 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15793 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15794 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15796 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15797 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15799 @kindex G R (Summary)
15800 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15801 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15803 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15804 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15805 subscribe to groups.
15807 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15810 @item nnrss-directory
15811 @vindex nnrss-directory
15812 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15813 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15815 @item nnrss-use-local
15816 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15817 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15818 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15819 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15820 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15821 download script using @command{wget}.
15824 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15825 the summary buffer.
15828 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15829 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15831 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15833 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15834 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15837 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15840 (require 'browse-url)
15842 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15844 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15847 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15848 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15851 (browse-url (cdr url))
15852 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15853 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15855 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15856 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15857 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15858 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15861 @node Customizing w3
15862 @subsection Customizing w3
15868 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15869 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15870 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15872 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15873 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15874 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15877 (eval-after-load "w3"
15879 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15880 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15881 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15882 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15884 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15887 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15888 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15895 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15897 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15898 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15899 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15900 specify the network address of the server.
15902 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15903 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15904 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15905 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15906 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15907 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15909 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15910 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15911 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15912 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15914 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15915 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15916 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15917 usage explained in this section.
15919 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15920 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15921 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15925 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15926 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15927 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15929 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15930 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15931 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15933 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15934 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15935 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15936 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15937 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15938 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15939 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15940 (nnimap-stream network))
15941 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15943 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15944 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15945 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15948 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15949 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15950 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15951 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15953 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15958 @item nnimap-address
15959 @vindex nnimap-address
15961 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15962 server name if not specified.
15964 @item nnimap-server-port
15965 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15966 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15968 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15971 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15972 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15975 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15976 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15977 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15978 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15979 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15980 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15981 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15983 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15984 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15985 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15988 Example server specification:
15991 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15992 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15993 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15996 @item nnimap-stream
15997 @vindex nnimap-stream
15998 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15999 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16000 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16001 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16002 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16004 Example server specification:
16007 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16008 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16011 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16015 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16016 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16018 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16020 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16021 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16024 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16025 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16027 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16028 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16030 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16032 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16035 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16036 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16037 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16038 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16039 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16040 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16041 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16042 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16043 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16046 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16047 needed. It is available from
16048 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16050 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16051 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16052 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16053 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16054 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16055 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16056 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16059 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16060 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16061 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16062 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16063 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16064 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16065 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16068 @vindex imap-shell-program
16069 @vindex imap-shell-host
16070 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16071 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16073 @item nnimap-authenticator
16074 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16076 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16077 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16079 Example server specification:
16082 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16083 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16086 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16090 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16091 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16093 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16096 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16097 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16099 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16101 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16103 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16106 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16108 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16109 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16110 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16111 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16112 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16113 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16116 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16117 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16118 running in circles yet?
16120 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16121 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16124 The possible options are:
16129 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16132 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16133 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16134 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16135 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16137 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16142 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16143 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16145 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16146 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16147 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16148 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16149 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16152 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16153 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16156 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16157 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16158 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16159 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16162 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16163 as ticked for other users.
16165 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16167 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16169 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16170 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16171 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16172 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16174 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16175 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16176 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16177 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16179 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16180 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16182 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16183 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16184 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16187 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16188 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16190 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16191 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16197 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16198 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16199 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16200 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16201 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16202 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16207 @node Splitting in IMAP
16208 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16209 @cindex splitting imap mail
16211 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16212 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16213 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16214 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16215 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16219 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16220 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16221 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16223 Here are the variables of interest:
16227 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16228 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16230 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16232 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16233 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16234 found will be used.
16236 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16238 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16239 @cindex splitting, inbox
16241 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16243 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16244 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16245 splitting is disabled!
16248 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16249 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16252 No nnmail equivalent.
16254 @item nnimap-split-rule
16255 @cindex splitting, rules
16256 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16258 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16261 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16262 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16263 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16264 Neither did I, we need examples.
16267 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16269 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16270 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16271 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16274 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16275 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16276 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16278 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16279 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16283 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16286 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16287 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16289 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16290 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16291 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16292 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16294 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16295 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16296 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16297 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16298 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16299 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16301 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16302 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16303 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16305 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16306 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16307 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16309 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16311 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16312 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16313 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16316 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16317 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16318 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16319 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16320 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16321 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16324 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16325 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16326 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16327 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16328 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16329 group/function elements.
16331 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16333 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16335 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16337 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16338 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16340 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16341 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16342 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16345 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16346 @cindex splitting, fancy
16347 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16348 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16350 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16351 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16352 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16354 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16355 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16356 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16357 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16362 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16363 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16366 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16368 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16369 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16370 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16372 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16373 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16374 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16375 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16379 @node Expiring in IMAP
16380 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16381 @cindex expiring imap mail
16383 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16384 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16385 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16386 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16387 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16388 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16391 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16392 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16393 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16394 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16395 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16396 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16397 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16398 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16402 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16403 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16405 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16406 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16408 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16410 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16411 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16412 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16413 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16417 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16418 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16419 @cindex editing imap acls
16420 @cindex Access Control Lists
16421 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16422 @kindex G l (Group)
16423 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16425 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16426 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16427 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16430 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16431 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16432 editing window with detailed instructions.
16434 Some possible uses:
16438 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16439 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16440 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16442 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16443 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16444 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16448 @node Expunging mailboxes
16449 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16453 @cindex manual expunging
16454 @kindex G x (Group)
16455 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16457 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16458 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16459 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16461 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16464 @node A note on namespaces
16465 @subsection A note on namespaces
16466 @cindex IMAP namespace
16469 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16470 by the following text in the RFC:
16473 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16475 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16476 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16477 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16478 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16480 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16481 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16482 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16483 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16484 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16485 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16488 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16489 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16490 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16492 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16493 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16494 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16495 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16496 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16497 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16498 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16499 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16502 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16503 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16504 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16506 @node Debugging IMAP
16507 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16508 @cindex IMAP debugging
16509 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16511 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16512 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16513 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16514 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16516 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16517 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16518 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16519 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16520 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16521 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16522 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16526 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16527 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16534 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16535 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16536 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16537 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16540 @node Other Sources
16541 @section Other Sources
16543 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16544 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16548 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16549 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16550 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16551 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16552 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16556 @node Directory Groups
16557 @subsection Directory Groups
16559 @cindex directory groups
16561 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16562 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16565 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16566 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16567 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16568 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16570 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16571 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16572 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16573 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16574 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16576 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16578 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16579 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16580 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16581 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16584 @node Anything Groups
16585 @subsection Anything Groups
16588 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16589 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16590 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16593 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16594 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16595 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16596 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16597 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16598 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16599 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16600 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16601 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16602 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16605 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16606 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16607 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16608 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16610 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16611 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16612 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16613 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16615 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16616 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16617 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16618 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16619 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16620 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16621 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16622 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16627 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16628 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16629 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16630 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16632 @item nneething-exclude-files
16633 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16634 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16635 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16637 @item nneething-include-files
16638 @vindex nneething-include-files
16639 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16640 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16642 @item nneething-map-file
16643 @vindex nneething-map-file
16644 Name of the map files.
16648 @node Document Groups
16649 @subsection Document Groups
16651 @cindex documentation group
16654 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16655 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16662 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16667 The standard Unix mbox file.
16669 @cindex MMDF mail box
16671 The MMDF mail box format.
16674 Several news articles appended into a file.
16677 @cindex rnews batch files
16678 The rnews batch transport format.
16679 @cindex forwarded messages
16682 Forwarded articles.
16685 Netscape mail boxes.
16688 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16690 @item standard-digest
16691 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16694 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16696 @item lanl-gov-announce
16697 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16699 @item rfc822-forward
16700 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16703 The Outlook mail box.
16706 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16709 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16712 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16715 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16721 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16724 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16730 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16731 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16732 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16735 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16736 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16737 group. And that's it.
16739 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16740 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16741 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16742 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16743 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16744 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16745 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16746 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16747 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16748 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16750 Virtual server variables:
16753 @item nndoc-article-type
16754 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16755 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16756 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16757 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16758 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16759 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16761 @item nndoc-post-type
16762 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16763 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16764 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16769 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16773 @node Document Server Internals
16774 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16776 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16777 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16778 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16779 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16781 First, here's an example document type definition:
16785 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16786 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16789 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16790 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16791 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16792 types can be defined with very few settings:
16795 @item first-article
16796 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16797 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16800 @item article-begin
16801 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16802 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16804 @item head-begin-function
16805 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16808 @item nndoc-head-begin
16809 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16812 @item nndoc-head-end
16813 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16814 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16816 @item body-begin-function
16817 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16821 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16824 @item body-end-function
16825 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16829 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16832 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16833 regexp will be totally ignored.
16837 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16838 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16839 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16840 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16841 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16844 @item prepare-body-function
16845 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16846 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16847 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16849 @item article-transform-function
16850 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16851 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16852 body of the article.
16854 @item generate-head-function
16855 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16856 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16857 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16858 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16862 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16867 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16868 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16869 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16870 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16871 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16872 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16873 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16874 (subtype digest guess))
16877 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16878 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16879 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16880 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16881 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16883 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16884 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16885 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16886 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16887 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16888 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16889 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16890 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16891 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16892 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16893 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16894 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16902 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16903 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16904 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16906 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16907 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16908 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16911 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16912 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16913 that interested in doing things properly.
16915 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16916 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16919 First some terminology:
16924 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16925 get news and/or mail from.
16928 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16929 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16932 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16936 @item message packets
16937 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16938 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16939 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16941 @item response packets
16942 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16943 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16944 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16954 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16955 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16956 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16957 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16960 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16963 You put the packet in your home directory.
16966 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16967 the native or secondary server.
16970 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16971 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16974 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16978 You transfer this packet to the server.
16981 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16984 You then repeat until you die.
16988 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16989 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16992 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16993 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16994 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16998 @node SOUP Commands
16999 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17001 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17005 @kindex G s b (Group)
17006 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17007 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17008 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17009 process/prefix convention.
17012 @kindex G s w (Group)
17013 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17014 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17017 @kindex G s s (Group)
17018 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17019 Send all replies from the replies packet
17020 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17023 @kindex G s p (Group)
17024 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17025 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17028 @kindex G s r (Group)
17029 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17030 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17033 @kindex O s (Summary)
17034 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17035 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17036 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17037 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17042 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17047 @item gnus-soup-directory
17048 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17049 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17050 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17052 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17053 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17054 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17055 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17057 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17058 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17059 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17060 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17062 @item gnus-soup-packer
17063 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17064 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17065 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17067 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17068 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17069 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17070 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17072 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17073 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17074 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17076 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17077 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17078 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17079 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17085 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17088 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17089 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17090 you can read them at leisure.
17092 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17096 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17097 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17098 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17099 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17101 @item nnsoup-directory
17102 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17103 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17104 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17106 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17107 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17108 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17109 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17111 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17112 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17113 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17114 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17115 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17117 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17118 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17119 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17120 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17122 @item nnsoup-active-file
17123 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17124 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17125 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17126 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17127 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17129 @item nnsoup-packer
17130 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17131 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17132 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17134 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17135 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17136 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17137 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17139 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17140 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17141 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17144 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17145 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17146 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17149 @item nnsoup-always-save
17150 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17151 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17157 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17159 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17160 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17161 more for that to happen.
17163 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17164 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17165 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17168 In specific, this is what it does:
17171 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17172 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17175 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17176 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17177 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17180 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17181 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17182 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17185 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17186 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17187 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17189 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17195 @item nngateway-address
17196 @vindex nngateway-address
17197 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17199 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17200 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17201 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17202 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17203 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17204 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17205 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17208 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17209 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17210 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17213 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17216 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17219 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17222 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17224 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17227 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17228 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17229 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17231 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17233 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17234 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17235 @code{nngateway-address}.
17243 (setq gnus-post-method
17245 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17246 (nngateway-header-transformation
17247 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17250 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17253 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17258 @node Combined Groups
17259 @section Combined Groups
17261 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17265 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17266 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17270 @node Virtual Groups
17271 @subsection Virtual Groups
17273 @cindex virtual groups
17274 @cindex merging groups
17276 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17279 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17280 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17281 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17283 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17284 regexp to match component groups.
