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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.050 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Semi-gnus 6.10.050 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
358 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
359 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
360 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
361 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
362 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
364 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.10.050.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
384 even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 @chapter Starting gnus
417 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
418 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
421 @findex gnus-other-frame
422 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
423 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
424 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
426 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
427 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
428 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
430 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
431 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
441 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
442 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
443 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 @node Finding the News
449 @section Finding the News
452 @vindex gnus-select-method
454 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
455 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
456 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
457 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
460 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
461 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
467 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
470 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
473 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
474 certainly be much faster.
476 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
478 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
479 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
480 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
481 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
482 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
483 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
487 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
488 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
490 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
491 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
492 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
493 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
494 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
495 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
496 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
497 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
498 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
501 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
503 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
504 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
505 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
506 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
507 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
508 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
510 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
512 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
513 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
514 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
515 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
516 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
517 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
520 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
521 would typically set this variable to
524 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
529 @section The First Time
530 @cindex first time usage
532 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
533 be subscribed by default.
535 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
536 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
537 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
538 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
541 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
542 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
543 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
545 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
546 help you with most common problems.
548 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
549 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
553 @node The Server is Down
554 @section The Server is Down
555 @cindex server errors
557 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
558 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
559 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
561 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
562 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
563 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
564 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
565 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
566 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
567 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
569 @findex gnus-no-server
570 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
572 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
573 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
574 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
575 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
576 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
577 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
582 @section Slave Gnusae
585 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
586 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
587 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
588 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
590 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
593 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
594 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
595 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
596 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
597 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
598 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
599 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
601 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
602 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
603 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
604 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
605 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
606 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
607 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
608 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
610 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
611 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
614 @node Fetching a Group
615 @section Fetching a Group
616 @cindex fetching a group
618 @findex gnus-fetch-group
619 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
620 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
621 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
622 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
623 It takes the group name as a parameter.
631 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
632 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
633 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
634 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
635 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
636 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
637 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
638 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
639 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
642 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
643 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
644 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
648 @node Checking New Groups
649 @subsection Checking New Groups
651 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
652 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
653 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
654 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
655 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
656 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
657 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
658 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
659 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
660 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
662 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
663 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
664 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
665 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
666 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
667 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
668 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
669 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
670 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
671 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
672 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
674 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
675 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
676 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
677 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
678 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
679 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
682 @node Subscription Methods
683 @subsection Subscription Methods
685 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
686 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
687 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
689 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
690 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
692 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
696 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
698 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
699 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
700 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
702 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
703 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
704 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
705 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
707 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
708 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
709 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
711 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
712 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
713 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
714 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
715 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
716 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
717 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
718 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
719 up. Or something like that.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
723 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
724 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
725 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
727 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
728 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
733 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
734 A closely related variable is
735 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
736 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
737 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
738 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
741 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
742 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
743 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
744 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
747 @node Filtering New Groups
748 @subsection Filtering New Groups
750 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
751 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
752 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
755 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
758 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
759 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
760 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
761 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
762 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
763 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
764 subscribing these groups.
765 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
766 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
768 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
769 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
770 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
771 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
772 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
773 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
774 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
775 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
777 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
778 Yet another variable that meddles here is
779 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
780 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
781 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
782 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
783 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
784 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
785 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
786 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
788 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
789 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
792 @node Changing Servers
793 @section Changing Servers
794 @cindex changing servers
796 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
797 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
798 very flaky and you want to use another.
800 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
801 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
805 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
806 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
807 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
808 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
811 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
812 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
813 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
814 functions more than absolutely necessary.
816 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
817 @findex gnus-change-server
818 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
819 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
820 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
822 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
824 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
825 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
826 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
827 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
828 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
830 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
831 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
832 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
833 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
834 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
835 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
837 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
838 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
839 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
843 @section Startup Files
844 @cindex startup files
849 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
850 information is traditionally stored in this file.
852 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
853 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
854 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
855 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
856 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
857 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
858 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
860 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
861 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
862 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
863 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
864 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
865 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
867 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
868 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
869 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
870 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
871 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
872 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
874 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
875 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
876 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
877 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
878 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
879 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
880 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
881 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
882 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
883 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
884 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
885 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
887 @vindex gnus-startup-file
888 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
889 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
890 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
892 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
893 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
894 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
895 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
896 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
897 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
898 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
899 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
900 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
901 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
904 (defun turn-off-backup ()
905 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
907 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
908 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
911 @vindex gnus-init-file
912 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
913 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
914 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
915 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
916 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
917 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
918 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
919 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
920 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
929 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
930 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
931 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
932 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
933 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
936 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
937 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
940 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
941 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
942 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
944 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
945 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
946 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
947 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
948 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
949 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
951 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
952 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
953 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
956 @node The Active File
957 @section The Active File
959 @cindex ignored groups
961 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
962 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
963 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
965 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
966 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
967 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
968 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
969 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
970 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
971 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
974 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
975 @c if you set it to anything else.
977 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
979 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
980 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
981 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
983 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
984 you actually subscribe to.
986 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
987 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
988 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
989 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
991 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
992 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
993 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
994 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
995 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
996 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
998 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
999 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1000 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1001 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1002 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1003 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1005 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1006 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1008 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1009 secondary select methods.
1012 @node Startup Variables
1013 @section Startup Variables
1017 @item gnus-load-hook
1018 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1019 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1020 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1021 times you start gnus.
1023 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1024 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1025 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1027 @item gnus-startup-hook
1028 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1029 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1031 @item gnus-started-hook
1032 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1033 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1036 @item gnus-started-hook
1037 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1038 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1039 generating the group buffer.
1041 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1042 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1043 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1044 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1045 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1046 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1047 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1048 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1050 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1051 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1052 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1053 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1054 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1055 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1057 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1058 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1059 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1061 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1062 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1063 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1065 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1066 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1067 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1068 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1073 @node The Group Buffer
1074 @chapter The Group Buffer
1075 @cindex group buffer
1077 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1078 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1079 long as gnus is active.
1083 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1084 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1085 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1086 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1087 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1088 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1089 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1090 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1096 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1097 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1098 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1099 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1100 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1101 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1102 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1103 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1104 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1105 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1106 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1107 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1108 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1109 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1110 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1111 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1112 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1116 @node Group Buffer Format
1117 @section Group Buffer Format
1120 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1121 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1122 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1126 @node Group Line Specification
1127 @subsection Group Line Specification
1128 @cindex group buffer format
1130 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1131 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1133 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1136 25: news.announce.newusers
1137 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1142 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1143 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1144 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1145 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1147 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1148 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1149 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1150 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1151 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1152 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1154 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1156 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1157 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1158 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1159 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1162 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1163 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1164 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1166 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1171 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1174 Whether the group is subscribed.
1177 Level of subscribedness.
1180 Number of unread articles.
1183 Number of dormant articles.
1186 Number of ticked articles.
1189 Number of read articles.
1192 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1193 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1196 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1199 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1208 Newsgroup description.
1211 @samp{m} if moderated.
1214 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1223 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1227 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1230 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1231 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1232 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1233 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1234 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1237 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1239 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1243 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1247 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1248 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1249 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1250 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1251 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1252 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1257 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1258 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1259 group, or a bogus native group.
1262 @node Group Modeline Specification
1263 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1264 @cindex group modeline
1266 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1267 The mode line can be changed by setting
1268 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1269 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1273 The native news server.
1275 The native select method.
1279 @node Group Highlighting
1280 @subsection Group Highlighting
1281 @cindex highlighting
1282 @cindex group highlighting
1284 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1285 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1286 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1287 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1288 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1290 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1294 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1295 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1296 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1297 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1298 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1299 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1300 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1301 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1302 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1303 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1305 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1306 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1307 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1308 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1309 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1310 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1313 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1315 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1322 The number of unread articles in the group.
1326 Whether the group is a mail group.
1328 The level of the group.
1330 The score of the group.
1332 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1334 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1335 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1337 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1338 topic being inserted.
1341 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1342 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1343 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1345 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1346 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1347 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1348 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1349 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1352 @node Group Maneuvering
1353 @section Group Maneuvering
1354 @cindex group movement
1356 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1357 expected, hopefully.
1363 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1364 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1365 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1371 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1372 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1373 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1377 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1378 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1383 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1387 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1388 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1389 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1393 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1394 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1395 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1398 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1404 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1405 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1406 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1411 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1412 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1413 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1417 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1418 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1419 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1422 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1423 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1424 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1425 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1429 @node Selecting a Group
1430 @section Selecting a Group
1431 @cindex group selection
1436 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1437 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1438 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1439 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1440 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1441 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1442 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1443 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1444 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1445 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1449 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1450 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1451 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1452 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1453 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1457 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1458 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1459 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1460 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1461 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1462 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1463 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1464 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1465 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1466 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1469 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1470 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1471 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1472 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1473 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1476 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1477 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1478 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1479 doing any processing of its contents
1480 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1481 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1482 manner will have no permanent effects.
1486 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1487 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1488 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1489 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1490 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1491 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1492 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1493 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1496 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1497 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1498 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1499 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1504 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1505 full summary buffer.
1508 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1511 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1516 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1517 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1518 Useful functions include:
1521 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1522 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1523 don't select the article.
1525 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1526 Select the first unread article.
1528 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1529 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1533 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1534 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1535 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1539 @node Subscription Commands
1540 @section Subscription Commands
1541 @cindex subscription
1549 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1550 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1551 Toggle subscription to the current group
1552 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1558 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1559 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1560 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1561 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1567 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1568 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1569 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1575 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1576 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1579 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1580 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1581 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1582 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1583 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1589 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1590 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1594 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1595 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1598 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1599 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1600 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1601 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1602 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1603 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1604 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1605 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1606 @file{.newsrc} file.
1610 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1620 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1621 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1622 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1623 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1624 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1625 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1630 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1631 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1632 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1636 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1637 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1638 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1640 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1641 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1642 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1643 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1644 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1645 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1652 @section Group Levels
1656 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1657 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1658 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1659 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1660 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1662 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1668 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1669 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1670 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1671 prompted for a level.
1674 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1675 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1676 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1677 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1678 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1679 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1680 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1681 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1682 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1683 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1684 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1685 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1686 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1687 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1688 reasons of efficiency.
1690 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1691 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1693 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1694 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1695 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1697 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1698 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1699 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1700 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1701 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1702 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1703 relevant valid ranges.
1705 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1706 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1707 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1708 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1709 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1710 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1713 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1714 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1715 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1718 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1719 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1720 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1721 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1724 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1725 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1726 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1727 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1729 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1730 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1731 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1732 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1733 to 5. The default is 6.