17286 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17287 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17288 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17289 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17290 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17291 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17292 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17293 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17295 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17296 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17299 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17302 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17303 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17305 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17306 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17307 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17308 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17311 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17314 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17315 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17316 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17318 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17319 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17320 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17321 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17322 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17324 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17325 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17326 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17328 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17329 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17330 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17331 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17332 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17333 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17334 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17335 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17336 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17337 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17338 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17340 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17341 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17342 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17343 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17344 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17345 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17346 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17348 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17349 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17351 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17352 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17356 @node Kibozed Groups
17357 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17361 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17362 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17363 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17364 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17366 @kindex G k (Group)
17367 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17370 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17371 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17372 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17373 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17375 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17376 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17377 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17379 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17380 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17381 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17382 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17383 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17384 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17385 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17386 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17388 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17389 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17390 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17391 Stranger things have happened.
17393 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17394 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17396 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17397 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17398 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17399 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17400 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17401 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17402 component articles.
17404 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17405 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17408 @node Gnus Unplugged
17409 @section Gnus Unplugged
17414 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17416 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17417 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17418 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17419 read news. Believe it or not.
17421 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17422 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17423 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17424 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17425 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17427 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17428 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17429 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17430 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17431 reading news on a machine.
17433 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17434 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17436 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17439 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17440 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17441 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17442 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17443 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17444 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17445 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17446 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17447 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17448 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17449 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17450 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17451 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17456 @subsection Agent Basics
17458 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17460 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17461 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17462 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17463 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17465 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17466 connected to the net continuously.
17468 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17469 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17471 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17472 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17473 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17474 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17475 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17477 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17478 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17479 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17480 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17481 they're kinda like plugged always).
17483 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17484 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17485 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17488 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17489 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17490 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17491 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17492 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17494 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17499 @findex gnus-unplugged
17500 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17501 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17502 already fetched while in this mode.
17505 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17506 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17507 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17508 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17509 Source Specifiers}).
17512 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17513 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17514 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17515 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17516 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17519 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17520 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17521 then you read the news offline.
17524 And then you go to step 2.
17527 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17533 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17534 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17535 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17536 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17537 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17538 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17539 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17540 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17543 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17544 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17545 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17546 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17548 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17549 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17550 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17551 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17552 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17553 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17557 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17561 @node Agent Categories
17562 @subsection Agent Categories
17564 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17565 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17566 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17567 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17568 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17569 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17570 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17572 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17573 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17574 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17575 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17576 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17578 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17579 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17580 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17581 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17582 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17585 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17586 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17587 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17588 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17589 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17590 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17594 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17595 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17596 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17600 @node Category Syntax
17601 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17603 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17604 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17605 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17608 @cindex Agent Parameters
17610 @item agent-cat-name
17611 The name of the category.
17614 The list of groups that are in this category.
17616 @item agent-predicate
17617 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17618 are eligible for downloading; and
17620 @item agent-score-file
17621 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17622 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17623 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17625 @item agent-enable-expiration
17626 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17627 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17628 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17629 only groups that should not be expired.
17631 @item agent-days-until-old
17632 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17633 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17635 @item agent-low-score
17636 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17638 @item agent-high-score
17639 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17641 @item agent-length-when-short
17642 an integer that overrides the value of
17643 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17645 @item agent-length-when-long
17646 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17648 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
17649 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
17650 undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17651 faces. Any symbol other than nil will enable the use of undownloaded
17655 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17658 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17659 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17660 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17663 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17664 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17665 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17666 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17668 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17669 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17670 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17672 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17673 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17674 operators sprinkled in between.
17676 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17678 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17679 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17685 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17686 short (for some value of ``short'').
17688 Here's a more complex predicate:
17697 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17698 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17701 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17702 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17703 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17705 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17706 you want to do, you can write your own.
17708 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17709 bound to the value determined by calling
17710 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17711 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17712 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17713 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17714 predicate to individual groups.
17718 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17719 lines; default 100.
17722 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17723 lines; default 200.
17726 True iff the article has a download score less than
17727 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17730 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17731 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17734 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17735 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17736 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17745 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17746 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17747 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17750 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17751 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17752 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17753 something along the lines of the following:
17756 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17757 "Say whether an article is old."
17758 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17759 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17762 with the predicate then defined as:
17765 (not my-article-old-p)
17768 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17769 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17773 (require 'gnus-agent)
17774 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17775 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17776 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17779 and simply specify your predicate as:
17785 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17786 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17787 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17788 just don't give a damn.
17790 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17791 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17792 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17793 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17794 parameters like so:
17797 (agent-predicate . short)
17800 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17801 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17802 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17804 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17807 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17810 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17811 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17812 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17815 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17816 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17817 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17818 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17819 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17820 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17822 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17823 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17824 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17825 if it's to be specific to that group.
17827 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17834 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17835 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17841 Category specification
17845 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17851 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17854 (agent-score ("from"
17855 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17860 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17866 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17867 keywords stated above.
17873 Category specification
17876 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17882 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17886 Group Parameter specification
17889 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17892 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17897 Use @code{normal} score files
17899 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17900 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17901 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17902 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17904 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17905 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17906 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17907 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17911 Category Specification
17918 Group Parameter specification
17921 (agent-score . file)
17926 @node Category Buffer
17927 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17929 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17930 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17931 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17933 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17937 @kindex q (Category)
17938 @findex gnus-category-exit
17939 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17942 @kindex e (Category)
17943 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17944 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17945 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17948 @kindex k (Category)
17949 @findex gnus-category-kill
17950 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17953 @kindex c (Category)
17954 @findex gnus-category-copy
17955 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17958 @kindex a (Category)
17959 @findex gnus-category-add
17960 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17963 @kindex p (Category)
17964 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17965 Edit the predicate of the current category
17966 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17969 @kindex g (Category)
17970 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17971 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17972 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17975 @kindex s (Category)
17976 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17977 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17978 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17981 @kindex l (Category)
17982 @findex gnus-category-list
17983 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17987 @node Category Variables
17988 @subsubsection Category Variables
17991 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17992 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17993 Hook run in category buffers.
17995 @item gnus-category-line-format
17996 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17997 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17998 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18002 The name of the category.
18005 The number of groups in the category.
18008 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18009 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18010 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18012 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18013 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18014 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18016 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18017 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18018 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18020 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18021 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18022 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18025 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18026 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18027 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18030 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18031 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18032 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18033 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18034 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18035 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18036 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18037 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18041 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18042 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18043 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18044 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18045 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18046 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18047 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18052 @node Agent Commands
18053 @subsection Agent Commands
18054 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18055 @kindex J j (Agent)
18057 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18058 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18059 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18063 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18064 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18065 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18071 @node Group Agent Commands
18072 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18076 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18077 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18078 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18079 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18082 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18083 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18084 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18087 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18088 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18089 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18090 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18093 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18094 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18095 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18096 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18099 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18100 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18101 Add the current group to an Agent category
18102 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18103 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18106 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18107 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18108 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18109 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18110 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18113 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18114 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18115 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18121 @node Summary Agent Commands
18122 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18126 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18127 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18128 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18131 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18132 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18133 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18134 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18138 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18139 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18140 Toggle whether to download the article
18141 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18145 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18146 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18147 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18150 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18151 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18152 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18153 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18156 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18157 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18158 Download all processable articles in this group.
18159 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18162 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18163 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18164 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18165 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18170 @node Server Agent Commands
18171 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18175 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18176 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18177 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18178 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18181 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18182 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18183 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18184 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18189 @node Agent Visuals
18190 @subsection Agent Visuals
18192 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18193 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18194 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18195 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18196 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18197 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18198 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18199 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18200 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18201 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18203 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18204 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18205 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18206 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18207 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18208 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18209 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18210 articles will be available when unplugged.
18212 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18213 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18214 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18215 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18216 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18217 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18218 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18219 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18221 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18222 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18223 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18224 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18225 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18226 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18227 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18228 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18229 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18231 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18232 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18233 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18234 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18235 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18236 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18237 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18238 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18239 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18240 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18242 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18243 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18244 group parameter to t. This parameter, like all other agent
18245 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent
18246 Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an
18247 individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18249 @node Agent as Cache
18250 @subsection Agent as Cache
18252 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18253 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18254 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18255 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18256 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18257 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18258 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18259 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18260 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18262 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18263 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18264 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18265 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18266 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18269 @subsection Agent Expiry
18271 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18272 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18273 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18274 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18275 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18276 @cindex agent expiry
18277 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18280 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18281 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18282 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18283 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18284 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18285 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18286 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18287 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18289 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18290 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18291 synchronized with the group.
18293 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18294 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18296 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18297 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18298 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18299 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18300 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18301 be kept indefinitely.
18303 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18304 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18305 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18306 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18308 @node Agent Regeneration
18309 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18311 @cindex agent regeneration
18312 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18313 @cindex regeneration
18315 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18316 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18317 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18318 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18319 internal inconsistencies.
18321 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18322 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18323 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18324 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18325 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18326 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18328 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18329 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18330 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18331 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18332 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18333 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18335 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18336 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18337 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18338 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18339 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18340 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18343 @node Agent and IMAP
18344 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18346 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18347 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18348 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18349 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18351 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18352 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18353 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18354 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18356 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18357 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18358 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18359 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18361 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18362 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18363 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18364 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18365 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18366 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18368 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18369 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18370 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18371 in the group buffer.
18373 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18374 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18379 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18382 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18386 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18387 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18388 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18389 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18390 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18391 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18392 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18393 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18396 @node Outgoing Messages
18397 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18399 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
18400 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
18401 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18403 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
18404 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
18405 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
18407 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
18408 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
18409 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
18410 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
18413 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
18414 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
18415 ask you to confirm your action (see
18416 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
18418 @node Agent Variables
18419 @subsection Agent Variables
18422 @item gnus-agent-directory
18423 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18424 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18425 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18427 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18428 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18429 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18430 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18431 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18434 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18435 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18436 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18438 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18439 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18440 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18442 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18443 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18444 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18446 @item gnus-agent-cache
18447 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18448 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18449 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18450 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18452 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18453 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18454 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18455 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18456 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18457 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18458 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18461 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18462 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18463 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18464 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18465 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18466 read. The default is t.
18468 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18469 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18470 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18471 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18472 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18473 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18474 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18475 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18476 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18477 over and over again.
18479 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18480 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18481 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18482 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18483 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18484 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18485 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18486 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18487 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18488 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18489 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18490 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18493 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18494 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18495 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18496 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18497 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18498 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18499 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18500 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18501 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18503 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18504 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18505 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18506 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18507 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18508 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18510 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18511 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18512 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18513 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18514 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18516 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
18517 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
18518 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
18519 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
18520 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
18521 mail. The default is @code{t}.
18523 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18524 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18525 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
18526 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
18527 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
18529 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18530 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18531 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18532 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18533 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18534 which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18535 to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18536 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18537 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18538 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18539 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18544 @node Example Setup
18545 @subsection Example Setup
18547 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18548 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18549 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18552 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18553 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18554 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18556 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18557 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18558 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18560 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18561 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18563 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18564 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18565 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18568 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18569 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18572 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18573 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18574 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18575 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18576 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18579 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18580 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18581 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18582 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18583 back all the killed groups.)
18585 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18586 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18587 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18590 @node Batching Agents
18591 @subsection Batching Agents
18592 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18594 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18595 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18596 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18598 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18599 following incantation:
18603 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18607 @node Agent Caveats
18608 @subsection Agent Caveats
18610 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18611 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18615 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18617 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18618 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18619 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18621 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18622 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18624 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18628 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18629 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18630 locally stored articles.
18637 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18638 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18639 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18642 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18643 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18644 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18645 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18646 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18648 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18649 before generating the summary buffer.
18651 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18652 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18653 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18655 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18656 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18657 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18658 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18661 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18662 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18663 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18664 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18665 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18666 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18667 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18668 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18669 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18670 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18671 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18672 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18673 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18674 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18675 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18676 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18680 @node Summary Score Commands
18681 @section Summary Score Commands
18682 @cindex score commands
18684 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18685 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18686 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18687 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18688 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18690 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18691 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18692 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18693 score file the current one.
18695 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18700 @kindex V s (Summary)
18701 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18702 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18705 @kindex V S (Summary)
18706 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18707 Display the score of the current article
18708 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18711 @kindex V t (Summary)
18712 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18713 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18714 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18715 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18716 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18717 score file and edit it.
18720 @kindex V w (Summary)
18721 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18722 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18725 @kindex V R (Summary)
18726 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18727 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18728 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18729 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18730 effect you're having.
18733 @kindex V c (Summary)
18734 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18735 Make a different score file the current
18736 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18739 @kindex V e (Summary)
18740 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18741 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18742 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18746 @kindex V f (Summary)
18747 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18748 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18749 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18752 @kindex V F (Summary)
18753 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18754 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18755 after editing score files.