1737 @section Group Score
1742 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1743 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1744 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1747 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1748 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1749 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1750 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1751 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1752 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1753 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1755 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1756 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1757 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1758 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1759 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1760 action after each summary exit, you can add
1761 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1762 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1763 slow things down somewhat.
1766 @node Marking Groups
1767 @section Marking Groups
1768 @cindex marking groups
1770 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1771 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1772 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1773 bidding on those groups.
1775 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1776 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1777 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1785 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1786 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1792 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1793 Remove the mark from the current group
1794 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1798 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1799 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1803 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1804 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1808 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1809 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1813 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1814 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1815 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1818 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1820 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1821 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1822 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1823 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1824 the command to be executed.
1827 @node Foreign Groups
1828 @section Foreign Groups
1829 @cindex foreign groups
1831 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1832 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1833 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1834 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1841 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1842 @cindex making groups
1843 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1844 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1845 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1849 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1850 @cindex renaming groups
1851 Rename the current group to something else
1852 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1853 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1859 @findex gnus-group-customize
1860 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1864 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1865 @cindex renaming groups
1866 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1867 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1871 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1872 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1873 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1877 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1878 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1879 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1883 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1885 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1886 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1891 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1892 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1896 @cindex (ding) archive
1897 @cindex archive group
1898 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1899 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1900 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1901 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1902 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1903 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1904 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1908 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1910 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1911 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1912 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1913 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1917 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1919 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1920 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1921 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1925 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1926 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1928 Make a group based on some file or other
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1930 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1931 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1932 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1933 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1934 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1935 @xref{Document Groups}.
1939 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1940 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1941 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1942 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1946 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1951 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1952 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1953 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1954 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1955 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1956 @xref{Web Searches}.
1958 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1959 to a particular group by using a match string like
1960 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1963 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1964 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1965 This function will delete the current group
1966 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1967 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1968 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1969 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1970 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1974 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1975 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1976 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1980 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1981 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1982 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1985 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1988 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1989 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1990 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1991 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1992 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1993 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1997 @node Group Parameters
1998 @section Group Parameters
1999 @cindex group parameters
2001 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2002 Here's an example group parameter list:
2005 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2009 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2010 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2011 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2012 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2014 The following group parameters can be used:
2019 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2022 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2025 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2026 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2027 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2028 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2029 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2031 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2032 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2033 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2034 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2035 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2036 list address instead.
2040 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2043 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2046 It is totally ignored
2047 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2048 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2050 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2051 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2052 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2053 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2054 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2056 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2057 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2058 sending the message.
2062 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2063 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2064 of whether it has any unread articles.
2066 @item broken-reply-to
2067 @cindex broken-reply-to
2068 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2069 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2070 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2071 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2072 broken behavior. So there!
2076 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2077 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2081 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2082 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2083 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2088 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2089 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2090 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2091 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2092 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2093 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2094 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2098 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2099 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2100 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2103 @cindex total-expire
2104 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2105 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2106 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2107 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2112 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2113 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2114 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2115 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2116 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2117 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2120 @cindex score file group parameter
2121 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2122 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2123 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2126 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2127 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2128 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2129 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2132 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2133 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2134 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2135 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2138 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2139 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2143 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2146 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2151 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2152 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2153 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2157 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2158 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2159 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2161 @item @var{(variable form)}
2162 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2163 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2164 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2165 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2166 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2167 @code{eval}ed there.
2169 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2170 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2171 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2172 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2173 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2176 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2177 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2178 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2179 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2180 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2182 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2183 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2184 like this in the group parameters:
2189 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2194 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2195 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2199 @node Listing Groups
2200 @section Listing Groups
2201 @cindex group listing
2203 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2211 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2212 List all groups that have unread articles
2213 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2214 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2215 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2216 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2223 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2224 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2225 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2226 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2227 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2228 unsubscribed groups).
2232 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2233 List all unread groups on a specific level
2234 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2235 with no unread articles.
2239 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2240 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2241 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2242 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2247 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2248 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2252 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2253 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2254 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2258 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2259 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2263 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2264 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2265 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2266 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2267 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2268 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2269 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2270 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2274 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2275 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2276 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2280 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2281 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2282 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2286 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2287 @cindex visible group parameter
2288 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2289 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2290 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2291 get the same effect.
2293 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2294 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2295 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2296 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2297 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2300 @node Sorting Groups
2301 @section Sorting Groups
2302 @cindex sorting groups
2304 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2305 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2306 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2307 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2308 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2309 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2314 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2315 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2316 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2318 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2319 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2320 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2322 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2323 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2324 Sort by group level.
2326 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2327 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2328 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2330 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2331 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2332 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2333 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2335 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2336 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2337 Sort by number of unread articles.
2339 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2340 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2341 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2346 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2347 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2351 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2352 some sorting criteria:
2356 @kindex G S a (Group)
2357 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2358 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2359 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2362 @kindex G S u (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2364 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2368 @kindex G S l (Group)
2369 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2370 Sort the group buffer by group level
2371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2374 @kindex G S v (Group)
2375 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2376 Sort the group buffer by group score
2377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2380 @kindex G S r (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2382 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2386 @kindex G S m (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2388 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2393 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2394 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2396 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2397 commands will sort in reverse order.
2399 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2403 @kindex G P a (Group)
2404 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2405 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2406 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2409 @kindex G P u (Group)
2410 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2411 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2412 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2415 @kindex G P l (Group)
2416 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2417 Sort the groups by group level
2418 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2421 @kindex G P v (Group)
2422 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2423 Sort the groups by group score
2424 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2427 @kindex G P r (Group)
2428 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2429 Sort the groups by group rank
2430 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2433 @kindex G P m (Group)
2434 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2435 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2436 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2442 @node Group Maintenance
2443 @section Group Maintenance
2444 @cindex bogus groups
2449 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2450 Find bogus groups and delete them
2451 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2455 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2456 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2457 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2458 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2459 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2463 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2464 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2465 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2466 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2469 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2470 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2471 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2472 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2477 @node Browse Foreign Server
2478 @section Browse Foreign Server
2479 @cindex foreign servers
2480 @cindex browsing servers
2485 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2486 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2487 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2488 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2491 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2492 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2493 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2494 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2496 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2501 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2502 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2506 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2507 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2510 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2511 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2512 Enter the current group and display the first article
2513 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2516 @kindex RET (Browse)
2517 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2518 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2522 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2523 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2524 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2530 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2531 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2535 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2536 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2537 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2542 @section Exiting gnus
2543 @cindex exiting gnus
2545 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2550 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2551 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
2552 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2553 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2557 @findex gnus-group-exit
2558 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2559 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2563 @findex gnus-group-quit
2564 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2565 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2568 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2569 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2570 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2571 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2572 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2577 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2578 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2579 trying to customize meta-variables.
2584 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2585 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2586 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2592 @section Group Topics
2595 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2596 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2597 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2598 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2599 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2600 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2604 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2605 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2616 2: alt.religion.emacs
2619 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2621 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2622 13: comp.sources.unix
2625 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2627 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2628 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2629 is a toggling command.)
2631 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2632 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2633 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2634 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2637 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2638 the hook for the group mode:
2641 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2645 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2646 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2647 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2648 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2649 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2653 @node Topic Variables
2654 @subsection Topic Variables
2655 @cindex topic variables
2657 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2658 really neat, I think.
2660 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2661 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2662 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2675 Number of groups in the topic.
2677 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2679 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2682 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2683 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2684 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2687 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2688 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2690 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2691 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2692 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2695 @node Topic Commands
2696 @subsection Topic Commands
2697 @cindex topic commands
2699 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2700 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2701 definitions slightly.
2707 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2708 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2709 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2713 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2714 Move the current group to some other topic
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2716 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2720 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2721 Copy the current group to some other topic
2722 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2723 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2727 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2728 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2729 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2730 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2731 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2732 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2733 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2736 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2737 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2741 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2742 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2743 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2747 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2748 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2753 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2754 Toggle hiding empty topics
2755 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2759 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2760 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2761 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2764 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2765 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2766 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2767 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2771 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2773 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2774 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2775 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2776 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2779 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2780 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2781 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2782 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2786 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2788 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2789 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2790 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2791 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2792 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2793 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2796 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2797 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2798 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2799 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2803 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2804 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2805 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2809 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2810 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2811 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2816 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2817 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2820 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2821 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2822 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2826 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2827 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2828 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2832 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2833 @cindex group parameters
2834 @cindex topic parameters
2836 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2837 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2843 @subsection Topic Sorting
2844 @cindex topic sorting
2846 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2852 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2853 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2854 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2855 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2858 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2859 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2860 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2861 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2864 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2865 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2866 Sort the current topic by group level
2867 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2870 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2871 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2872 Sort the current topic by group score
2873 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2876 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2877 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2878 Sort the current topic by group rank
2879 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2882 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2883 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2884 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2885 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2889 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2892 @node Topic Topology
2893 @subsection Topic Topology
2894 @cindex topic topology
2897 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2903 2: alt.religion.emacs
2906 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2908 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2909 13: comp.sources.unix
2912 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2913 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2914 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2919 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2920 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2924 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2925 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2926 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2927 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2928 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2929 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2931 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2932 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2933 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2936 @node Topic Parameters
2937 @subsection Topic Parameters
2938 @cindex topic parameters
2940 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2941 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2942 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2944 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2945 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2946 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2947 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2953 2: alt.religion.emacs
2957 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2959 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2960 13: comp.sources.unix
2964 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2965 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2966 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2967 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2968 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2969 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2971 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2972 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2973 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2974 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2975 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2977 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2978 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2979 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2980 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2981 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2982 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2983 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2984 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2987 @node Misc Group Stuff
2988 @section Misc Group Stuff
2991 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2992 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2993 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2994 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3001 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3002 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3003 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3007 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3008 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3009 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3013 @findex gnus-group-mail
3014 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3018 Variables for the group buffer:
3022 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3023 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3024 is called after the group buffer has been
3027 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3028 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3029 is called after the group buffer is
3030 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3033 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3034 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3035 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3036 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3038 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3039 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3040 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3041 whether they are empty or not.
3046 @node Scanning New Messages
3047 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3048 @cindex new messages
3049 @cindex scanning new news
3055 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3056 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3057 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3058 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3059 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3060 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3065 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3066 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3067 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3068 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3069 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3070 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3071 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3073 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3074 @cindex activating groups
3076 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3077 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3082 @findex gnus-group-restart
3083 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3084 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3085 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3089 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3090 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3092 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3093 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3097 @node Group Information
3098 @subsection Group Information
3099 @cindex group information
3100 @cindex information on groups
3107 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3108 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3111 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3112 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3113 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3114 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3115 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3116 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3117 for fetching the file.
3119 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3120 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3124 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3126 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3127 @cindex describing groups
3128 @cindex group description
3129 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3130 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3131 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3135 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3136 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3137 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3144 @findex gnus-version
3145 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3149 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3150 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3153 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3156 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3157 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3161 @node Group Timestamp
3162 @subsection Group Timestamp
3164 @cindex group timestamps
3166 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3167 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3168 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3171 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3174 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3176 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3177 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3180 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3181 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3184 This will result in lines looking like:
3187 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3188 0: custom 19961002T012713
3191 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3192 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3196 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3197 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3202 @subsection File Commands
3203 @cindex file commands
3209 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3210 @vindex gnus-init-file
3211 @cindex reading init file
3212 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3213 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3217 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3218 @cindex saving .newsrc
3219 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3220 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3221 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3224 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3225 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3226 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3231 @node The Summary Buffer
3232 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3233 @cindex summary buffer
3235 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3236 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3238 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3239 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3241 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3244 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3245 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3246 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3247 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3248 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3249 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3250 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3251 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3252 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3253 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3254 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3255 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3256 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3257 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3258 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3259 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3260 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3261 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3262 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3263 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3264 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3265 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3266 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3267 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3268 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3269 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3270 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3271 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3275 @node Summary Buffer Format
3276 @section Summary Buffer Format
3277 @cindex summary buffer format
3281 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3282 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3283 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3289 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3290 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3291 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3292 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3295 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3296 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3297 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3298 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3299 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3300 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3301 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3302 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3303 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3304 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3305 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3306 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3307 other function instead:
3310 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3311 'mail-extract-address-components)
3314 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3315 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3316 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3317 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3320 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3321 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3323 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3324 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3325 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3326 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3327 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3329 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3331 The following format specification characters are understood:
3339 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3340 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3341 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3343 Full @code{From} header.
3345 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3347 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3348 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3350 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3351 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3352 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3353 may be more thorough.
3355 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3358 Number of lines in the article.
3360 Number of characters in the article.
3362 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3364 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3365 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3367 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3368 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3370 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3371 for adopted articles.
3373 One space for each thread level.
3375 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3380 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3381 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3385 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3387 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3388 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3389 default level. If the difference between
3390 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3391 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3399 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3401 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3407 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3408 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3410 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3411 article has any children.
3417 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3418 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3419 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3420 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3421 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3422 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3425 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3426 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3427 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3428 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3429 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3430 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3432 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3433 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3435 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3438 @node To From Newsgroups
3439 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3443 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3444 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3445 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3446 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3447 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3451 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3452 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3453 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3457 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3458 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3461 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3462 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3465 @findex gnus-extra-header
3466 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3467 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3468 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3471 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3475 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3476 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3477 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3478 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3479 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3480 headers are used instead.
3484 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3485 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3486 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
3488 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3491 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3493 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3494 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3495 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3496 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3500 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3501 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3508 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3509 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3512 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3513 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3515 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3516 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3517 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3518 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3520 Here are the elements you can play with:
3526 Unprefixed group name.
3528 Current article number.
3530 Current article score.
3534 Number of unread articles in this group.
3536 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3539 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3540 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3541 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3542 and no unselected ones.
3544 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3545 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3547 Subject of the current article.
3549 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3551 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3553 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3555 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3557 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3559 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3563 @node Summary Highlighting
3564 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3568 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3569 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3570 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3571 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3572 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3574 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3575 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3576 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3577 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3579 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3580 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3581 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3582 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3584 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3585 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3586 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3587 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3588 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3589 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3591 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3592 ((> score default) . bold))
3594 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3595 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3599 @node Summary Maneuvering
3600 @section Summary Maneuvering
3601 @cindex summary movement
3603 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3604 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3606 None of these commands select articles.
3611 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3612 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3613 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3614 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3615 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3619 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3620 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3621 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3622 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3623 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3628 @kindex G j (Summary)
3629 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3630 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3631 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3634 @kindex G g (Summary)
3635 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3636 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3637 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3640 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3641 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3642 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3643 to the group buffer.
3645 Variables related to summary movement:
3649 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3650 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3651 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3652 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3653 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3654 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3655 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3656 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3657 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3658 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3659 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3660 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3661 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3662 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3664 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3665 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3666 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3667 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3668 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3669 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3670 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3672 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3674 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3675 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3676 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3677 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3678 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3680 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3681 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3682 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3683 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3684 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3685 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3686 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3687 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3690 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3691 the given number of lines from the top.
3696 @node Choosing Articles
3697 @section Choosing Articles
3698 @cindex selecting articles
3701 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3702 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3706 @node Choosing Commands
3707 @subsection Choosing Commands
3709 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3710 and they all select and display an article.
3714 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3715 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3716 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3717 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3722 @kindex G n (Summary)
3723 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3724 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3725 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3730 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3731 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3732 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3737 @kindex G N (Summary)
3738 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3739 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3744 @kindex G P (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3746 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3749 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3750 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3751 Go to the next article with the same subject
3752 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3755 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3756 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3757 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3758 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3762 @kindex G f (Summary)
3764 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3765 Go to the first unread article
3766 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3770 @kindex G b (Summary)
3772 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3773 Go to the article with the highest score
3774 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3779 @kindex G l (Summary)
3780 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3781 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3784 @kindex G o (Summary)
3785 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3787 @cindex article history
3788 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3789 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3790 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3791 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3792 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3793 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3797 @node Choosing Variables
3798 @subsection Choosing Variables
3800 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3803 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3804 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3805 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3806 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3807 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3808 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3810 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3811 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3812 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3813 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3815 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3816 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3817 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3818 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3819 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3820 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3821 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3822 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3823 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3824 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3825 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3826 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3827 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3828 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3833 @node Paging the Article
3834 @section Scrolling the Article
3835 @cindex article scrolling
3840 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3841 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3842 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3843 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3844 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3847 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3848 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3849 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3852 @kindex RET (Summary)
3853 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3854 Scroll the current article one line forward
3855 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3858 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3859 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3860 Scroll the current article one line backward
3861 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3865 @kindex A g (Summary)
3867 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3868 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3869 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3870 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3871 the way it came from the server.
3876 @kindex A < (Summary)
3877 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3878 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3879 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3884 @kindex A > (Summary)
3885 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3886 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3890 @kindex A s (Summary)
3892 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3893 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3894 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3898 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3899 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3904 @node Reply Followup and Post
3905 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3908 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3909 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3913 @node Summary Mail Commands
3914 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3916 @cindex composing mail
3918 Commands for composing a mail message:
3924 @kindex S r (Summary)
3926 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3928 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3929 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3930 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3935 @kindex S R (Summary)
3936 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3937 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3938 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3939 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3940 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3943 @kindex S w (Summary)
3944 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3945 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3946 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3947 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3948 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3951 @kindex S W (Summary)
3952 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3953 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3954 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3955 the process/prefix convention.
3958 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3959 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3960 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3961 Forward the current article to some other person
3962 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3963 headers of the forwarded article.
3968 @kindex S m (Summary)
3969 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3970 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3971 Send a mail to some other person
3972 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3975 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3976 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3977 @cindex bouncing mail
3978 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3979 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3980 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3981 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3982 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3983 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3984 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3985 very well fail, though.
3988 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3989 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3990 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3991 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3992 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3993 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3994 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3995 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3996 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3997 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3999 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4000 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4001 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4002 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4003 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4005 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4006 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4009 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4010 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4011 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4012 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4013 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4016 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4017 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4018 @cindex crossposting
4019 @cindex excessive crossposting
4020 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4021 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4023 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4024 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4025 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4026 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4027 command understands the process/prefix convention
4028 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4032 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4035 @node Summary Post Commands
4036 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4038 @cindex composing news
4040 Commands for posting a news article:
4046 @kindex S p (Summary)
4047 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4048 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4049 Post an article to the current group
4050 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4055 @kindex S f (Summary)
4056 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4057 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4058 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4062 @kindex S F (Summary)
4064 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4065 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4066 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4067 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4068 process/prefix convention.
4071 @kindex S n (Summary)
4072 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4073 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4074 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4077 @kindex S N (Summary)
4078 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4079 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4080 message through mail and include the original message
4081 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4082 the process/prefix convention.
4085 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4086 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4087 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4088 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4089 headers of the forwarded article.
4092 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4093 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4095 @cindex making digests
4096 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4097 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4098 process/prefix convention.
4101 @kindex S u (Summary)
4102 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4103 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4104 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4105 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4108 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4111 @node Canceling and Superseding
4112 @section Canceling Articles
4113 @cindex canceling articles
4114 @cindex superseding articles
4116 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4117 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4119 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4121 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4123 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4124 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4125 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4126 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4127 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4128 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4130 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4131 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4134 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4135 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4136 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4138 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4139 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4140 your original article.
4142 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4144 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4145 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4146 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4149 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4150 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4151 have posted almost the same article twice.
4153 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4154 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4155 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4156 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4157 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4158 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4159 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4160 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4161 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4162 canceled/superseded.
4164 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4167 @node Marking Articles
4168 @section Marking Articles
4169 @cindex article marking
4170 @cindex article ticking
4173 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4175 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4176 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4177 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4179 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4182 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4183 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4184 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4188 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4192 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4193 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4197 @node Unread Articles
4198 @subsection Unread Articles
4200 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4205 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4206 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4208 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4209 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4210 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4211 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4212 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4216 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4217 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4219 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4220 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4221 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4224 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4225 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4227 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4232 @subsection Read Articles
4233 @cindex expirable mark
4235 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4240 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4241 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4242 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4245 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4246 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4249 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4250 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4251 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4254 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4255 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4258 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4259 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4262 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4263 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4266 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4267 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4270 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4271 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4274 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4275 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4278 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4279 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4283 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4284 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4285 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4289 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4290 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4292 One more special mark, though:
4296 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4297 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4299 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4300 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4301 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4302 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
4308 @subsection Other Marks
4309 @cindex process mark
4312 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4318 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4319 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4320 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4321 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4322 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4325 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4326 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4327 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4328 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4331 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4332 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4333 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4336 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4337 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4338 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4339 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4342 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4343 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4344 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4345 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4346 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4349 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4350 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4351 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4352 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4353 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4354 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4358 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4359 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4360 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4362 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4363 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4364 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4368 @subsection Setting Marks
4369 @cindex setting marks
4371 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4376 @kindex M c (Summary)
4377 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4378 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4379 @cindex mark as unread
4380 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4381 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4387 @kindex M t (Summary)
4388 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4389 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4390 @xref{Article Caching}.