18758 @kindex V C (Summary)
18759 @findex gnus-score-customize
18760 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18761 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18765 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18770 @kindex V m (Summary)
18771 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18772 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18773 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18776 @kindex V x (Summary)
18777 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18778 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18779 expunge all articles below this score
18780 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18783 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18784 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18787 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18788 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18792 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18793 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18795 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18796 keys are available:
18800 Score on the author name.
18803 Score on the subject line.
18806 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18809 Score on the @code{References} line.
18815 Score on the number of lines.
18818 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18821 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18822 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18825 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18826 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18827 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18836 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18842 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18843 what headers you are scoring on.
18855 Substring matching.
18858 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18887 Greater than number.
18892 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18893 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18894 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18899 Temporary score entry.
18902 Permanent score entry.
18905 Immediately scoring.
18909 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18910 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18911 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18915 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18916 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18917 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18918 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18920 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18921 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18922 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18923 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18924 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18926 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18927 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18928 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18929 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18930 current score file.
18932 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18933 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18934 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18937 @node Group Score Commands
18938 @section Group Score Commands
18939 @cindex group score commands
18941 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18946 @kindex W e (Group)
18947 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
18948 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
18949 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
18952 @kindex W f (Group)
18953 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18954 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18955 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18956 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18960 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18962 @findex gnus-batch-score
18963 @cindex batch scoring
18965 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18969 @node Score Variables
18970 @section Score Variables
18971 @cindex score variables
18975 @item gnus-use-scoring
18976 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18977 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18978 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18980 @item gnus-kill-killed
18981 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18982 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18983 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18984 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18985 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18986 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18987 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18989 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18990 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18991 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18992 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18993 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18995 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18996 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18997 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18998 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19000 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19001 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19002 @cindex score cache
19003 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19004 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19005 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19006 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19007 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19008 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19009 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19012 @item gnus-save-score
19013 @vindex gnus-save-score
19014 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19015 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19016 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19018 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19019 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19020 across group visits.
19022 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19023 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19024 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19025 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19026 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19027 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19028 manually entered data.
19030 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19031 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19032 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19034 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19035 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19036 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19037 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19038 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19039 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19041 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19042 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19043 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19044 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19046 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19047 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19048 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19049 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19051 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19052 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19053 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19054 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19056 Predefined functions available are:
19059 @item gnus-score-find-single
19060 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19061 Only apply the group's own score file.
19063 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19064 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19065 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19066 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19067 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19068 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19069 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19070 then a regexp match is done.
19072 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19073 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19075 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19076 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19077 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19078 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19080 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19081 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19082 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19083 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19084 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19088 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19089 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19090 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19091 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19092 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19093 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19094 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19097 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19098 overall score file, you could use the value
19100 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19101 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19104 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19105 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19106 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19107 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19108 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19110 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19111 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19112 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19113 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19114 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19115 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19116 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19117 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19119 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19120 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19121 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19123 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19124 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19125 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19126 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19127 threading---according to the current value of
19128 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19129 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19130 simplified in this manner.
19135 @node Score File Format
19136 @section Score File Format
19137 @cindex score file format
19139 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19140 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19141 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19143 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19147 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19149 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19151 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19153 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19158 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19162 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19163 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19164 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19165 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19169 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19170 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19172 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19173 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19174 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19176 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19181 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19182 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19183 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19184 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19185 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19186 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19187 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19188 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19189 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19190 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19191 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19192 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19193 to articles that matches these score entries.
19195 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19196 score entry has one to four elements.
19200 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19201 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19205 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19206 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19207 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19208 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19209 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19210 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19213 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19214 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19215 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19216 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19217 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19220 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19221 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19222 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19223 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19226 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19227 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19228 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19229 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19230 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19231 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19232 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19233 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19234 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19235 instead, if you feel like.
19238 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19239 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19240 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19241 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19242 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19243 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19247 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19248 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19252 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19253 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19255 These predicates are true if
19258 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19261 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19262 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19269 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19270 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19271 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19272 it's not. I think.)
19274 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19275 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19276 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19277 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19280 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19281 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19282 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19283 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19284 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19285 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19286 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19290 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19291 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19292 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19293 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19294 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19295 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19296 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19297 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19300 @item Head, Body, All
19301 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19305 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19306 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19307 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19308 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19309 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19310 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19311 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19315 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19316 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19317 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19318 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19319 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19320 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19321 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19322 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19323 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19324 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19325 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19329 @cindex score file atoms
19331 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19332 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19335 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19336 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19338 @item mark-and-expunge
19339 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19340 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19343 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19344 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19345 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19346 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19347 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19350 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19351 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19354 @item exclude-files
19355 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19356 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19360 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19361 ignored when handling global score files.
19364 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19365 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19366 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19367 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19370 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19371 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19372 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19373 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19375 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19379 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19382 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19383 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19384 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19385 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19386 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19388 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19389 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19390 scoring rules exist.
19393 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19394 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19395 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19396 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19397 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19398 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19399 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19400 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19401 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19402 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19403 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19407 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19408 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19409 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19410 file for a number of groups.
19413 @cindex local variables
19414 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19415 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19416 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19417 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19418 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19423 @node Score File Editing
19424 @section Score File Editing
19426 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19427 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19428 with a mode for that.
19430 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19431 additional commands:
19436 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19437 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19438 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19439 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19442 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19443 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19444 Insert the current date in numerical format
19445 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19446 you were wondering.
19449 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19450 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19451 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19452 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19453 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19458 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19460 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19461 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19463 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19464 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19467 @node Adaptive Scoring
19468 @section Adaptive Scoring
19469 @cindex adaptive scoring
19471 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19472 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19473 stupidity, to be precise.
19475 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19476 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19477 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19478 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19479 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19480 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19481 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19482 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19483 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19485 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19486 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19487 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19488 might look something like this:
19491 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19492 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19493 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19494 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19495 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19496 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19497 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19498 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19499 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19500 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19501 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19502 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19505 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19506 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19507 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19508 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19509 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19510 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19513 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19514 will be applied to each article.
19516 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19517 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19518 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19519 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19521 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19522 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19523 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19524 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19526 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19527 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19528 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19529 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19531 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19532 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19533 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19534 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19535 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19536 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19538 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19539 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19540 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19542 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19543 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19544 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19546 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19547 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19548 let you use different rules in different groups.
19550 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19551 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19552 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19555 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19556 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19557 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19558 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19559 the length of the match is less than
19560 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19561 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19564 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19565 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19566 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19567 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19568 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19571 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19572 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19573 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19574 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19575 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19578 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19579 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19580 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19581 score with 30 points.
19583 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19584 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19585 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19586 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19587 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19589 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19590 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19591 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19592 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19593 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19595 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19596 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19597 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19598 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19600 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19601 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19602 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19603 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19605 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19606 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19607 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19608 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19609 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19611 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19612 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19613 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19615 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19616 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19617 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19618 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19621 @node Home Score File
19622 @section Home Score File
19624 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19625 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19626 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19627 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19629 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19630 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19631 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19633 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19634 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19639 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19643 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19644 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19648 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19652 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19653 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19656 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19657 be used as the home score file.
19660 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19663 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19668 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19671 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19672 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19675 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19676 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19678 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19680 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19681 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19684 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19685 Other functions include
19688 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19689 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19690 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19691 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19695 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19696 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19697 their own home score files:
19700 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19701 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19702 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19703 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19704 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19707 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19708 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19709 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19710 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19711 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19713 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19714 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19715 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19716 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19717 precedence over this variable.
19720 @node Followups To Yourself
19721 @section Followups To Yourself
19723 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19724 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19725 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19726 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19727 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19728 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19732 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19733 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19734 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19737 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19738 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19739 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19743 @vindex message-sent-hook
19744 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19745 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19747 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19751 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19752 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19756 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19757 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19760 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19761 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19766 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19770 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19771 is system-dependent.
19774 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19775 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19776 @cindex scoring on other headers
19778 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19779 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19780 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19781 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19782 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19784 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19785 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19786 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19787 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19788 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19790 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19793 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19794 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19797 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19798 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19799 time if you have much mail.
19801 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19802 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19808 @section Scoring Tips
19809 @cindex scoring tips
19815 @cindex scoring crossposts
19816 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19817 the @code{Xref} header.
19819 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19822 @item Multiple crossposts
19823 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19824 more than, say, 3 groups:
19827 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19831 @item Matching on the body
19832 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19833 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19834 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19835 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19836 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19837 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19838 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19841 @item Marking as read
19842 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19843 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19844 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19848 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19850 @item Negated character classes
19851 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19852 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19853 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19857 @node Reverse Scoring
19858 @section Reverse Scoring
19859 @cindex reverse scoring
19861 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19862 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19863 like this in your score file:
19867 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19872 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19873 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19876 @node Global Score Files
19877 @section Global Score Files
19878 @cindex global score files
19880 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19881 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19882 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19884 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19885 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19886 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19888 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19889 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19890 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19891 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19892 files are applicable to which group.
19894 To use the score file
19895 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19896 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19900 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19901 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19902 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19905 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19907 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19908 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19909 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19910 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19912 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19913 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19915 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19916 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19917 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19918 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19919 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19920 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19922 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19928 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19930 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19932 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19934 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19935 lowered out of existence.
19937 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19938 articles completely.
19941 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19942 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19943 old articles for a long time.
19946 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19947 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19948 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19949 holding our breath yet?
19953 @section Kill Files
19956 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19957 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19958 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19960 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19961 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19962 files into score files.
19964 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19965 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19966 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19967 that isn't a very good idea.
19969 Normal kill files look like this:
19972 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19973 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19977 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19978 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19980 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19981 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19984 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19989 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19990 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19991 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19994 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19995 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19996 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19999 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20004 @kindex M-k (Group)
20005 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20006 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20009 @kindex M-K (Group)
20010 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20011 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20014 Kill file variables:
20017 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20018 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20019 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20020 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20021 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20022 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20023 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20025 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20026 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20027 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20028 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20031 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20032 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20033 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20034 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20035 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20036 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20037 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20038 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20039 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20041 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20042 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20043 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20048 @node Converting Kill Files
20049 @section Converting Kill Files
20051 @cindex converting kill files
20053 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20054 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20055 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20058 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20059 You can fetch it from
20060 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20062 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20063 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20064 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20068 @node Advanced Scoring
20069 @section Advanced Scoring
20071 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20072 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20073 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20074 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20075 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20077 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20081 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20082 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20083 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20087 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20088 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20090 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20091 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20092 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20093 non-@code{nil} value.
20095 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20096 operator, and various match operators.
20103 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20104 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20105 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20110 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20111 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20112 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20117 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20118 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20122 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20123 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20124 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20125 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20126 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20127 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20128 the ancestry you want to go.
20130 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20131 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20132 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20133 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20134 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20137 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20138 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20140 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20141 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20144 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20145 when he's talking about Gnus:
20150 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20151 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20158 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20162 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20169 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20170 really don't want to read what he's written:
20174 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20175 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20179 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20180 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20181 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20188 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20189 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20190 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20191 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20195 The possibilities are endless.
20198 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20199 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20201 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20202 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20203 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20204 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20205 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20206 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20207 @samp{subject}) first.
20209 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20210 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20221 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20222 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20228 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20235 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20236 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20241 @section Score Decays
20242 @cindex score decays
20245 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20246 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20247 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20248 use them in any sensible way.
20250 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20251 @findex gnus-decay-score
20252 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20253 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20254 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20255 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20256 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20257 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20258 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20259 definition of that function:
20262 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20263 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20264 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20266 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20268 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20270 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20271 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20272 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20273 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20274 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20276 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20280 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20281 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20282 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20283 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20287 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20290 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20293 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20297 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20298 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20299 the new score, which should be an integer.
20301 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20302 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20307 @include message.texi
20308 @chapter Emacs MIME
20309 @include emacs-mime.texi
20311 @include sieve.texi
20313 @c @include pgg.texi
20315 @c @include sasl.texi
20323 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20324 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20325 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20326 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20327 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20328 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20329 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20330 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20331 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20332 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20333 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20334 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20335 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20336 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20337 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20338 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20339 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20340 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20341 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
20342 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20346 @node Process/Prefix
20347 @section Process/Prefix
20348 @cindex process/prefix convention
20350 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20351 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20353 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20354 command to be performed on.
20358 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20359 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20360 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20361 with the current one.
20363 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20364 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20365 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20367 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20368 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20371 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20372 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20374 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20377 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20378 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20379 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20380 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20382 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20383 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20384 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20385 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20386 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20387 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20388 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20389 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20391 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20392 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20393 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20394 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20395 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20399 @section Interactive
20400 @cindex interaction
20404 @item gnus-novice-user
20405 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20406 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20407 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20408 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20409 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20412 @item gnus-expert-user
20413 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20414 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20415 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20416 matter how strange.
20418 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20419 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20420 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20421 is @code{t} by default.
20423 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20424 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20425 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20430 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20431 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20432 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20434 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20435 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20436 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20437 rule of 900 to the current article.
20439 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20440 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20441 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20442 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20443 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20444 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20445 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20447 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20448 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20449 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20450 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20451 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20452 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20453 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20454 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20455 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20457 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20458 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20459 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20461 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20465 @node Formatting Variables
20466 @section Formatting Variables
20467 @cindex formatting variables
20469 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20470 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20471 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20472 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20473 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20476 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20477 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20478 lots of percentages everywhere.
20481 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20482 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20483 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20484 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20485 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20486 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20487 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20488 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20491 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20492 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20493 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20494 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20495 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20496 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20497 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20498 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20500 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20501 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20503 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20504 @findex gnus-update-format
20505 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20506 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20507 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20508 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20512 @node Formatting Basics
20513 @subsection Formatting Basics
20515 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20516 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20517 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20519 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20520 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20521 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20522 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20523 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20526 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20527 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20528 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20529 less than 4 characters wide.
20531 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20532 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20535 @node Mode Line Formatting
20536 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20538 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20539 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20540 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20541 with the following two differences:
20546 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20549 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20550 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20551 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20552 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20553 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20554 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20555 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20560 @node Advanced Formatting
20561 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20563 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20564 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20565 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20566 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20568 These are the valid modifiers:
20573 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20577 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20582 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20585 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20590 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20593 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20596 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20599 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20605 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20610 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20611 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20612 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20613 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20614 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20615 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20616 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20618 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20619 last operation, padding.
20621 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20622 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20623 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20624 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20625 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20626 the look of your lines.
20627 @xref{Compilation}.
20630 @node User-Defined Specs
20631 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20633 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20634 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20635 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20636 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20637 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20638 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20639 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20640 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20641 should protect against that.
20643 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20644 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20646 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20647 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20648 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20649 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20653 @node Formatting Fonts
20654 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20656 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20657 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20658 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20659 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20662 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20663 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20664 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20665 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20666 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20667 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20669 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20670 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20671 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20672 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20673 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20674 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20675 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20676 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20677 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20678 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20679 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20682 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20685 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20686 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20687 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20689 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20690 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20691 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20692 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20693 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20694 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20695 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20697 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20698 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20699 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20702 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20703 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20705 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20706 mode-line variables.
20708 @node Positioning Point
20709 @subsection Positioning Point
20711 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20712 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20713 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20715 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20717 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20718 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20719 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20721 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20722 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20723 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20728 @subsection Tabulation
20730 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20731 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20732 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20733 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20735 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20736 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20738 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20739 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20740 This is the soft tabulator.
20742 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20743 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20744 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20747 @node Wide Characters
20748 @subsection Wide Characters
20750 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20751 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20752 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20754 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20755 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20756 these countries, that's not true.
20758 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20759 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20760 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20761 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20765 @node Window Layout
20766 @section Window Layout
20767 @cindex window layout
20769 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20771 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20772 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20773 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20774 @code{t} by default.
20776 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20777 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20779 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20780 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20781 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20784 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20785 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20786 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20790 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20791 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20792 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20793 possible names is listed below.
20795 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20796 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20799 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20803 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20804 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20805 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20806 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20807 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20808 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20809 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20810 size spec per split.
20812 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20813 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20814 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20815 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20816 present) gets focus.
20818 Here's a more complicated example:
20821 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20822 (summary 0.25 point)
20823 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20827 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20828 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20829 occupy, not a percentage.
20831 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20832 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20833 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20834 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20835 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20838 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20841 (article (horizontal 1.0
20846 (summary 0.25 point)
20851 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20852 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20854 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20855 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20856 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20857 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20858 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20860 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20861 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20862 lines from the splits.
20864 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20869 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20870 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20871 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20872 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20873 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20874 size = number | frame-params
20875 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20879 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20880 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20881 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20882 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20884 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20885 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20886 @cindex window height
20887 @cindex window width
20888 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20889 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20890 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20891 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20892 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20893 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20895 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20896 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20897 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20898 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20900 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20901 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20902 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20903 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20904 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20905 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20906 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20907 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20908 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20909 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20910 configuration list.
20913 (gnus-configure-frame
20917 (article 0.3 point))
20925 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20926 @code{frame} split:
20929 (gnus-configure-frame
20932 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20934 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20935 (user-position . t)
20936 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20941 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20942 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20943 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20944 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20945 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20946 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20947 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20948 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20950 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20951 be found in its default value.
20953 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20954 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20955 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20959 (message (horizontal 1.0
20960 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20962 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20967 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20968 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20969 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20974 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20975 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20976 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20977 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20978 (name . "Message"))
20979 (message 1.0 point))))
20982 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20983 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20984 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20985 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20986 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20989 (gnus-add-configuration
20990 '(article (vertical 1.0
20992 (summary .25 point)
20996 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20997 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20998 Gnus has been loaded.
21000 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21001 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21002 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21003 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21004 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21006 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21007 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21008 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21011 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21015 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21016 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21031 (gnus-add-configuration
21034 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21036 (summary 0.16 point)
21039 (gnus-add-configuration
21042 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21043 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21049 @node Faces and Fonts
21050 @section Faces and Fonts
21055 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21056 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21057 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21062 @section Compilation
21063 @cindex compilation
21064 @cindex byte-compilation
21066 @findex gnus-compile
21068 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21069 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21070 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
21071 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
21072 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
21073 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21074 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21075 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21078 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21079 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21080 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21081 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
21082 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21085 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
21086 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
21087 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
21088 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
21089 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
21094 @section Mode Lines
21097 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21098 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21099 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21100 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21101 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21102 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21103 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21106 @cindex display-time
21108 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21109 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21110 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21111 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21112 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21113 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21114 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21115 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21118 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21120 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21121 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21123 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21124 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21125 (length display-time-string)))))
21128 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21129 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21130 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21131 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21132 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21135 @node Highlighting and Menus
21136 @section Highlighting and Menus
21138 @cindex highlighting
21141 @vindex gnus-visual
21142 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21143 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21144 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21147 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21148 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21151 @item group-highlight
21152 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21153 @item summary-highlight
21154 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21155 @item article-highlight
21156 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21158 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21160 Create menus in the group buffer.
21162 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21164 Create menus in the article buffer.
21166 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21168 Create menus in the server buffer.
21170 Create menus in the score buffers.
21172 Create menus in all buffers.
21175 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21176 buffers, you could say something like:
21179 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21182 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21185 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21188 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21189 in all Gnus buffers.
21191 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21194 @item gnus-mouse-face
21195 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21196 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21197 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21201 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21205 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21206 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21207 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21209 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21210 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21211 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21213 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21214 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21215 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21217 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21218 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21219 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21221 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21222 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21223 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21225 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21226 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21227 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21238 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21239 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21240 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21241 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21242 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21246 @vindex gnus-carpal
21247 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21248 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21249 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21254 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21255 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21256 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21258 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21259 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21260 Face used on buttons.
21262 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21263 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21264 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21266 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21267 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21268 Buttons in the group buffer.
21270 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21271 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21272 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21274 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21275 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21276 Buttons in the server buffer.
21278 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21279 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21280 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21283 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21284 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21285 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21293 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21294 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21295 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21296 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21297 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21299 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21300 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21301 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21303 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21304 been idle for thirty minutes:
21307 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21310 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21314 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21317 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21318 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21319 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21321 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21322 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21323 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21324 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21326 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21327 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21328 @var{idle} minutes.
21330 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21331 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21334 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21335 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21336 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21338 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21339 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21340 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21341 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21343 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21344 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21346 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21348 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21351 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21352 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21353 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21354 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21355 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21356 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21357 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21358 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21359 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21360 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21361 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21363 @findex gnus-demon-init
21364 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21365 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21366 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21367 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21368 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21370 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21371 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21372 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21381 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21382 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21384 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21385 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21386 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21387 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21390 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21391 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21392 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21393 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21395 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21396 this will make spam disappear.
21398 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21401 @item gnus-use-nocem
21402 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21403 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21406 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21407 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21408 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21411 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21412 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21415 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21416 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21417 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21418 people you want to listen to. The default is
21420 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21421 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21423 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21425 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21426 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21428 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21429 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21430 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21431 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21432 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21433 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21434 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21435 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21436 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21437 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21439 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21440 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21443 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21446 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21447 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21450 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21453 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21456 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21457 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21459 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21460 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21461 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21462 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21464 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21465 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21468 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21470 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21478 This might be dangerous, though.
21480 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21481 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21482 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21483 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21485 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21486 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21487 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21488 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21489 might then see old spam.
21491 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21492 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21493 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21494 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21495 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21498 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21499 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21500 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21501 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21505 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21506 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21507 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21508 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21515 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21516 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21517 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21519 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21520 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21521 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21522 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21523 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21524 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21525 @code{undo} function.
21527 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21528 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21529 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21530 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21531 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21532 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21533 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21534 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21535 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21536 never be totally undoable.
21538 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21539 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21541 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21542 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21543 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21544 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21548 @node Predicate Specifiers
21549 @section Predicate Specifiers
21550 @cindex predicate specifiers
21552 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21553 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21554 to type all that much.
21556 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21561 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21562 gnus-article-unread-p)
21565 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21566 functions all take one parameter.
21568 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21569 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21570 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21571 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21576 @section Moderation
21579 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21580 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21581 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21584 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21588 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21591 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21593 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21598 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21599 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21600 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21603 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21604 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21607 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21608 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21612 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21615 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21616 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21620 @node Image Enhancements
21621 @section Image Enhancements
21623 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21624 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21625 taken advantage of that.
21628 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21629 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21630 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21631 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21632 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21640 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21641 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21642 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21646 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21647 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21648 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21656 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21657 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21658 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21659 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21661 The variable that controls this is the
21662 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21663 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21664 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21665 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21666 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21668 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21669 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21670 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21671 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21674 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21675 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21676 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21677 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21678 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21679 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21680 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21681 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21683 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21686 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21687 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21689 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21690 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21691 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21692 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21693 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21694 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21695 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21696 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21697 header data as a string.
21699 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21700 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21701 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21702 randomly generated data.
21704 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21705 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21706 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21707 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21708 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21710 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21711 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21714 (setq message-required-news-headers
21715 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21716 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21719 Using the last function would be something like this:
21722 (setq message-required-news-headers
21723 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21724 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21725 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21726 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21734 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21736 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21737 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21738 represent the author of the message.
21741 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21742 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21743 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21746 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21747 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21749 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21750 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21751 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21753 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21754 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21755 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21756 converts the file to Face format by using the
21757 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21759 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21760 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21763 (setq message-required-news-headers
21764 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21765 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21766 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21771 @subsection Smileys
21776 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21781 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21782 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21784 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21785 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21788 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21791 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21792 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21793 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21794 text and maps that to file names.
21796 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21797 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21798 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21799 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21800 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21803 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21808 @item smiley-data-directory
21809 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21810 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21812 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21813 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21814 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21828 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21829 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21830 over your shoulder as you read news.
21832 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21841 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21842 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21843 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21844 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21845 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21846 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21847 @code{GIF} formats.
21850 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21851 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21852 point your Web browser at
21853 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21855 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21856 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21858 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21859 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21862 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21866 @item gnus-picon-databases
21867 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21868 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21869 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21870 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21871 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21873 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21874 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21875 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21876 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21878 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21879 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21880 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21881 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21883 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21884 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21885 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21886 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21887 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21889 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21890 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21891 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21892 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
21898 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21901 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21902 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21903 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21904 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21905 unusual directory structure.
21907 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21908 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21909 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21910 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21912 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21913 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21914 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21915 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21916 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21917 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21919 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21920 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21921 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21926 @subsubsection Toolbar
21930 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21931 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21932 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21933 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21934 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21936 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21937 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21938 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21940 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21941 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21942 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21944 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21945 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21946 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21957 @node Fuzzy Matching
21958 @section Fuzzy Matching
21959 @cindex fuzzy matching
21961 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21962 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21964 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21965 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21966 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21968 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21969 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21970 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21971 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21972 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21975 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21976 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21980 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21982 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21983 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21984 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21985 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21986 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21987 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21988 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21989 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21992 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21993 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21994 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21995 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21996 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21997 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21999 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22002 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22003 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22004 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22005 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22006 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22007 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22010 @node The problem of spam
22011 @subsection The problem of spam
22013 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22014 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22016 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22018 First, some background on spam.