4395 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4396 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4397 Mark the current article as dormant
4398 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4402 @kindex M d (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4405 Mark the current article as read
4406 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4410 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4411 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4412 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4417 @kindex M k (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4419 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4420 and then select the next unread article
4421 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4425 @kindex M K (Summary)
4426 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4427 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4428 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4429 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4432 @kindex M C (Summary)
4433 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4434 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4435 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4438 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4439 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4440 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4441 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4444 @kindex M H (Summary)
4445 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4446 Catchup the current group to point
4447 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4450 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4451 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4452 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4453 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4456 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4457 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4458 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4459 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4463 @kindex M e (Summary)
4465 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4466 Mark the current article as expirable
4467 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4470 @kindex M b (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4472 Set a bookmark in the current article
4473 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4476 @kindex M B (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4478 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4482 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4484 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4485 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4488 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4489 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4490 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4491 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4494 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4495 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4496 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4497 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4498 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4501 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4502 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4503 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4504 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4505 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4506 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4507 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4508 The default is @code{t}.
4511 @node Setting Process Marks
4512 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4513 @cindex setting process marks
4520 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4521 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4522 Mark the current article with the process mark
4523 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4524 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4528 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4529 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4530 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4531 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4534 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4535 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4536 Remove the process mark from all articles
4537 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4540 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4541 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4542 Invert the list of process marked articles
4543 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4546 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4547 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4548 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4549 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4552 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4554 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4557 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4558 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4559 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4560 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4563 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4564 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4565 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4566 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4569 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4570 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4571 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4572 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4575 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4576 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4577 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4580 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4581 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4582 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4583 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4586 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4587 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4588 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4591 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4593 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4594 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4597 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4598 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4599 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4600 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4603 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4605 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4606 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4609 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4610 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4611 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4612 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4621 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4622 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4623 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4626 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4627 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4628 additional articles.
4634 @kindex / / (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4636 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4637 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4640 @kindex / a (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4642 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4643 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4647 @kindex / u (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4650 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4651 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4652 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4653 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4656 @kindex / m (Summary)
4657 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4658 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4659 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4662 @kindex / t (Summary)
4663 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4664 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4665 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4666 articles younger than that number of days.
4669 @kindex / n (Summary)
4670 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4671 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4672 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4673 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4676 @kindex / w (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4678 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4679 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4683 @kindex / v (Summary)
4684 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4685 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4686 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4690 @kindex M S (Summary)
4691 @kindex / E (Summary)
4692 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4693 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4694 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4697 @kindex / D (Summary)
4698 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4699 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4700 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4703 @kindex / * (Summary)
4704 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4705 Include all cached articles in the limit
4706 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4709 @kindex / d (Summary)
4710 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4711 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4712 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4715 @kindex / T (Summary)
4716 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4717 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4720 @kindex / c (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4722 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4726 @kindex / C (Summary)
4727 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4728 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4729 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4730 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4738 @cindex article threading
4740 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4741 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4742 hierarchical fashion.
4744 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4745 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4746 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4747 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4748 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4749 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4750 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4752 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4756 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4759 A tree-like article structure.
4762 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4765 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4766 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4767 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4768 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4769 called loose threads.
4771 @item thread gathering
4772 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4774 @item sparse threads
4775 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4776 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4782 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4783 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4787 @node Customizing Threading
4788 @subsection Customizing Threading
4789 @cindex customizing threading
4792 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4793 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4794 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4795 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4800 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4803 @cindex loose threads
4806 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4807 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4808 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4809 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4810 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4811 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4813 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4814 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4815 There are four possible values:
4819 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4820 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4821 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4822 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4823 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4828 @cindex adopting articles
4833 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4834 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4835 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4836 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4839 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4840 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4841 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4842 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4843 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4844 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4845 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4848 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4849 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4850 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4854 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4855 display them after one another.
4858 Don't gather loose threads.
4861 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4862 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4863 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4864 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4865 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4866 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4867 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4868 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4869 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4870 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4871 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4873 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4874 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4875 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4878 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4879 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4880 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4881 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4882 simplification is used.
4884 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4885 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4886 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4887 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4889 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4891 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4897 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4898 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4899 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4900 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4905 (mapconcat 'identity
4906 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4908 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4911 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4914 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4915 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4916 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4917 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4918 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4919 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4921 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4924 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4925 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4926 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4928 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4929 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4932 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4933 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4934 Remove excessive whitespace.
4937 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4940 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4941 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4942 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4943 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4944 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4945 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4946 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4947 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4949 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4950 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4951 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4952 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4953 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4954 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4955 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4956 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4957 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4961 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4962 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4963 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4964 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4966 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4967 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4968 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4971 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4975 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4976 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4982 @node Filling In Threads
4983 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4986 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4987 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4988 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4989 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4990 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4991 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4992 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4993 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4994 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4995 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4996 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4997 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
4999 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5000 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5001 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5003 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5004 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5005 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5006 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5007 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5008 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5009 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5010 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5011 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5012 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5013 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5014 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5015 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5016 @code{nil} by default.
5021 @node More Threading
5022 @subsubsection More Threading
5025 @item gnus-show-threads
5026 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5027 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5028 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5029 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5030 slower and more awkward.
5032 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5033 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5034 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5037 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5038 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5039 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5040 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5041 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5042 threads are expunged.
5044 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5045 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5046 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5049 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5050 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5051 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5052 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5053 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5056 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5057 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5058 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5064 @node Low-Level Threading
5065 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5069 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5070 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5071 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5072 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5073 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5074 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5076 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5077 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5078 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5079 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5080 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5081 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5082 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5083 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5084 meaningful. Here's one example:
5087 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5089 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5090 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5092 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5094 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5101 @node Thread Commands
5102 @subsection Thread Commands
5103 @cindex thread commands
5109 @kindex T k (Summary)
5110 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5112 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5113 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5114 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5119 @kindex T l (Summary)
5120 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5122 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5126 @kindex T i (Summary)
5127 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5128 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5129 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5132 @kindex T # (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5134 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5135 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5138 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5139 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5140 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5141 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5144 @kindex T T (Summary)
5145 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5146 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5149 @kindex T s (Summary)
5150 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5151 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5152 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5155 @kindex T h (Summary)
5156 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5157 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5160 @kindex T S (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5162 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5165 @kindex T H (Summary)
5166 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5167 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5170 @kindex T t (Summary)
5171 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5172 Re-thread the current article's thread
5173 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5174 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5177 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5178 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5179 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5180 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5184 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5185 understand the numeric prefix.
5190 @kindex T n (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5192 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5195 @kindex T p (Summary)
5196 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5197 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5200 @kindex T d (Summary)
5201 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5202 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5205 @kindex T u (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5207 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5210 @kindex T o (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5212 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5215 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5216 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5217 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5218 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5219 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5220 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5221 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5222 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5223 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5224 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5225 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5226 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5233 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5234 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5235 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5236 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5237 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5238 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5239 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5240 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5241 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5242 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5243 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5245 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5246 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5247 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5248 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5249 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5251 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5252 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5253 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5255 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5256 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5257 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5258 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5259 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5260 ascending article order.
5262 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5263 by number, you could do something like:
5266 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5267 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5268 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5269 (reverse gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5272 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5273 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5274 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5275 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5276 which the articles arrived.
5278 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5282 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5284 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5285 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5288 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5289 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5290 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5291 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5294 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5295 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5296 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5297 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5298 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5299 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5300 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5301 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5302 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5303 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5304 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5305 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5306 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5308 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5312 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5313 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5314 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5319 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5320 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5321 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5322 @cindex article pre-fetch
5325 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5326 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5327 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5328 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5329 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5331 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5332 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5334 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5335 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5336 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5337 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5338 connection is blocked.
5340 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5341 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5342 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5343 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5345 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5346 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5347 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5348 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5351 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5354 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5355 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5356 happen automatically.
5358 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5359 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5360 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5361 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5362 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5363 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5364 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5366 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5367 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5368 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5369 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5370 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5371 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5372 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5373 data structure as the only parameter.
5375 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5378 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5379 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5380 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5381 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5384 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5387 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5388 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
5389 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5391 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5392 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5393 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5394 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5398 Remove articles when they are read.
5401 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5404 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5406 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5407 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5408 @c from the next group.
5411 @node Article Caching
5412 @section Article Caching
5413 @cindex article caching
5416 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5417 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5418 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5419 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5420 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5422 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5424 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5425 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5426 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5427 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5428 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5429 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5430 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5431 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5433 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5434 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5435 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5436 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5437 as dormant, and don't worry.
5439 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5441 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5442 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5443 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5444 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5445 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5446 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5447 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5448 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5449 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5450 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5452 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5453 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5454 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5455 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5456 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5457 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5458 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5459 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5460 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5461 not then be downloaded by this command.
5463 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5464 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5465 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5466 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5467 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5468 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5470 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5471 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5472 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5473 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5474 variables, the group is not cached.
5476 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5477 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5478 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5479 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5480 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5481 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5482 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5483 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5484 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5488 @node Persistent Articles
5489 @section Persistent Articles
5490 @cindex persistent articles
5492 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5493 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5494 useful in my opinion.
5496 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5497 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5498 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5499 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5500 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5501 the expiry going on at the news server.
5503 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5504 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5505 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5511 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5512 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5515 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5516 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5517 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5518 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5522 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5524 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5525 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5526 interested in persistent articles:
5529 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5533 @node Article Backlog
5534 @section Article Backlog
5536 @cindex article backlog
5538 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5539 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5540 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5541 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5542 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5543 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5544 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5545 increase memory usage some.
5547 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5548 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5549 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5550 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5551 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5552 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5553 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5555 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5558 @node Saving Articles
5559 @section Saving Articles
5560 @cindex saving articles
5562 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5563 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5564 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5565 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5566 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5568 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5569 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5570 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5572 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5573 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5574 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5575 deleted before saving.