22020 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22021 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22022 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22023 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22024 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22025 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22026 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22027 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22028 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22030 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22031 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22032 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22033 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22034 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22035 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22036 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22037 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22038 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22041 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22042 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22043 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22044 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22045 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22046 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22047 from Bulgarian IPs.
22049 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22050 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22051 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22052 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22054 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22055 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22056 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22057 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22059 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22060 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22061 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22062 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22063 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22064 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22065 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22066 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22067 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22069 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22070 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22071 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22072 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22073 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22074 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22075 down for some time because of the incident.
22077 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22078 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22079 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22080 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22081 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22082 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22083 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22084 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22085 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22086 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22087 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22089 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22090 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22091 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22092 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22093 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22094 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22095 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22098 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22099 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22103 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22105 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22106 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22108 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22109 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22110 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22111 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22112 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22113 part of the mail address.)
22116 (setq message-default-news-headers
22117 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22120 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22121 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22125 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22126 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22127 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22132 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22133 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22134 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22135 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22137 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22138 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22139 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22140 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22141 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22142 your fancy split rule in this way:
22147 (to "larsi" "misc")
22151 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22152 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22153 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22154 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22155 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22157 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22158 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22159 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22160 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22162 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
22166 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22167 @cindex SpamAssassin
22168 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22171 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
22172 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22173 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22174 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22175 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22176 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22177 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22179 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
22180 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
22181 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
22184 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22185 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22186 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22187 Specifiers}) follow.
22191 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22195 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22198 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22199 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22200 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22203 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22207 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22210 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22211 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22215 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22216 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22217 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22218 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22221 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22223 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22227 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22228 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22232 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22233 downloaded by default. You need to set
22234 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
22235 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
22237 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22238 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22239 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22242 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22243 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22245 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22246 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22247 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22251 @subsection Hashcash
22254 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22255 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22256 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22257 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22258 in smaller communities.
22260 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22261 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22262 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22263 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22264 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22265 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
22266 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22267 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22268 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22269 one of them separately.
22272 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22273 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22274 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22275 header. For more details, and for the external application
22276 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22277 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22278 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22280 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22284 (require 'hashcash)
22285 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22288 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22289 contrib directory or at
22290 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22292 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22296 @item hashcash-default-payment
22297 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22298 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22299 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22300 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22302 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22303 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22304 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22305 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22306 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22307 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22308 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22309 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22310 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22314 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22318 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22319 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22320 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22321 a useful contribution, however.
22323 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22324 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22325 @cindex spam filtering
22328 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22329 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22330 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22331 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22334 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22335 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22336 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22337 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22338 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22341 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22345 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22347 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
22348 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
22349 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
22350 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
22351 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
22353 You get the following keyboard commands:
22363 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22364 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22366 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22367 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22368 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22369 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22375 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22376 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22378 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22384 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22385 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22389 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
22390 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
22391 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
22392 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
22393 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22394 * BBDB Whitelists::
22395 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22396 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22398 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22400 * ifile spam filtering::
22401 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22403 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
22406 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22407 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22408 @cindex spam filtering
22409 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
22412 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
22413 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
22415 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
22416 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
22419 Getting new mail is done in one of two ways. You can either split
22420 your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or spam
22421 when you enter the group.
22423 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail backends such as
22424 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
22425 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
22428 For backends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
22429 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
22430 backends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
22431 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
22432 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
22433 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
22434 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and
22435 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} (accessible with @kbd{M-x
22436 customize-variable} as usual).
22438 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used, it hooks into the process of
22439 entering a group. Thus, entering a group with unseen or unread
22440 articles becomes the substitute for checking incoming mail. Whether
22441 only unseen articles or all unread articles will be processed is
22442 determined by the @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set
22443 to @code{t}, unread messages will be rechecked.
22445 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
22446 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
22447 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
22448 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
22449 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
22450 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
22451 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
22452 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
22453 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
22455 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
22456 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
22457 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
22458 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
22459 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
22460 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
22461 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
22462 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
22463 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
22464 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
22466 So, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied, if
22467 any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
22468 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
22469 depending on the article's classification. If the
22470 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
22471 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
22474 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
22475 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
22476 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
22477 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
22478 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
22479 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
22480 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22481 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
22482 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
22483 which is what most people want. If the
22484 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
22485 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
22487 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22488 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22490 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
22491 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
22492 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
22493 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
22494 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
22495 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
22496 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22497 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
22498 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
22499 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
22500 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
22502 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22503 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22505 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
22506 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
22507 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
22509 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22510 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22511 @cindex spam filtering
22512 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
22515 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22516 must add the following to your fancy split list
22517 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22523 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22524 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22525 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22527 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22528 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22529 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22530 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22531 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22532 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22533 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22534 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22535 actually give you the group
22536 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22537 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22539 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22540 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22543 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22544 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22547 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22548 (any "ding" "ding")
22550 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22554 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22555 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22556 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22557 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22558 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22559 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22561 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22562 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22563 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22568 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
22569 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22570 (any "ding" "ding")
22571 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
22573 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22577 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
22578 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
22579 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
22580 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
22581 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
22582 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
22583 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
22585 You should still have specific checks such as
22586 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
22587 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
22588 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
22589 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
22590 is usually not critical, though.
22592 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22594 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22595 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22596 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22597 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22598 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22599 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22600 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22601 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22603 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22605 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22606 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22609 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22610 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22611 @cindex spam filtering
22612 @cindex spam filtering variables
22613 @cindex spam variables
22616 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22617 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22618 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22619 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22620 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22621 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22622 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22623 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22624 will be detected later.
22626 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
22627 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
22628 for more information.
22630 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22631 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22632 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22633 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22634 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22635 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22636 by customizing the corresponding variable
22637 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22638 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22639 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22640 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22641 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22642 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22643 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22646 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22648 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22649 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22650 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22651 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22652 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22653 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22654 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22655 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22656 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22657 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22658 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22659 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22660 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22662 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22663 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22664 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22665 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22666 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22667 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22668 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22669 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22672 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22673 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22674 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
22675 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
22676 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
22677 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
22678 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
22683 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22684 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22685 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
22686 you really want to.
22689 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22690 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22691 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22692 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22693 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22694 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22697 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22698 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22699 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22700 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22701 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22702 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22703 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22704 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22705 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
22706 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22707 newsgroup specification has the format @code{(@var{regexp}
22708 @var{processor})} in a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
22709 the variable manually. The ultimate location is a group name or
22710 names. If the @code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22711 ham articles are left in place. If the
22712 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22713 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22715 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22716 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22718 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22719 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
22720 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
22722 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22723 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22725 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22726 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22727 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22728 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22729 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22731 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22732 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22733 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22734 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22735 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22738 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22739 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22740 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22741 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22742 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22743 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22744 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
22745 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
22746 the repeated format @code{(@var{regexp} @var{group})} and they are all
22747 in a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable
22748 manually. The ultimate location is a group name or names. If the
22749 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22750 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
22751 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
22752 group buffer then you need it here as well.
22754 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22755 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22757 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22758 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
22761 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
22762 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
22763 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
22764 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
22765 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
22766 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
22767 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
22769 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
22770 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
22771 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
22772 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
22774 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
22775 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
22776 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
22777 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
22778 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
22779 from the mail server.
22781 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
22782 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
22783 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
22784 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
22786 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22787 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22788 @cindex spam filtering
22789 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
22790 @cindex spam configuration examples
22793 @subsubheading Ted's setup
22795 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
22797 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
22798 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
22799 (gnus-registry-initialize)
22802 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
22803 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
22806 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
22808 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
22809 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
22810 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22811 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
22812 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
22813 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
22814 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
22815 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
22816 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
22817 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
22818 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22819 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
22820 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
22821 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
22822 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22823 (any "ding" "ding")
22824 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
22826 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22829 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
22831 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
22832 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
22833 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
22834 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
22836 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
22838 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
22839 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
22840 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
22841 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
22842 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
22844 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
22845 ((spam-autodetect . t))
22847 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
22849 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
22850 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
22852 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
22853 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
22854 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
22856 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
22858 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
22859 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
22861 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
22862 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
22863 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
22865 (gnus-ticked-mark))
22866 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
22867 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
22868 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
22870 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
22871 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
22872 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
22876 @subsubheading Using @file{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
22877 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
22879 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
22880 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
22881 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
22882 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
22883 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
22884 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
22885 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
22886 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
22887 @samp{training.spam} folders.
22889 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
22890 does most of the job for me:
22893 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
22894 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
22895 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
22896 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
22897 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
22898 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
22899 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
22904 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
22906 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
22907 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
22908 bogofilter or DCC).
22910 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
22911 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
22912 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
22913 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
22914 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
22915 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
22916 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
22918 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
22919 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
22920 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
22921 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
22922 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
22923 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
22925 @item @b{Ham folders:}
22927 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
22928 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
22929 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
22930 @samp{training.ham}.
22933 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
22935 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
22937 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
22938 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
22939 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
22943 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
22946 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
22947 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
22948 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
22949 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
22950 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
22952 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22953 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22954 @cindex spam filtering
22955 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22956 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22959 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22961 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22962 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22963 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22964 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22969 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22971 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22972 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22973 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22974 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22975 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22979 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22981 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22982 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22983 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22987 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22989 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22990 customizing the group parameters or the
22991 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22992 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22993 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22997 Instead of the obsolete
22998 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
22999 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23000 the same way, we promise.
23004 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23006 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23007 customizing the group parameters or the
23008 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23009 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23010 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23011 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23012 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23016 Instead of the obsolete
23017 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23018 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23019 the same way, we promise.
23023 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23024 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23025 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23026 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23027 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23029 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23030 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23031 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23032 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23034 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23035 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23036 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23037 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23038 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23039 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23041 @node BBDB Whitelists
23042 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23043 @cindex spam filtering
23044 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23045 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23048 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23050 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23051 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23052 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23053 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23054 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23055 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23056 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23060 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23062 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23063 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23064 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23065 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23066 classified as spammers.
23070 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23072 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23073 customizing the group parameters or the
23074 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23075 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23076 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23077 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23078 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23082 Instead of the obsolete
23083 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23084 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23085 the same way, we promise.
23089 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
23090 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
23091 @cindex spam reporting
23092 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23093 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23096 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
23098 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23099 customizing the group parameters or the
23100 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23101 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23102 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
23105 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
23109 Instead of the obsolete
23110 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
23111 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
23112 same way, we promise.
23116 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
23118 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
23119 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
23120 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
23121 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
23122 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
23127 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23128 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23129 @cindex spam filtering
23130 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
23133 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
23135 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23136 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
23137 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
23138 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
23139 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
23140 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
23141 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
23147 @subsubsection Blackholes
23148 @cindex spam filtering
23149 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
23152 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
23154 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
23155 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
23156 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
23157 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
23158 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
23159 contains outdated servers.
23161 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
23162 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
23163 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
23164 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
23165 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
23166 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
23170 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
23172 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
23176 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
23178 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
23179 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
23183 @defvar spam-use-dig
23185 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
23186 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
23190 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
23191 ham processor for blackholes.
23193 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
23194 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
23195 @cindex spam filtering
23196 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
23199 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
23201 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
23202 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
23203 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
23204 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
23205 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
23206 message is spam or ham, respectively.
23210 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
23212 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23213 the message, positively identify it as spam.
23217 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
23219 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23220 the message, positively identify it as ham.
23224 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
23225 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
23228 @subsubsection Bogofilter
23229 @cindex spam filtering
23230 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
23233 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
23235 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23238 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
23239 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
23240 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
23241 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
23242 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
23243 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
23245 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
23246 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
23249 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
23250 processing will be turned off.
23252 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
23256 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
23258 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23259 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23260 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23261 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23262 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23263 installation documents for details.
23265 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23269 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23270 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23271 customizing the group parameters or the
23272 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23273 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23274 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23278 Instead of the obsolete
23279 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23280 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23281 the same way, we promise.
23284 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23285 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23286 customizing the group parameters or the
23287 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23288 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23289 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23290 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23291 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23295 Instead of the obsolete
23296 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23297 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23298 the same way, we promise.
23301 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23303 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23304 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23305 database directory.
23309 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23310 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23311 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23312 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23313 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23314 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23316 @node ifile spam filtering
23317 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23318 @cindex spam filtering
23319 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23322 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23324 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23325 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23329 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23331 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23332 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23333 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23337 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23339 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23340 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23341 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23344 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23346 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23347 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23351 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23352 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23353 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23354 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23357 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23358 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23359 @cindex spam filtering
23360 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23364 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23366 @defvar spam-use-stat
23368 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23369 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23373 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23374 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23375 customizing the group parameters or the
23376 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23377 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23378 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23382 Instead of the obsolete
23383 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23384 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23385 the same way, we promise.
23388 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23389 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23390 customizing the group parameters or the
23391 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23392 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23393 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23394 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23395 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23399 Instead of the obsolete
23400 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23401 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23402 the same way, we promise.
23405 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23406 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23407 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23408 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23409 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23412 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23413 @cindex spam filtering
23417 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23418 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23419 installed separately.
23421 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23422 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23423 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23424 mail as a spam mail or not.
23426 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23427 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23428 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23430 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23431 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23433 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23434 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23435 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23436 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23437 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23438 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23439 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23440 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23444 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23445 spam-split-group "Junk"
23446 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23447 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23448 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23451 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23452 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23456 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23457 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23458 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23462 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23463 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23464 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23465 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23466 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23467 database to live somewhere special, set
23468 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23471 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23472 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23473 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23474 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23475 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23476 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23477 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23478 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23479 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23480 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23482 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23483 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23484 customizing the group parameter or the
23485 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23486 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23487 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23491 Instead of the obsolete
23492 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23493 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23494 the same way, we promise.
23497 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23498 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23499 customizing the group parameter or the
23500 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23501 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23502 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23503 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23504 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23508 Instead of the obsolete
23509 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23510 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23511 the same way, we promise.
23514 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
23515 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23518 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23519 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
23520 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
23522 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
23523 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
23524 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
23525 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
23526 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
23527 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23529 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
23530 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
23531 @cindex spam filtering
23532 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23533 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23535 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23536 incoming mail, provide the following:
23544 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23545 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23550 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23552 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23556 (gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox ham spam-use-blackbox)
23557 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox spam spam-use-blackbox)
23560 to @code{spam-list-of-processors}.
23564 (spam-use-blackbox spam-blackbox-register-routine
23566 spam-blackbox-unregister-routine
23570 to @code{spam-registration-functions}. Write the register/unregister
23571 routines using the bogofilter register/unregister routines as a
23572 start, or other restister/unregister routines more appropriate to
23578 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23579 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other
23580 conventions. See the existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for
23581 examples of what you can do, and stick to the template unless you
23582 fully understand the reasons why you aren't.
23584 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23585 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23586 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23590 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23597 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23598 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23600 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
23601 variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
23602 @code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
23603 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
23606 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
23607 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23608 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23610 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
23611 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23612 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23621 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
23622 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
23624 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
23625 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
23626 variable customization.
23630 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
23632 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
23638 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23639 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23640 @cindex Paul Graham
23641 @cindex Graham, Paul
23642 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23643 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23644 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23646 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23647 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23648 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23649 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23650 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23651 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23652 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23653 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23654 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23657 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23658 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23659 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23660 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23661 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23662 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23663 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23664 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23666 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23667 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23668 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23669 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23670 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23673 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23674 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23675 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23678 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23679 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23681 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23682 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23683 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23684 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23685 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23687 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23688 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23689 per mail. Use the following:
23691 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23692 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23693 is treated as one spam mail.
23696 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23697 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23698 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23701 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23702 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23703 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23704 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23705 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23706 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23708 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23709 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23710 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23711 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23712 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23715 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23716 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23717 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23718 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23721 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23722 reset the dictionary.
23724 @defun spam-stat-reset
23725 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23728 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23729 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23730 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23731 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23732 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23733 only non-spam mails.
23735 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23736 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23737 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23740 @defun spam-stat-save
23741 Save the dictionary.
23744 @defvar spam-stat-file
23745 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23746 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23749 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23750 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23752 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23753 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23756 (require 'spam-stat)
23760 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23763 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23764 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23765 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23766 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23768 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23769 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23770 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23771 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23774 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23775 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23779 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23780 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23783 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23784 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23785 expression are considered potential spam.
23788 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23789 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23790 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23794 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23795 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23796 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23797 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23798 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23801 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23802 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23803 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23807 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23808 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23809 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23810 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23811 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23815 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23816 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23817 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23818 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23823 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23824 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23826 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23828 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23829 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23830 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23833 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23834 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23835 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23838 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23839 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23840 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23841 already been processed as non-spam.
23844 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23845 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23846 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23847 been processed as spam.
23850 @defun spam-stat-save
23851 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23852 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23855 @defun spam-stat-load
23856 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23857 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23860 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23861 Return the spam score for a word.
23864 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23865 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23868 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23869 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23870 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23873 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23874 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23877 (require 'spam-stat)
23881 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23884 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23885 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23886 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23887 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23888 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23889 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23890 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23891 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23892 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23893 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23894 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23895 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23896 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23897 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23900 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23903 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23904 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23905 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23906 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23907 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23908 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23912 @section Interaction with other modes
23917 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
23918 buffers. It is enabled with
23920 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
23925 @findex gnus-dired-attach
23926 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
23927 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
23930 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
23931 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
23932 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
23936 @findex gnus-dired-print
23937 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
23938 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
23941 @node Various Various
23942 @section Various Various
23948 @item gnus-home-directory
23949 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23950 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23951 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23953 @item gnus-directory
23954 @vindex gnus-directory
23955 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23956 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23957 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23959 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
23960 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23961 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23962 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23964 @item gnus-default-directory
23965 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23966 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23967 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23968 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23969 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23970 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23971 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23974 @vindex gnus-verbose
23975 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23976 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23977 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23978 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23979 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23981 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23982 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23983 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23984 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23986 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23987 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23988 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23989 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23990 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23991 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23992 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23993 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23994 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23995 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23997 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23998 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23999 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24000 read when doing the operation described above.
24002 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24003 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24005 @cindex invalid characters in file names
24006 @cindex characters in file names
24007 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
24008 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
24009 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
24013 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24018 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
24019 Windows (phooey) systems.
24021 @item gnus-hidden-properties
24022 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
24023 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
24024 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
24025 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
24027 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
24028 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
24029 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
24030 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
24031 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
24033 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
24034 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
24035 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
24037 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24038 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24040 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
24041 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
24042 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
24043 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
24046 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
24054 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
24055 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
24057 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
24059 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
24065 Not because of victories @*
24068 but for the common sunshine,@*
24070 the largess of the spring.
24074 but for the day's work done@*
24075 as well as I was able;@*
24076 not for a seat upon the dais@*
24077 but at the common table.@*
24082 @chapter Appendices
24085 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
24086 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
24087 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
24088 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
24089 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
24090 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
24091 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
24092 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
24093 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
24100 @cindex installing under XEmacs
24102 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
24103 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
24104 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
24105 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
24106 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
24107 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
24114 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
24115 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
24117 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
24118 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
24119 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
24120 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
24121 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
24123 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
24124 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
24125 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
24126 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
24127 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
24128 appropriate name, don't you think?)
24130 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
24131 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
24132 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
24133 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
24136 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
24137 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
24138 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
24139 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
24140 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
24141 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
24142 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
24143 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
24144 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
24148 @node Gnus Versions
24149 @subsection Gnus Versions
24151 @cindex September Gnus
24153 @cindex Quassia Gnus
24154 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
24157 @cindex Gnus versions
24159 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
24160 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
24161 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
24163 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
24164 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
24166 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
24167 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
24169 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
24170 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
24172 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
24173 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
24176 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
24178 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
24179 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
24180 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
24181 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
24182 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
24183 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
24186 @node Other Gnus Versions
24187 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
24190 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
24191 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
24192 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
24193 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
24195 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
24196 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
24197 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
24198 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
24205 What's the point of Gnus?
24207 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
24208 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
24209 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
24210 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
24211 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
24212 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
24213 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
24214 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
24215 keep track of millions of people who post?
24217 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
24218 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
24219 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
24220 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
24221 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
24222 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
24223 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
24224 every one of you to explore and invent.
24226 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
24227 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
24230 @node Compatibility
24231 @subsection Compatibility
24233 @cindex compatibility
24234 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
24235 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
24236 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
24241 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
24245 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
24248 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
24251 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
24252 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
24253 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
24254 important variables have their values copied into their global
24255 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
24256 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
24258 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
24259 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
24260 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
24261 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
24262 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
24266 @cindex highlighting
24267 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
24268 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
24269 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
24270 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
24271 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
24272 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
24275 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
24276 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
24277 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
24278 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
24280 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
24281 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
24282 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
24283 to stop doing it the old way.
24285 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
24287 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24289 @cindex reporting bugs
24291 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
24292 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
24293 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
24295 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
24296 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
24297 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
24298 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
24303 @subsection Conformity
24305 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
24306 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
24314 There are no known breaches of this standard.
24318 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
24320 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
24321 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
24322 We do have some breaches to this one.
24328 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
24329 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
24330 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
24331 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
24332 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
24337 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
24338 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
24339 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
24340 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
24342 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
24343 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
24344 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
24346 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24347 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24349 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24352 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24353 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24354 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24355 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24356 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24359 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24360 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24361 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24362 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24364 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24365 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24367 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24368 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24369 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24370 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24371 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24372 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24373 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24374 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24378 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24379 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24384 @subsection Emacsen
24390 Gnus should work on:
24398 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
24402 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24403 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24404 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
24405 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
24406 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
24408 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24409 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24410 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24414 @node Gnus Development
24415 @subsection Gnus Development
24417 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24418 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24419 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24420 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24421 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24422 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24423 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24424 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24426 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24427 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24428 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24429 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24430 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24433 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24434 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24435 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24436 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24437 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24439 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24440 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24441 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24442 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24443 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24444 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24445 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24446 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24447 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24448 can't be assumed to do so.
24453 @subsection Contributors
24454 @cindex contributors
24456 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24457 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24458 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24459 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24460 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24461 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24462 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24463 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24464 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24465 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24467 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24473 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24476 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24477 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24478 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24479 functionality and stuff.
24482 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24483 well as numerous other things).
24486 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24489 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24492 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24495 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24498 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24499 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24502 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24505 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
24508 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24511 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24514 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24517 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24520 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24521 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24524 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24527 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24530 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24533 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24537 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24540 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24543 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24546 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24547 well as autoconf support.
24551 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24552 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24554 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24569 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24571 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24575 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24585 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24600 Massimo Campostrini,
24605 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24606 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24610 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24613 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24619 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24624 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24628 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24636 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24638 Michelangelo Grigni,
24642 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24644 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24646 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24653 François Felix Ingrand,
24654 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24655 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24657 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24667 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24668 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24670 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24671 Thor Kristoffersen,
24674 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24692 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24693 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24700 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24705 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24709 John McClary Prevost,
24715 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24720 Christian von Roques,
24723 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24730 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24732 Randal L. Schwartz,
24746 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24751 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24771 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24772 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24773 (550kB and counting).
24775 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24778 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24779 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24783 @subsection New Features
24784 @cindex new features
24787 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24788 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24789 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24790 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24791 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24792 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24793 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
24796 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24797 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24798 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24801 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24803 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24808 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24809 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24812 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24813 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24816 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24819 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24820 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24821 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24824 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24825 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24826 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24827 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24830 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24831 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24834 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24835 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24836 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24839 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24840 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24843 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24844 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24845 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24848 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24849 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24850 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24853 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24854 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24857 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24858 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24861 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24862 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24865 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24866 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24869 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24870 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24873 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24874 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24877 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24880 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24881 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24884 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24885 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24888 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24889 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24892 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24895 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24896 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24899 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24903 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24907 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24908 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24911 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24917 @node September Gnus
24918 @subsubsection September Gnus
24922 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24926 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24931 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24932 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24936 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24937 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24941 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24945 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24946 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24949 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24953 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
24956 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24959 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24962 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24966 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24967 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24970 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24974 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24978 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24982 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24986 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24989 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24990 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24993 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24997 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24998 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25001 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25004 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25005 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
25006 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25009 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
25013 The Gnus cache is much faster.
25016 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
25020 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
25021 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25024 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
25025 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
25028 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
25029 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
25032 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
25033 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
25034 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
25037 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
25038 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
25041 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
25044 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25047 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
25050 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
25053 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
25054 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
25057 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
25061 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
25064 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
25069 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
25072 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
25076 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25079 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
25083 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
25086 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
25089 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
25090 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25093 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
25094 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
25098 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
25099 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
25102 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
25106 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
25107 buffer to allow easier treatment.