5581 @kindex O o (Summary)
5583 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5584 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5585 Save the current article using the default article saver
5586 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5589 @kindex O m (Summary)
5590 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5591 Save the current article in mail format
5592 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5595 @kindex O r (Summary)
5596 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5597 Save the current article in rmail format
5598 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5601 @kindex O f (Summary)
5602 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5603 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5604 Save the current article in plain file format
5605 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5608 @kindex O F (Summary)
5609 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5610 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5611 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5614 @kindex O b (Summary)
5615 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5616 Save the current article body in plain file format
5617 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5620 @kindex O h (Summary)
5621 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5622 Save the current article in mh folder format
5623 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5626 @kindex O v (Summary)
5627 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5628 Save the current article in a VM folder
5629 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5632 @kindex O p (Summary)
5633 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5634 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5635 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5638 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5639 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5640 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5641 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5642 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5643 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5644 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5645 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5646 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5647 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5648 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5649 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5653 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5654 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5655 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5656 functions below, or you can create your own.
5660 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5661 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5662 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5663 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5664 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5665 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5666 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5668 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5669 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5670 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5671 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5672 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5673 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5675 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5676 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5677 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5678 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5679 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5680 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5681 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5683 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5684 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5685 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5686 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5687 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5689 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5690 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5691 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5692 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5693 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5696 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5697 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5698 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5699 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5700 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5702 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5703 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5704 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5705 reader to use this setting.
5708 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5709 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5710 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5711 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5714 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5715 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5716 available functions that generate names:
5720 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5721 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5722 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5724 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5725 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5726 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5728 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5729 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5730 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5732 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5733 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5734 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5737 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5738 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5739 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5740 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5741 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5745 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5746 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5747 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5748 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5751 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5752 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5753 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5754 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5755 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5756 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5757 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5758 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5759 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5761 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5762 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5763 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5764 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5766 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5767 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5768 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5771 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5772 lots of mail groups called things like
5773 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5774 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5775 following will do just that:
5778 (defun my-save-name (group)
5779 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5780 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5782 (setq gnus-split-methods
5783 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5788 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5789 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5790 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5791 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5792 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5793 all the files in the top level directory
5794 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5795 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5796 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5797 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5799 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5800 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5801 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5802 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5803 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5806 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5810 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5811 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5814 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5815 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5816 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5817 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5820 @node Decoding Articles
5821 @section Decoding Articles
5822 @cindex decoding articles
5824 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5825 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5828 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5829 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5830 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5831 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5832 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5833 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5837 @cindex article series
5838 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5839 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5840 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5841 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5842 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5844 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5845 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5846 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5848 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5849 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5850 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5852 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5853 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5854 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5857 @node Uuencoded Articles
5858 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5860 @cindex uuencoded articles
5865 @kindex X u (Summary)
5866 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5867 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5868 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5871 @kindex X U (Summary)
5872 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5873 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5874 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5877 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5878 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5879 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5882 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5883 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5884 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5885 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5889 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5890 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5891 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5892 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5893 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5895 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5896 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5897 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5898 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5901 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5902 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5903 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5904 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5905 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5906 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5910 @node Shell Archives
5911 @subsection Shell Archives
5913 @cindex shell archives
5914 @cindex shared articles
5916 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5917 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5918 some commands to deal with these:
5923 @kindex X s (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5925 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5928 @kindex X S (Summary)
5929 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5930 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5933 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5935 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5938 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5939 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5940 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5941 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5945 @node PostScript Files
5946 @subsection PostScript Files
5952 @kindex X p (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5954 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5957 @kindex X P (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5959 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5960 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5963 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5965 View the current PostScript series
5966 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5969 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5971 View and save the current PostScript series
5972 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5977 @subsection Other Files
5981 @kindex X o (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5983 Save the current series
5984 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5987 @kindex X b (Summary)
5988 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5989 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5990 doesn't really work yet.
5994 @node Decoding Variables
5995 @subsection Decoding Variables
5997 Adjective, not verb.
6000 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6001 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6002 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6006 @node Rule Variables
6007 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6008 @cindex rule variables
6010 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6011 variables are of the form
6014 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6021 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6022 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6024 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6025 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6028 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6029 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
6032 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6033 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6034 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6035 user and default view rules.
6037 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6038 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6039 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6044 @node Other Decode Variables
6045 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6048 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6050 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6051 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6052 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6053 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6054 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6058 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6059 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6062 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6063 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6064 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6067 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6068 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6069 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6070 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6071 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6074 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6075 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6076 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6078 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6079 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6080 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6081 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6082 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6085 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6086 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6087 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6089 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6090 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6091 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6092 looking for files to display.
6094 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6095 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6096 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6099 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6100 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6101 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6104 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6105 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6106 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6109 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6110 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6111 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6114 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6115 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6116 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6117 decoded articles as unread.
6119 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6120 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6121 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6122 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6124 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6125 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6126 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6128 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6129 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6131 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6132 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6133 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6134 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6136 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6137 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6138 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6139 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6140 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6141 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6142 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6143 simply dropped them.
6148 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6149 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6153 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6154 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6155 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6156 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6157 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6158 for you when you post the article.
6160 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6161 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6162 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6163 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6165 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6166 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6167 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6168 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6169 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6170 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6171 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6173 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6174 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6175 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6176 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6177 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6178 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6179 Default is @code{t}.
6185 @subsection Viewing Files
6186 @cindex viewing files
6187 @cindex pseudo-articles
6189 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6190 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6191 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6192 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6193 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6194 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6195 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6197 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6198 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6199 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6200 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6202 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6203 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6204 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6206 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6207 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6208 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6209 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6210 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6212 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6213 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6214 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6215 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6216 a list of parameters to that command.
6218 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6219 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6220 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6222 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6223 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6224 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6227 @node Article Treatment
6228 @section Article Treatment
6230 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6231 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6232 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6233 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6234 these articles easier.
6237 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6238 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6239 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6240 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6241 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6242 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6243 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6247 @node Article Highlighting
6248 @subsection Article Highlighting
6249 @cindex highlighting
6251 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6252 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6257 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6259 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6260 Do much highlighting of the current article
6261 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6262 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6264 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6265 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6266 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6267 signature and adds buttons.
6270 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6271 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6272 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6273 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6274 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6275 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6276 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6277 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6278 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6279 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6280 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6283 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6285 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6287 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6290 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6292 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6293 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6294 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6296 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6297 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6298 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6300 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6301 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6302 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6304 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6305 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6306 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6307 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6308 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6309 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6311 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6312 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6313 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6315 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6316 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6317 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6319 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6320 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6321 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6322 that it's a citation.
6324 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6325 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6326 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6328 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6329 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6330 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6332 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6333 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6334 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6335 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6341 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6342 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6343 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6344 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6345 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6346 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6347 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6348 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6353 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6356 @node Article Fontisizing
6357 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6359 @cindex article emphasis
6361 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6362 @kindex W e (Summary)
6363 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6364 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6365 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6366 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6368 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6369 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6370 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6371 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6372 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6373 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6374 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6375 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6379 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6380 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6381 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6384 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6385 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6386 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6387 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6388 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6389 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6390 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6391 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6392 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6393 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6394 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6395 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6396 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6398 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6399 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6400 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6404 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6407 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6410 @node Article Hiding
6411 @subsection Article Hiding
6412 @cindex article hiding
6414 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6415 too much cruft in most articles.
6420 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6421 @findex gnus-article-hide
6422 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6423 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6424 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6427 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6428 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6429 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6433 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6435 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6436 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6439 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6440 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6441 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6445 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6447 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6448 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6449 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6450 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6451 articles that have signatures in them do:
6453 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6455 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6457 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6458 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6460 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6463 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6468 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6470 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6471 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6474 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6475 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6476 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6477 customizing the hiding:
6481 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6482 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6483 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6484 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6485 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6486 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6487 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6492 Starting point of the hidden text.
6494 Ending point of the hidden text.
6496 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6498 Number of lines of hidden text.
6501 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6502 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6503 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6508 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6511 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6512 following two variables:
6515 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6516 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6517 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6518 50), hide the cited text.
6520 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6521 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6522 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6527 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6528 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6529 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6530 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6531 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6532 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6536 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6537 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6538 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6540 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6541 citation customization.
6543 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6547 @node Article Washing
6548 @subsection Article Washing
6550 @cindex article washing
6552 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6553 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6555 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6556 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6562 @kindex W l (Summary)
6563 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6564 Remove page breaks from the current article
6565 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6569 @kindex W r (Summary)
6570 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6571 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6572 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6573 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6574 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6575 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6577 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6578 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6579 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6580 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6583 @kindex W t (Summary)
6584 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6585 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6586 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6589 @kindex W v (Summary)
6590 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6591 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6592 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6595 @kindex W m (Summary)
6596 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6597 Toggle whether to display the article as @sc{mime} message
6598 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6601 @kindex W o (Summary)
6602 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6603 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6606 @kindex W d (Summary)
6607 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6608 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6610 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6612 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6613 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6614 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6615 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6619 @kindex W w (Summary)
6620 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6621 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6622 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6623 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6625 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6629 @kindex W c (Summary)
6630 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6631 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6632 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6633 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6634 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6637 @kindex W f (Summary)
6639 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6640 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6641 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6642 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6648 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6649 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6650 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6651 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6652 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6653 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6654 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6655 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6656 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6657 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6658 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6659 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6660 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6661 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6665 @kindex W b (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6667 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6668 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6671 @kindex W B (Summary)
6672 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6673 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6674 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6677 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6679 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6680 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6683 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6684 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6685 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6686 lines with a single empty line.
6687 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6690 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6691 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6692 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6693 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6696 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6698 Do all the three commands above
6699 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6702 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6703 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6704 Remove all blank lines
6705 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6708 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6710 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6711 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6714 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6715 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6716 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6717 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6721 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6724 @node Article Buttons
6725 @subsection Article Buttons
6728 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6729 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6730 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6731 button on these references.
6733 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6734 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6735 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6740 @item gnus-button-alist
6741 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6742 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6745 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6751 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6752 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6753 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6756 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6757 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6758 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6761 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6762 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6763 avoid false matches.
6766 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6769 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6770 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6774 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6777 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6780 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6781 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6782 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6783 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6784 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6787 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6790 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6792 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6793 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6794 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6795 default values of the variables above.
6797 @item gnus-article-button-face
6798 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6799 Face used on buttons.
6801 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6802 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6803 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6807 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6811 @subsection Article Date
6813 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6814 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6815 when the article was sent.
6820 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6821 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6822 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6823 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6826 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6827 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6829 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6830 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6833 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6834 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6835 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6838 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6839 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6840 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6841 @findex format-time-string
6842 Display the date using a user-defined format
6843 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6844 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6845 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6846 for a list of possible format specs.