25110 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
25113 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
25117 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
25121 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
25122 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
25125 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
25129 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
25130 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25133 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
25134 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25137 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
25141 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25144 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
25147 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
25153 @subsubsection Red Gnus
25155 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
25159 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
25166 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
25169 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
25170 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25173 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
25174 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
25178 Article washing status can be displayed in the
25179 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
25182 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
25185 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
25186 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
25189 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
25193 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
25194 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
25198 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
25199 Server Internals}).
25202 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
25206 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
25209 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
25210 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
25213 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
25214 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
25215 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
25218 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
25219 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25222 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
25223 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
25226 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
25230 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
25231 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25234 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
25235 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25238 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
25242 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
25245 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
25249 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
25250 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25253 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
25254 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25257 A new command for reading collections of documents
25258 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
25259 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
25262 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
25266 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
25267 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
25270 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
25271 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
25272 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
25275 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
25276 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
25280 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
25284 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
25288 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
25293 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
25297 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
25301 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
25302 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
25305 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
25311 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
25313 New features in Gnus 5.6:
25318 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
25319 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
25320 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
25323 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
25324 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
25325 group, which is created automatically.
25328 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
25332 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
25335 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
25336 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
25339 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
25343 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
25346 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
25347 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25350 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25353 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25357 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25358 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25361 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25362 control over simplification.
25365 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25368 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25372 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25375 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25378 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25379 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25380 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25383 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25384 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25387 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25391 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25392 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25395 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25396 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25399 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25403 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25406 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25409 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25410 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25413 A new function for citing in Message has been
25414 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25417 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25420 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25424 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25425 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25428 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25429 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25432 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25435 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25439 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25440 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25442 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25447 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25448 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25450 If you used procmail like in
25453 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25454 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25455 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25456 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25459 this now has changed to
25463 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25467 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25470 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25471 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25474 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25475 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25478 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25479 called to position point.
25482 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25483 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25486 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25487 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25490 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25491 subtly different manner.
25494 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25495 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25496 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25499 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25504 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25507 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25512 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
25516 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25517 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25520 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25521 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25524 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25526 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25527 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25528 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25529 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25530 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25531 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25532 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25533 isn't save in general.
25538 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25539 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25540 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25541 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25546 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
25547 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
25548 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
25552 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25555 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25560 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25561 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25563 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25564 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25568 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25569 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25572 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25574 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25575 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25580 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25581 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25582 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25585 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25586 decompressed when activated.
25589 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25590 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25593 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25596 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25597 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25600 Warn about email replies to news
25602 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25603 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25607 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25608 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25612 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25613 opposed to old but unread messages).
25616 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25617 Gcc articles as read.
25620 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25623 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25624 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25627 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25628 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25631 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25632 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25635 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25636 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25639 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25641 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25642 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25643 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25644 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25647 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25649 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25650 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25651 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25652 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25653 the second parameter.
25655 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25656 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25657 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25658 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25659 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25660 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25661 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25662 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25663 cycle used under Unix systems.
25665 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25669 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25671 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25672 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25673 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25674 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25675 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25679 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25681 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25682 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25683 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25684 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25688 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25690 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25691 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25692 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25693 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25695 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25696 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25697 message cited below.
25700 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25703 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25705 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25706 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25707 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25708 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25709 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25712 (setq gnus-parameters
25714 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25715 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25716 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25717 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25721 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25723 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25727 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25729 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25730 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25731 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25732 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25733 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25734 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25735 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25736 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25737 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25740 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25742 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25743 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25744 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25745 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25746 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25747 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25750 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25751 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25755 Improved anti-spam features.
25757 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25758 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25759 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25760 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25761 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25764 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25767 Face headers handling.
25770 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25771 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25774 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25777 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25779 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25780 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25781 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25782 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25783 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25784 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25785 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25786 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25787 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25790 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25792 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25793 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25794 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25795 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25796 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25797 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25798 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25799 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25800 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25801 was inserted directly.
25804 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25806 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25807 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25813 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25814 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25815 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25816 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25817 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25818 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25819 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25820 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25821 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25822 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25823 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25824 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25825 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25826 is not needed any more.
25829 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25831 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25832 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25833 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25834 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25835 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25839 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25841 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25842 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25845 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25847 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25848 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25849 lisp directory into load-path.
25851 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25852 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25855 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25857 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25860 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25862 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25863 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25864 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25865 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25868 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25870 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25872 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25873 'bbdb-complete-name)
25877 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25879 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25880 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25881 local files as external parts.
25883 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25884 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25885 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25886 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25887 that support editing.
25890 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25892 The default value is determined from the
25893 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25894 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25895 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25898 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25900 Add a new format of match like
25902 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25903 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25905 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25907 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25908 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25912 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25914 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25915 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25916 need add those two headers too.
25919 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25921 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25922 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25923 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25926 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25927 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25928 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25932 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25934 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25937 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25939 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25942 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25944 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25945 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25946 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25949 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25951 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25955 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25957 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25958 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
25959 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25960 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25961 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25962 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25963 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25964 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25967 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25969 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25970 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25971 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25972 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25973 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25976 Extended format specs.
25978 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25979 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25980 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25981 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25982 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25983 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25986 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25988 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25989 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25990 out other articles.
25992 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25994 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25995 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25996 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25997 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26000 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
26002 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
26003 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
26004 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
26007 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
26009 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
26010 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
26011 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
26012 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
26013 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
26014 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
26015 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
26016 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
26017 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
26018 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
26019 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
26022 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
26023 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
26026 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
26027 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
26028 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
26029 message, Message Manual}).
26032 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
26033 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
26035 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
26036 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
26037 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
26039 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
26043 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
26044 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
26046 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
26047 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
26048 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
26049 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
26052 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
26055 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
26058 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
26059 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
26062 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
26064 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
26065 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
26066 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
26067 invalidate the digital signature.
26071 @subsubsection No Gnus
26074 New features in No Gnus:
26075 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
26077 @include gnus-news.texi
26083 @section The Manual
26087 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
26088 either @code{texi2dvi}
26090 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
26091 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
26093 to get what you hold in your hands now.
26095 The following conventions have been used:
26100 This is a @samp{string}
26103 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
26106 This is a @file{file}
26109 This is a @code{symbol}
26113 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
26117 (setq flargnoze "yes")
26120 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
26123 (setq flumphel 'yes)
26126 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
26127 ever get them confused.
26131 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
26132 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
26133 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
26134 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
26135 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
26136 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
26137 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
26143 @node On Writing Manuals
26144 @section On Writing Manuals
26146 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
26147 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
26148 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
26149 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
26150 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
26151 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
26154 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
26155 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
26156 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
26159 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
26160 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
26165 @section Terminology
26167 @cindex terminology
26172 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
26173 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
26174 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
26175 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
26176 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
26180 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
26181 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
26182 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
26183 not posting, and replying is not following up.
26187 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
26191 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
26196 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
26197 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
26198 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
26199 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
26200 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
26201 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
26202 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
26203 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
26204 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
26207 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
26208 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
26209 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
26210 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
26211 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
26212 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
26214 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
26215 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
26216 access the articles.
26218 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
26219 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
26220 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
26225 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
26226 default, way of getting news.
26230 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
26231 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
26236 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
26237 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
26241 A message that has been posted as news.
26244 @cindex mail message
26245 A message that has been mailed.
26249 A mail message or news article
26253 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
26258 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
26263 A line from the head of an article.
26267 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
26268 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
26270 @item @acronym{NOV}
26271 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
26272 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
26273 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
26274 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
26275 normal @sc{head} format.
26279 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
26280 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
26281 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
26282 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
26283 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
26284 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
26286 @item killed groups
26287 @cindex killed groups
26288 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
26289 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
26291 @item zombie groups
26292 @cindex zombie groups
26293 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
26296 @cindex active file
26297 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
26298 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
26299 is rather large, as you might surmise.
26302 @cindex bogus groups
26303 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
26304 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
26305 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
26308 @cindex activating groups
26309 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
26310 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
26311 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
26315 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
26317 @item select method
26318 @cindex select method
26319 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
26322 @item virtual server
26323 @cindex virtual server
26324 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
26325 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
26326 whole is a virtual server.
26330 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
26331 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
26334 @item ephemeral groups
26335 @cindex ephemeral groups
26336 @cindex temporary groups
26337 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
26338 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
26339 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
26342 @cindex solid groups
26343 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
26344 group buffer are solid groups.
26346 @item sparse articles
26347 @cindex sparse articles
26348 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
26349 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
26353 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
26354 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
26358 @cindex thread root
26359 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26360 articles in the thread.
26364 An article that has responses.
26368 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26372 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26373 specified by RFC 1153.
26376 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26377 @cindex mail sorting
26378 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26379 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26380 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26386 @node Customization
26387 @section Customization
26388 @cindex general customization
26390 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26391 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26392 for some quite common situations.
26395 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26396 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26397 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26398 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26402 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26403 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26405 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26406 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26407 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26411 @item gnus-read-active-file
26412 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26413 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26414 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26415 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26416 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26418 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26419 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26420 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26421 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26425 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26426 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26428 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26429 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26430 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26434 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26435 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26436 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26437 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26438 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26440 @item gnus-visible-headers
26441 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26442 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26443 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26444 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26446 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26448 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26449 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26450 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26453 @item gnus-use-full-window
26454 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26455 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26456 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26457 want to read them anyway.
26459 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26460 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26464 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26465 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26466 lines, which might save some time.
26470 @node Little Disk Space
26471 @subsection Little Disk Space
26474 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26475 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26479 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26480 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26481 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26482 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26485 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26486 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26487 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26488 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26491 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26492 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26493 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26494 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26495 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26501 @subsection Slow Machine
26502 @cindex slow machine
26504 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26505 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26507 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26508 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26510 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26511 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26512 summary buffer faster.
26516 @node Troubleshooting
26517 @section Troubleshooting
26518 @cindex troubleshooting
26520 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26528 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26531 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26532 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26536 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26537 like @samp{T-gnus 6.17.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
26538 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old
26539 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26542 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26543 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26546 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26547 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26548 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26549 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26550 something like that.
26553 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26556 @cindex reporting bugs
26558 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26560 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26561 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26562 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26563 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26565 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26566 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26567 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26568 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26571 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26572 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26573 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26574 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26575 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26576 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26578 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26579 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26580 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26584 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26585 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26588 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26589 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26590 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26591 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26592 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26593 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26594 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26595 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26596 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26597 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26598 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26599 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26600 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26601 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26606 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26607 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26608 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26609 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26610 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26612 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26613 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26614 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26615 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26616 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26617 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26618 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26619 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26620 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26621 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26622 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26623 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26624 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26627 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26628 @cindex ding mailing list
26629 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26630 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26631 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26632 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26636 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26637 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26639 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26640 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26641 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26642 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26645 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26646 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26647 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26648 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26649 and general methods of operation.
26652 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26653 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26654 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26655 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26656 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26657 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26658 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26659 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26660 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26664 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26665 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26666 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26667 @cindex utility functions
26669 @cindex internal variables
26671 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26672 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26673 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26677 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26678 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26679 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26681 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26682 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26683 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26685 @item gnus-group-real-name
26686 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26687 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26690 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26691 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26692 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26693 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26695 @item gnus-get-info
26696 @findex gnus-get-info
26697 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26699 @item gnus-group-unread
26700 @findex gnus-group-unread
26701 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26705 @findex gnus-active
26706 The active entry for @var{group}.
26708 @item gnus-set-active
26709 @findex gnus-set-active
26710 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26712 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26713 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26714 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26717 @item gnus-continuum-version
26718 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26719 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26720 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26723 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26724 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26725 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26727 @item gnus-news-group-p
26728 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26729 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26731 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26732 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26733 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26735 @item gnus-server-to-method
26736 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26737 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26739 @item gnus-server-equal
26740 @findex gnus-server-equal
26741 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26743 @item gnus-group-native-p
26744 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26745 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26747 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26748 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26749 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26751 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26752 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26753 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26755 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26756 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26757 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26758 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26760 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26761 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26762 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26764 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26765 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26766 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26768 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26769 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26770 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26771 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26774 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26778 @item gnus-read-method
26779 @findex gnus-read-method
26780 Prompts the user for a select method.
26785 @node Back End Interface
26786 @subsection Back End Interface
26788 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26789 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26790 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26791 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26792 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26793 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26795 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26796 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26797 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26798 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26799 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26800 been opened, the function should fail.
26802 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26803 name. Take this example:
26807 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26808 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26811 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26812 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26814 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26815 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26816 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26818 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26819 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26820 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26822 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26823 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26824 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26825 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26826 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26827 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26830 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26831 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26832 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26833 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26836 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26837 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26838 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26839 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26840 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26841 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26842 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26843 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26844 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26845 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26847 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26848 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26849 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26850 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26851 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26852 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26853 of numbers as long as possible.
26855 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26856 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26857 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26859 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26862 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26865 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26866 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26867 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26868 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26869 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26870 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26874 @node Required Back End Functions
26875 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26879 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26881 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26882 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26883 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26884 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26886 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26887 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26888 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26889 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26891 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26892 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26893 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26894 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26895 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26896 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26897 number, do maximum fetches.
26899 Here's an example HEAD:
26902 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26903 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26904 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26905 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26906 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26907 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26908 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26910 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26911 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26912 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26916 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26917 these in the data buffer.
26919 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26923 head = error / valid-head
26924 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26925 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26926 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26927 header = <text> eol
26931 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26933 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26934 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26938 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26939 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26940 field = <text except TAB>
26943 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26947 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26949 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26950 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26952 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26953 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26954 server. In fact, it should do so.
26956 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26957 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26960 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26962 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26963 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26966 There should be no data returned.
26969 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26971 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26972 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26973 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26974 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26976 There should be no data returned.
26979 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26981 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26982 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26983 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26984 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26986 There should be no data returned.
26989 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26991 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26993 There should be no data returned.
26996 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26998 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26999 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
27000 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
27001 it would be nice if that were possible.
27003 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
27004 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
27005 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
27006 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
27007 into its article buffer.
27009 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
27010 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
27011 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
27012 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
27013 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
27014 on successful article retrieval.
27017 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
27019 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
27020 making @var{group} the current group.
27022 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
27025 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
27028 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
27031 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
27032 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
27033 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
27034 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
27035 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
27036 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
27037 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
27038 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
27039 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
27043 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
27044 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
27045 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
27049 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27051 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
27052 a no-op on most back ends.
27054 There should be no data returned.
27057 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
27059 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
27062 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
27065 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
27066 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
27069 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
27070 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
27071 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
27072 and the highest as 0.
27075 active-file = *active-line
27076 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
27078 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
27081 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
27082 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
27083 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
27086 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
27088 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
27089 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
27090 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
27091 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
27092 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
27093 clear if the posting could not be completed.
27095 There should be no result data from this function.
27100 @node Optional Back End Functions
27101 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
27105 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
27107 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
27108 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
27109 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
27111 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
27112 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
27113 former is in the same format as the data from
27114 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
27115 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
27118 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
27122 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
27124 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
27125 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
27126 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
27127 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
27128 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
27130 There should be no result data from this function.
27133 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
27135 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
27136 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
27137 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
27138 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
27139 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
27140 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
27141 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
27142 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
27144 There should be no result data from this function.
27147 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
27149 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
27150 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
27151 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
27152 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
27153 propagate the mark information to the server.
27155 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
27158 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
27161 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
27162 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
27163 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
27164 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
27165 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
27166 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
27167 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
27168 possible, not limit itself to these.
27170 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
27171 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
27172 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
27173 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
27175 An example action list:
27178 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
27179 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
27180 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
27183 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
27184 mark on (currently not used for anything).
27186 There should be no result data from this function.
27188 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
27190 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
27191 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
27192 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
27193 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
27194 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
27196 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
27197 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
27198 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
27201 There should be no result data from this function.
27204 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
27206 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
27207 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
27208 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
27209 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
27210 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
27211 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
27212 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
27213 local if that's practical.
27215 There should be no result data from this function.
27218 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
27220 The result data from this function should be a description of
27224 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
27226 description = <text>
27229 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
27231 The result data from this function should be the description of all
27232 groups available on the server.
27235 description-buffer = *description-line
27239 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
27241 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
27242 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
27243 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
27244 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
27245 in the active buffer format.
27247 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
27248 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
27249 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
27250 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
27251 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
27252 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
27253 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
27256 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27258 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
27260 There should be no return data.
27263 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
27265 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
27266 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
27267 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
27268 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
27269 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
27272 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
27275 There should be no result data returned.
27278 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
27280 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
27281 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
27283 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
27284 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
27285 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
27286 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
27287 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
27288 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
27290 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
27291 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
27294 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27295 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27297 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
27298 article for that group.
27300 There should be no data returned.
27303 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
27305 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
27306 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
27307 this function in short order.
27309 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27310 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27312 There should be no data returned.
27315 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
27317 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
27318 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
27320 There should be no data returned.
27323 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
27325 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
27326 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
27327 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
27329 There should be no data returned.
27332 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
27334 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
27335 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
27337 There should be no data returned.
27342 @node Error Messaging
27343 @subsubsection Error Messaging
27345 @findex nnheader-report
27346 @findex nnheader-get-report
27347 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
27348 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
27349 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
27350 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
27351 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
27352 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
27355 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
27357 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27360 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27361 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27362 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27363 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27365 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27366 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27367 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27370 @node Writing New Back Ends
27371 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27373 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27374 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27375 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27376 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27377 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27380 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27381 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27382 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27384 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27385 package called @code{nnoo}.
27387 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27388 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27394 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27395 parameters. For instance:
27398 (nnoo-declare nndir
27402 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27403 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27406 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27407 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27408 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27410 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27411 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27412 a function in those back ends.
27415 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27416 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27417 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27420 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27421 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27422 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27424 @item nnoo-define-basics
27425 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27429 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27433 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27434 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27435 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27437 @item nnoo-map-functions
27438 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27439 functions from the parent back ends.
27442 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27443 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27444 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27447 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27448 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27449 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27450 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27453 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27454 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27455 haven't already been defined.
27461 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27465 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27466 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27467 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27472 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27475 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27476 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27480 (require 'nnheader)
27484 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27486 (nnoo-declare nndir
27489 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27490 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27491 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27493 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27494 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27497 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27499 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27500 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27501 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27503 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27504 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27506 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27508 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27510 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27511 (setq nndir-directory
27512 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27514 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27515 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27516 (push `(nndir-current-group
27517 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27518 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27520 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27521 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27523 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27525 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27526 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27527 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27528 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27529 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27533 nnmh-status-message
27535 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27541 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27542 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27544 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27545 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27546 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27547 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27548 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27550 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27551 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27556 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27559 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27561 The abilities can be:
27565 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27567 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27569 This back end supports both mail and news.
27571 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27574 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27575 articles and groups.
27577 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27578 true for almost all back ends.
27579 @item prompt-address
27580 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27581 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27582 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27586 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27587 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27589 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27590 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27591 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27592 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27595 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27596 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27597 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27600 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27601 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27604 This function takes four parameters.
27608 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27611 @item exit-function
27612 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27614 @item temp-directory
27615 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27618 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27619 performed for one group only.
27622 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27623 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27624 find the article number assigned to this article.
27626 The function also uses the following variables:
27627 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27628 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27629 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27630 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27634 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27635 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27639 @node Score File Syntax
27640 @subsection Score File Syntax
27642 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27643 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27644 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27646 Here's a typical score file:
27650 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27657 BNF definition of a score file:
27660 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27661 element = rule / atom
27662 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27663 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27664 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27665 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27667 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27668 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27669 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27670 date-header = "date"
27671 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27672 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27673 score = "nil" / <integer>
27674 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27675 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27676 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27677 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27678 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27679 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27680 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27681 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27682 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27683 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27684 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27685 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27686 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27687 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27688 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27689 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27690 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27691 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27692 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27693 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27694 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27695 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27696 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27697 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27698 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27699 eval = "eval" space <form>
27700 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27703 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27706 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27707 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27708 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27709 one looong line, then that's ok.
27711 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27712 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27716 @subsection Headers
27718 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27719 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27720 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27721 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27723 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27724 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27725 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27726 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27727 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27728 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27729 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27731 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27732 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27733 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27734 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27735 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27737 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27738 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27744 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27745 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27747 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27748 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27749 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27750 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27752 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27756 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27759 is transformed into
27762 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27765 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27766 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27769 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27772 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27773 is slightly tricky:
27776 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27782 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27785 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27791 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27798 and is equal to the previous range.
27800 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27801 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27802 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27806 range = simple-range / normal-range
27807 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27808 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27809 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27810 number *[ " " contents ]
27813 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27814 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27815 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27816 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27817 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27822 @subsection Group Info
27824 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27825 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27826 describes the group.
27828 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27829 second is a more complex one:
27832 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27834 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27835 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27837 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27840 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27841 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27842 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27843 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27844 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27845 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27846 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27847 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27848 this section is about.
27850 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27851 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27852 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27854 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27857 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27858 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27859 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27860 group = quote <string> quote
27861 ralevel = rank / level
27862 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27863 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27864 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27866 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27867 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27868 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27869 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27872 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27873 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27876 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27877 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27880 @item gnus-info-group
27881 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27882 @findex gnus-info-group
27883 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27884 Get/set the group name.
27886 @item gnus-info-rank
27887 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27888 @findex gnus-info-rank
27889 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27890 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27892 @item gnus-info-level
27893 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27894 @findex gnus-info-level
27895 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27896 Get/set the group level.
27898 @item gnus-info-score
27899 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27900 @findex gnus-info-score
27901 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27902 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27904 @item gnus-info-read
27905 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27906 @findex gnus-info-read
27907 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27908 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27910 @item gnus-info-marks
27911 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27912 @findex gnus-info-marks
27913 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27914 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27916 @item gnus-info-method
27917 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27918 @findex gnus-info-method
27919 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27920 Get/set the group select method.
27922 @item gnus-info-params
27923 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27924 @findex gnus-info-params
27925 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27926 Get/set the group parameters.
27929 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27930 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27932 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27933 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27934 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27935 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27938 @node Extended Interactive
27939 @subsection Extended Interactive
27940 @cindex interactive
27941 @findex gnus-interactive
27943 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27944 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27945 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27948 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27949 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27954 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27955 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27956 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27957 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27958 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27959 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27960 @code{interactive}.
27962 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27967 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27968 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27972 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27973 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27974 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27977 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27981 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27985 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27991 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27992 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27996 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27997 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27998 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
28000 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
28001 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
28002 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
28003 Gnus, that's very useful.
28005 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
28006 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
28007 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
28008 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
28009 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
28010 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
28011 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
28012 following function:
28015 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
28019 (,function ,@@args))
28023 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
28024 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
28025 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
28028 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
28029 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
28030 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
28032 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
28033 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
28034 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
28037 @node Various File Formats
28038 @subsection Various File Formats
28041 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
28042 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
28046 @node Active File Format
28047 @subsubsection Active File Format
28049 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
28050 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
28053 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
28056 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
28057 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
28058 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
28059 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
28060 no.general 1000 900 y
28063 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
28066 active = *group-line
28067 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
28068 group = <non-white-space string>
28070 high-number = <non-negative integer>
28071 low-number = <positive integer>
28072 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
28075 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
28076 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
28079 @node Newsgroups File Format
28080 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
28082 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
28083 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
28084 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
28087 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
28088 Here's the definition:
28092 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
28093 group = <non-white-space string>
28095 description = <string>
28100 @node Emacs for Heathens
28101 @section Emacs for Heathens
28103 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
28104 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
28105 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
28106 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
28107 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
28108 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
28109 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
28113 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
28114 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
28119 @subsection Keystrokes
28123 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
28126 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
28129 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
28130 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
28131 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
28132 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
28133 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
28134 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
28136 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
28137 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
28138 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
28139 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
28140 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
28141 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
28142 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
28144 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
28145 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
28146 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
28147 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
28148 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
28149 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
28150 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
28152 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
28153 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
28154 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
28155 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
28156 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
28162 @subsection Emacs Lisp
28164 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
28165 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
28166 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
28167 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
28169 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
28170 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
28171 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
28172 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
28173 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
28174 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
28175 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
28178 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
28179 write the following:
28182 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
28185 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
28186 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
28187 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
28190 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
28191 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
28192 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
28193 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
28194 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
28196 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
28197 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
28198 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
28202 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
28206 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
28209 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
28210 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
28213 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
28216 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
28217 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
28220 @include gnus-faq.texi
28240 @c Local Variables:
28242 @c coding: iso-8859-1