6849 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6850 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6851 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6852 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6853 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6854 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6855 updated continually, you can put
6858 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6861 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6862 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6866 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6867 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6868 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6869 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6870 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6871 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6872 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6876 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6877 preferred format automatically.
6880 @node Article Signature
6881 @subsection Article Signature
6883 @cindex article signature
6885 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6886 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6887 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6888 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6889 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6890 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6891 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6892 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6893 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6896 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6897 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6898 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6899 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6900 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6901 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6902 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6903 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6906 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6909 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6910 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6915 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6918 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6921 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6922 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6924 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6925 in question is not a signature.
6928 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6929 listed above. Here's an example:
6932 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6933 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6936 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6937 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6938 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6939 signature after all.
6943 @section MIME Commands
6944 @cindex MIME decoding
6948 @kindex M-t (Summary)
6949 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
6950 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
6951 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
6954 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6955 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6956 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6959 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6960 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6961 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6963 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6964 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6965 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6966 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6967 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6968 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6971 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6972 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6973 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6980 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6981 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
6982 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6983 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
6986 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
6989 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
6993 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6994 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6995 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6996 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
6997 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
6999 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7000 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7001 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7002 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7003 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7004 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7005 save all jpegs into some directory).
7007 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7010 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7011 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7013 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7014 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7015 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7016 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7017 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7023 @node Article Commands
7024 @section Article Commands
7031 @kindex A P (Summary)
7032 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7033 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7034 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7035 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7036 run just before printing the buffer.
7041 @node Summary Sorting
7042 @section Summary Sorting
7043 @cindex summary sorting
7045 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7046 can't really see why you'd want that.
7051 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7052 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7053 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7056 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7057 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7058 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7061 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7063 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7066 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7067 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7068 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7071 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7072 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7073 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7076 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7077 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7078 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7081 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7082 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7083 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7084 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7085 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7089 @node Finding the Parent
7090 @section Finding the Parent
7091 @cindex parent articles
7092 @cindex referring articles
7097 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7098 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7099 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7100 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7101 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7102 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7103 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7104 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7105 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7107 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7108 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7109 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7110 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7111 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7115 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7116 @kindex A R (Summary)
7117 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7118 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7121 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7122 @kindex A T (Summary)
7123 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7124 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7125 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7126 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7127 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7128 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7129 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7131 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7132 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7133 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7134 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7135 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7136 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7139 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7140 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7142 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7143 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7144 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7145 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7146 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7147 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7148 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7151 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7152 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7153 by giving this command a prefix.
7155 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7156 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7157 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7158 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7159 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7160 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7163 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7164 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7165 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7166 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7167 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7168 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7171 @node Alternative Approaches
7172 @section Alternative Approaches
7174 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7175 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7178 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7179 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7184 @subsection Pick and Read
7185 @cindex pick and read
7187 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7188 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7189 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7190 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7192 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7193 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7194 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7195 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7196 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7197 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7199 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7204 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7205 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7206 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7207 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7208 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7209 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7210 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7211 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7214 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7215 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7216 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7217 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7221 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7222 Unpick the thread or article
7223 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7224 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7225 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7226 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7227 the thread or article at that line.
7231 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7232 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7233 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7234 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7235 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7236 will still be visible when you are reading.
7240 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7241 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7242 which is mapped to the same function
7243 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7245 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7248 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7251 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7252 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7254 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7255 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7256 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7258 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7259 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7260 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7261 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7262 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7263 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7264 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7268 @subsection Binary Groups
7269 @cindex binary groups
7271 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7272 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7273 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7274 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7275 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7276 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7277 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7280 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7281 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7282 command, when you have turned on this mode
7283 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7285 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7286 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7290 @section Tree Display
7293 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7294 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7295 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7296 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7299 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7302 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7303 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7304 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7306 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7307 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7308 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7309 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7310 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7312 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7313 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7314 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7315 default is @code{modeline}.
7317 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7318 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7319 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7320 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7321 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7322 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7323 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7329 The name of the poster.
7331 The @code{From} header.
7333 The number of the article.
7335 The opening bracket.
7337 The closing bracket.
7342 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7344 Variables related to the display are:
7347 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7348 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7349 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7350 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7351 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7352 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7354 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7355 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7356 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7357 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7361 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7362 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7363 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7364 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7365 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7366 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7367 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7368 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7369 other windows displayed next to it.
7371 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7372 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7373 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7374 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7375 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7376 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7377 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7381 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7384 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7394 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7398 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7399 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7401 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7403 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7408 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7409 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7410 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7413 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7414 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7415 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7416 (gnus-add-configuration
7420 (summary 0.75 point)
7425 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7428 @node Mail Group Commands
7429 @section Mail Group Commands
7430 @cindex mail group commands
7432 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7433 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7435 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7436 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7441 @kindex B e (Summary)
7442 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7443 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7444 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7447 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7448 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7449 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7450 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7451 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7452 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7455 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7456 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7457 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7458 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7459 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7460 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7463 @kindex B m (Summary)
7465 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7466 Move the article from one mail group to another
7467 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7470 @kindex B c (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7473 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7474 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7475 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7478 @kindex B B (Summary)
7479 @cindex crosspost mail
7480 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7481 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7482 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7483 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7484 be properly updated.
7487 @kindex B i (Summary)
7488 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7489 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7490 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7491 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7494 @kindex B r (Summary)
7495 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7496 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7497 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7498 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7499 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7503 @kindex B w (Summary)
7505 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7506 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7507 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7508 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7509 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7510 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7513 @kindex B q (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7515 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7516 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7517 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7520 @kindex B t (Summary)
7521 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7522 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7523 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7526 @kindex B p (Summary)
7527 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7528 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7529 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7530 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7531 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7532 article from your news server (or rather, from
7533 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7534 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7535 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7536 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7537 just not have arrived yet.
7541 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7542 @cindex moving articles
7543 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7544 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7545 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7546 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7547 suggestions you find reasonable.
7550 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7551 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7552 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7553 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7557 @node Various Summary Stuff
7558 @section Various Summary Stuff
7561 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7562 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7563 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7564 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7568 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7569 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7570 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7572 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7573 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7574 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7575 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7576 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7577 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7580 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7581 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7582 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7583 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7584 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7586 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7587 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7588 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7591 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7592 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7593 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7594 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7595 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7596 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7597 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7598 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7599 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7600 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7605 @node Summary Group Information
7606 @subsection Summary Group Information
7611 @kindex H f (Summary)
7612 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7613 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7614 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7615 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7616 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7617 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7618 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7619 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7620 be used for fetching the file.
7623 @kindex H d (Summary)
7624 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7625 Give a brief description of the current group
7626 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7627 rereading the description from the server.
7630 @kindex H h (Summary)
7631 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7632 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7633 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7636 @kindex H i (Summary)
7637 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7638 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7642 @node Searching for Articles
7643 @subsection Searching for Articles
7648 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7649 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7650 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7651 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7654 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7655 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7656 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7657 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7661 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7662 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7663 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7664 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7668 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7670 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7671 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7674 @node Summary Generation Commands
7675 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7680 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7681 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7682 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7685 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7686 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7687 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7688 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7693 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7694 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7699 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7700 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7701 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7702 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7703 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7704 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7705 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7706 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7707 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7711 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7712 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7713 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7714 several documents into one biiig group
7715 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7716 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7717 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7718 command understands the process/prefix convention
7719 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7722 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7723 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7724 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7725 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7726 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7727 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7731 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7732 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7733 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7736 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7737 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7738 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7739 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7742 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7743 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7744 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7745 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7750 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7751 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7752 @cindex summary exit
7753 @cindex exiting groups
7755 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7756 group and return you to the group buffer.
7762 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7764 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7765 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7766 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7767 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7768 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7769 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7770 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7771 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7772 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7773 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7774 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7778 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7780 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7781 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7782 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7786 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7788 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7789 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7790 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7791 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7794 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7795 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7796 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7797 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7800 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7801 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7802 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7803 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7806 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7807 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7808 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7809 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7810 all articles, both read and unread.
7814 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7815 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7816 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7817 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7818 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7819 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7820 articles, both read and unread.
7823 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7824 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7825 Exit the group and go to the next group
7826 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7829 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7830 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7831 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7832 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7835 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7836 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7837 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7838 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7839 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7840 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7843 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7844 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7847 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7848 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7849 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7850 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7851 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7852 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7853 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7854 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7855 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7856 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7857 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7858 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7860 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7862 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7863 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7864 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7865 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7866 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7867 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7868 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7869 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7870 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7873 @node Crosspost Handling
7874 @section Crosspost Handling
7878 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7879 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7880 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7881 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7882 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7883 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7886 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7887 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7888 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7889 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7890 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7892 @cindex cross-posting
7895 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7896 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7897 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7898 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7899 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7900 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7901 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7902 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7903 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7904 the cross reference mechanism.
7906 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7907 @cindex overview.fmt
7908 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7909 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7910 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7911 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7912 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7913 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7916 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7917 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7918 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7923 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7926 @node Duplicate Suppression
7927 @section Duplicate Suppression
7929 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7930 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7931 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7932 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7937 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7938 is evil and not very common.
7941 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7942 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7945 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7946 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7949 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7952 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7953 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7955 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7956 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7957 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7958 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7959 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7960 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7961 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7964 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7965 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7966 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7967 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7968 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7972 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7973 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7974 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7976 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7977 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7978 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7979 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7980 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
7981 session are suppressed.
7983 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7984 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7985 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7986 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7988 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7989 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7990 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7991 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7994 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
7995 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7996 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7997 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7998 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
7999 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8000 to you to figure out, I think.
8003 @node The Article Buffer
8004 @chapter The Article Buffer
8005 @cindex article buffer
8007 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8008 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8009 tell gnus otherwise.
8012 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8013 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
8014 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8015 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8016 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8020 @node Hiding Headers
8021 @section Hiding Headers
8022 @cindex hiding headers
8023 @cindex deleting headers
8025 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8026 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8028 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8029 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8030 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8031 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8032 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8033 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8034 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8035 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8036 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8038 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8042 @item gnus-visible-headers
8043 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8044 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8045 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8046 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8048 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8049 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8052 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8055 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8058 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8059 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8060 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8061 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8062 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8063 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8065 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
8066 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
8069 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8072 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8075 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8076 variable will have no effect.
8080 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8081 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8082 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8083 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8084 the headers are to be displayed.
8086 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8087 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8090 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8093 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8094 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8096 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8097 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8098 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8099 You can hide further boring headers by entering
8100 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
8101 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
8102 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
8103 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
8104 @dfn{boring conditions} that gnus can check and remove from sight.
8106 These conditions are:
8109 Remove all empty headers.
8111 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8112 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8114 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8117 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8120 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8123 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8125 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8128 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8131 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8132 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8135 This is also the default value for this variable.
8139 @section Using @sc{mime}
8142 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8143 while people stand around yawning.
8145 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8146 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8148 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8149 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8150 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8152 @vindex gnus-show-mime
8153 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
8154 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
8155 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
8156 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
8157 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
8158 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
8159 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
8160 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
8161 existed yet, sorry).
8163 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
8164 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
8165 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
8166 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
8167 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
8168 buffer. These can't be avoided.
8170 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
8171 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
8172 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
8173 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
8174 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
8175 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
8176 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
8177 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
8178 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
8181 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8183 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
8184 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
8185 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
8186 buffer when there are nobody else.
8189 @node Customizing Articles
8190 @section Customizing Articles
8191 @cindex article customization
8193 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8194 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
8195 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
8196 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
8198 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8199 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
8200 By default this hook just contains
8201 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
8202 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
8203 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
8204 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
8205 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
8206 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
8207 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
8208 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
8209 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
8211 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
8212 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
8213 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
8214 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8215 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8218 @node Article Keymap
8219 @section Article Keymap
8221 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8222 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8223 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8224 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8227 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8232 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8233 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8234 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8237 @kindex DEL (Article)
8238 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8239 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8242 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8243 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8244 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8245 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8246 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8249 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8250 @findex gnus-article-mail
8251 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8252 given a prefix, include the mail.
8256 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8257 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8258 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8262 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8263 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8264 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8267 @kindex TAB (Article)
8268 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8269 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8270 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8273 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8274 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8275 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8281 @section Misc Article
8285 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8286 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8287 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8288 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8291 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8292 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8294 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8295 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8297 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8298 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8299 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8300 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8301 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8302 the contents of the article buffer.
8304 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8305 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8306 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8307 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8308 hiding headers, and the like.
8310 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8311 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8312 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8314 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8315 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8316 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8317 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8319 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8320 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8321 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8322 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8323 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8328 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8329 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8332 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8335 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8337 @item gnus-break-pages
8338 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8339 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8340 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8341 paging will not be done.
8343 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8344 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8345 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8350 @node Composing Messages
8351 @chapter Composing Messages
8352 @cindex composing messages
8355 @cindex sending mail
8360 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8361 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8362 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8363 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8364 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8365 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8366 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8369 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8370 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8371 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8372 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8373 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8374 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8375 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8376 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8379 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8380 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8386 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8389 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8390 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8391 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8392 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8394 @item gnus-add-to-list
8395 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8396 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8397 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8405 Variables for composing news articles:
8408 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8409 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8410 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8411 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8412 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8413 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8414 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8415 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8416 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8419 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8420 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8421 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8422 file. It is 1000 by default.
8427 @node Posting Server
8428 @section Posting Server
8430 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8431 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8433 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8435 @vindex gnus-post-method
8437 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8438 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8439 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8440 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8441 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8444 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8447 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8448 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8449 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8450 the ``current'' server for posting.
8452 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8453 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8455 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8456 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8459 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8460 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8461 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8466 @section Mail and Post
8468 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8472 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8473 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8474 @cindex mailing lists
8476 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8477 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8478 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8479 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8480 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8481 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8482 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8483 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8484 still a pain, though.
8488 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8489 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8490 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8493 @findex ispell-message
8495 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8499 @node Archived Messages
8500 @section Archived Messages
8501 @cindex archived messages
8502 @cindex sent messages
8504 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8505 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8506 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8507 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8510 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8511 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8512 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8516 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8517 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8518 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8519 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8522 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8523 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8524 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8525 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8528 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8529 '(nnfolder "archive"
8530 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8531 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8532 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8535 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8537 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8538 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8539 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8541 This variable can be used to do the following:
8545 Messages will be saved in that group.
8546 @item a list of strings
8547 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8548 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8549 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8551 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8556 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8558 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8561 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8563 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8566 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8568 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8569 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8570 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8571 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8576 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8577 '((if (message-news-p)
8582 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8583 messages in one file per month:
8586 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8587 '((if (message-news-p)
8589 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8590 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8593 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8594 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8596 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8597 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8598 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8599 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8600 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8601 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8602 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8603 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8604 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8605 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8607 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8608 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8609 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8610 this will disable archiving.
8613 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8614 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8615 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8616 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8617 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8620 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8621 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8622 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8625 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8626 but the latter is the preferred method.
8630 @node Posting Styles
8631 @section Posting Styles
8632 @cindex posting styles
8635 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8637 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8638 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8639 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8642 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8643 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8644 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8645 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8646 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8651 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8652 (organization "What me?"))
8654 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8655 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8656 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8659 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8660 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8661 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8662 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8663 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8664 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8665 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8666 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8668 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8669 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8670 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8671 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8672 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8673 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8676 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8677 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8678 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8679 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8680 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8681 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8684 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8685 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8686 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8688 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8689 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8690 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8691 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8693 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8694 @vindex message-this-is-news
8696 So here's a new example:
8699 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8701 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8703 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8704 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8706 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8707 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8708 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8709 (message-this-is-news
8710 (signature my-news-signature))
8711 (posting-from-work-p
8712 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8713 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8714 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8715 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8717 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8725 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8726 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8727 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8728 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8729 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8731 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8732 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8733 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8734 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8735 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8739 @vindex nndraft-directory
8740 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8741 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8742 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8743 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8744 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8745 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8747 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8748 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8751 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8752 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8753 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8754 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8755 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8756 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8757 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8758 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8759 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8760 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8761 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8762 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8763 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8764 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8766 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8767 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8768 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8770 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8772 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8773 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8774 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8776 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8779 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8780 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8781 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8782 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8783 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8784 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8785 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8788 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8789 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8790 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8793 @node Rejected Articles
8794 @section Rejected Articles
8795 @cindex rejected articles
8797 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8798 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8799 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8800 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8802 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
8803 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8804 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8805 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
8806 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8808 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8809 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8810 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8813 @node Select Methods
8814 @chapter Select Methods
8815 @cindex foreign groups
8816 @cindex select methods
8818 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8819 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8820 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8821 personal mail group.
8823 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8824 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8825 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8826 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8827 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8828 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8830 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8831 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8833 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8836 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8837 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8838 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8839 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8840 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8842 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8845 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8846 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8847 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8848 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8849 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8850 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8854 @node The Server Buffer
8855 @section The Server Buffer
8857 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8858 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8859 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8860 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8861 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8862 backend represents a virtual server.
8864 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8865 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8866 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8867 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8869 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8870 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8871 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8872 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8873 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8874 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8875 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8877 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8878 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8881 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8882 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8883 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8884 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8885 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8886 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8887 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8890 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8891 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8894 @node Server Buffer Format
8895 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8896 @cindex server buffer format
8898 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8899 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8900 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8901 variable, with some simple extensions:
8906 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8909 The name of this server.
8912 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8915 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8918 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8919 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8920 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8921 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8931 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8934 @node Server Commands
8935 @subsection Server Commands
8936 @cindex server commands
8942 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8943 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8947 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8948 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8951 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8952 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8953 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8957 @findex gnus-server-exit
8958 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8962 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8963 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8967 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8968 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8972 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8973 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8977 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8978 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8982 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8983 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8984 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8989 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8990 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8991 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8992 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8997 @node Example Methods
8998 @subsection Example Methods
9000 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9003 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9006 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9012 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9013 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9016 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9017 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9019 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9020 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9024 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9027 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9028 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9030 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9031 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9032 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9036 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9039 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9042 Here's the method for a public spool:
9046 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9047 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9050 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9051 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9052 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9053 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9054 should probably look something like this:
9058 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9059 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9060 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9061 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9062 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9065 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9066 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9067 server that would look something like this:
9071 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9072 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9073 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9074 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9075 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9076 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9079 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9080 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9081 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9082 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9085 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9086 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9088 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9089 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9091 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9092 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9093 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9095 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9097 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9098 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9099 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9100 will contain the following:
9110 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9111 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9112 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9115 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9116 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9117 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9120 @node Server Variables
9121 @subsection Server Variables
9123 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9124 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9125 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9126 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9127 won't change the "derived" variables.
9129 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9130 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9131 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9132 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9133 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9134 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9135 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9136 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9137 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9141 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9142 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9143 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9147 @node Servers and Methods
9148 @subsection Servers and Methods
9150 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9151 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9152 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9153 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9157 @node Unavailable Servers
9158 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9160 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9161 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9162 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9163 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9164 actually the case or not.
9166 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9167 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9168 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9169 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9170 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9171 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9172 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9173 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9175 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9176 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9178 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9179 with the following commands:
9185 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9186 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9187 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9191 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9192 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9193 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9197 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9198 Mark the current server as unreachable
9199 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9202 @kindex M-o (Server)
9203 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9204 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9205 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9208 @kindex M-c (Server)
9209 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9210 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9211 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9215 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9216 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9217 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9223 @section Getting News
9224 @cindex reading news
9225 @cindex news backends
9227 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9228 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9229 or it can read from a local spool.
9232 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9233 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9238 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9241 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9242 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9243 server as the, uhm, address.
9245 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9246 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9247 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9248 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9250 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9251 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9252 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9254 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9259 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9260 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9261 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9263 @cindex authentification
9264 @cindex nntp authentification
9265 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9266 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9267 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9268 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9269 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9270 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9271 present in this hook.
9273 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9274 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9275 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9276 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9277 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9278 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9279 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9280 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9281 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9282 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9283 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9284 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9288 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9291 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9292 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9293 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9294 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9295 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9300 Here's an example file:
9303 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9304 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9307 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9308 have to be first, for instance.
9310 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9311 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9312 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9313 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9314 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9315 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9316 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9318 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9319 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9325 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9326 previously mentioned.
9328 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9330 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9331 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9332 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9333 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9334 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9337 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9341 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9343 The default value is
9346 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9347 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9350 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9351 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9353 @item nntp-maximum-request
9354 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9355 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9356 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9357 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9358 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9359 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9360 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9362 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9363 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9364 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9365 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9366 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9367 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9368 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9369 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9370 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9371 no timeouts are done.
9373 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9374 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9375 @c @cindex PPP connections
9376 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9377 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9378 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9379 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9380 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9381 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9382 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9383 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9384 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9385 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9387 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9388 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9389 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9390 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9393 @item nntp-server-hook
9394 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9395 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9398 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9399 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9400 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9401 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9402 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9403 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9404 functions are supplied:
9407 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9408 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9411 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9412 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9413 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9416 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9420 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9421 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9422 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9423 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9425 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9426 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9427 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9429 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9430 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9431 User name on the remote system.
9435 @item nntp-open-telnet
9436 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9437 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9439 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9442 @item nntp-telnet-command
9443 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9444 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9446 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9447 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9448 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9450 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9451 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9452 User name for log in on the remote system.
9454 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9455 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9456 Password to use when logging in.
9458 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9459 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9460 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9463 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9464 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9465 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9466 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9468 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9469 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9470 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9471 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9472 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9476 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9477 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9478 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9479 you must have SSLay installed
9480 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9481 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9482 define a server as follows:
9485 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9487 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9489 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9490 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9491 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9492 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9497 @item nntp-end-of-line
9498 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9499 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9500 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9501 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9503 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9504 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9505 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9509 @vindex nntp-address
9510 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9512 @item nntp-port-number
9513 @vindex nntp-port-number
9514 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9517 @item nntp-buggy-select
9518 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9519 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9521 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9522 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9523 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9524 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9527 @item nntp-xover-commands
9528 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9531 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9532 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9536 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9537 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9538 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9539 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9540 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9541 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9542 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9543 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9544 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9545 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9546 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9548 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9549 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9550 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9552 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9553 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9554 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9555 server closes connection.
9557 @item nntp-record-commands
9558 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9559 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9560 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9561 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9562 that doesn't seem to work.
9568 @subsection News Spool
9572 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9573 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9574 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9577 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9578 anything else) as the address.
9580 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9581 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9582 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9583 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9587 @item nnspool-inews-program
9588 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9589 Program used to post an article.
9591 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9592 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9593 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9595 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9596 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9597 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9598 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9600 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9601 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9602 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9603 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9605 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9606 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9607 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9609 @item nnspool-active-file
9610 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9611 The path to the active file.
9613 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9614 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9615 The path to the group descriptions file.
9617 @item nnspool-history-file
9618 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9619 The path to the news history file.
9621 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9622 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9623 The path to the active date file.
9625 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9626 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9627 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9630 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9631 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9633 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9634 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9635 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9641 @section Getting Mail
9642 @cindex reading mail
9645 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9649 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9650 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9651 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9652 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9653 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9654 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9655 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9656 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9657 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9658 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9659 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9663 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9664 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9666 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9667 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9668 and things will happen automatically.
9670 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9671 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9674 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9675 '((nnml "private")))
9678 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9679 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9680 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9681 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9682 like any other group.
9684 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9687 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9688 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9689 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9693 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9694 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9695 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9698 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9699 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9700 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9703 @node Splitting Mail
9704 @subsection Splitting Mail
9705 @cindex splitting mail
9706 @cindex mail splitting
9708 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9709 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9710 to be split into groups.
9713 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9714 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9715 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9719 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9720 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9721 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9722 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9723 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9724 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9725 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9728 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9731 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9732 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9733 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9734 mail belongs in that group.
9736 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9737 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9738 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9739 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9740 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9741 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9743 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9744 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9745 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9746 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9747 thinks should carry this mail message.
9749 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9750 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9751 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9752 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9754 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9755 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9756 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9757 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9758 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9760 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9763 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9764 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9765 links. If that's the case for you, set
9766 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9767 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9769 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9770 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9771 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9772 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9774 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9775 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9776 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9777 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9778 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9779 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9780 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9781 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9785 @node Mail Backend Variables
9786 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9788 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9792 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9793 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9794 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9795 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9797 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9798 @item nnmail-spool-file
9802 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9803 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9804 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9805 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9806 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9807 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9808 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9809 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9810 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9811 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9812 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9813 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9814 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9815 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9816 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9818 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9820 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9821 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9824 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9825 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9826 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9827 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9828 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9829 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9831 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9832 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9833 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9834 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9835 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9836 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9837 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9840 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9841 @item nnmail-crash-box
9842 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9843 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9844 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9847 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9848 @item nnmail-split-hook
9849 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
9850 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9851 @findex RFC2047 decoding
9852 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9853 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9854 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9855 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9856 in the buffer will show up in any files.
9857 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
9860 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9861 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9862 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9863 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9864 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9865 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9866 starting to handle the new mail) and
9867 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9868 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9869 default file modes the new mail files get:
9872 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9873 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9875 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9876 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9879 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9880 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9881 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9882 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9883 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9884 it will be used instead.
9886 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9887 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9888 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9889 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9891 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9892 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9895 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9896 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9897 @cindex incoming mail files
9898 @cindex deleting incoming files
9899 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9900 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9903 @c This is @code{nil} by
9904 @c default for reasons of security.
9906 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9907 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9908 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9909 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9910 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9913 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9915 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9916 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9917 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9918 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9919 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9920 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9921 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9923 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9924 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9926 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9928 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9929 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9930 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9931 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9932 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9937 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9938 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9939 @cindex mail splitting
9940 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9942 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9943 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9944 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9945 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9946 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9947 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9949 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9952 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9953 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9954 ;; from real errors.
9955 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9957 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9958 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9959 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9960 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9961 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9962 ;; Other mailing lists...
9963 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9964 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9966 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9967 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9971 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9972 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9973 the five possible split syntaxes:
9978 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9979 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9983 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9984 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9985 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9988 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9989 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9990 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9991 be stored in one or more groups.
9994 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9995 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9998 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9999 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10002 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10003 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10004 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10008 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10012 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10013 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10014 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10015 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10016 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10018 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10019 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10020 are expanded as specified by the variable
10021 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10022 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10025 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10026 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10027 when all this splitting is performed.
10029 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10030 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10031 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10034 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10037 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10038 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10039 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10040 groupings 1 through 9.
10043 @node Mail and Procmail
10044 @subsection Mail and Procmail
10049 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
10050 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
10051 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
10052 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
10053 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
10055 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
10056 something like the following:
10058 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
10060 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
10061 (setq nnmail-spool-file
10062 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
10065 This also means that you probably don't want to set
10066 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
10069 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
10070 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
10071 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
10072 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
10073 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
10074 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
10076 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
10079 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
10081 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
10082 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
10084 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
10085 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
10086 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
10087 to include all your mail groups.
10089 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
10090 method will be created automatically.
10092 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
10093 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
10094 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
10095 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
10096 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
10097 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
10098 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
10099 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
10101 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
10102 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
10103 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
10104 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
10105 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
10107 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10108 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
10109 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
10110 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
10111 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
10112 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
10114 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
10115 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
10116 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
10117 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
10118 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
10121 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
10122 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
10123 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
10124 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
10125 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
10129 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10130 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10132 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10133 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10134 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10137 Doing so can be quite easy.
10139 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10140 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10141 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10142 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10143 your @code{nnml} groups.
10149 Go to the group buffer.
10152 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10153 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10156 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10159 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10160 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10163 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10164 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10167 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10168 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10169 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10170 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10171 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10173 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10174 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10175 using the new mail backend.
10178 @node Expiring Mail
10179 @subsection Expiring Mail
10180 @cindex article expiry
10182 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10183 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10184 different approach to mail reading.
10186 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10187 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10188 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10189 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10190 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10191 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10194 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10195 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10196 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10197 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10198 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10199 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10200 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10201 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10203 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10204 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10205 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10206 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10207 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10208 column in the summary buffer.
10210 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10211 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10212 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10213 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10216 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10218 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10219 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10220 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10223 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10224 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10225 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10226 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10227 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10229 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10230 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10233 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10234 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10237 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10238 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10240 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10241 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10242 don't really mix very well.
10244 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10245 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10246 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10247 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10250 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10251 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10252 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10253 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10256 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10258 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10260 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10262 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10264 ((string= group "important")
10270 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10271 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10273 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10274 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10275 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10278 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10279 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10281 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10282 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10283 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10284 easier for procmail users.
10286 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10287 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10288 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10289 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10290 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10291 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10292 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10293 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10294 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10295 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10296 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10297 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10298 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10301 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10303 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10304 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10305 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10306 auto-expire turned on.
10310 @subsection Washing Mail
10311 @cindex mail washing
10312 @cindex list server brain damage
10313 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10315 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10316 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10317 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10318 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10319 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10320 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10322 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10323 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10324 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10327 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10328 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10329 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10330 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10333 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10334 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10335 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10336 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10337 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10340 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10341 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10342 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10343 Emacs running on MS machines.
10347 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10348 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10349 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10350 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10353 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10354 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10355 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10356 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10358 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10359 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10360 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10361 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10362 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10363 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10364 also be a list of regexp.
10366 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10367 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10370 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10371 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10374 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10375 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10376 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10380 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10381 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10382 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10386 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10387 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10388 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10395 @subsection Duplicates
10397 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10398 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10399 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10400 @cindex duplicate mails
10401 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10402 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10403 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10404 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10405 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10406 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10407 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10408 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10409 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10410 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10411 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10412 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10413 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10415 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10416 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10417 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10418 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10420 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10423 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10424 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10428 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10429 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10430 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10431 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10432 (any mail "mail.misc")
10439 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10440 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10445 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10446 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10447 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10448 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10449 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10452 @node Not Reading Mail
10453 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10455 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10456 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10457 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10459 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10460 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10462 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10463 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10464 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10465 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10466 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10467 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10468 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10469 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10470 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10471 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10472 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10474 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10475 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10479 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10480 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10482 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10483 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10484 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10487 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10488 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10489 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10490 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10491 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10495 @node Unix Mail Box
10496 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10498 @cindex unix mail box
10500 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10501 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10502 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10503 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10504 which group it belongs in.
10506 Virtual server settings:
10509 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10510 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10511 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10513 @item nnmbox-active-file
10514 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10515 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10517 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10518 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10519 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10525 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10529 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10530 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10531 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10532 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10533 article to say which group it belongs in.
10535 Virtual server settings:
10538 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10539 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10540 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10542 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10543 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10544 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10546 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10547 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10548 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10553 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10555 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10557 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10558 format. It should be used with some caution.
10560 @vindex nnml-directory
10561 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10562 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10563 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10564 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10566 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10569 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10570 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10571 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10572 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10573 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10574 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10575 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10576 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10578 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10579 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10580 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10581 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10583 Virtual server settings:
10586 @item nnml-directory
10587 @vindex nnml-directory
10588 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10590 @item nnml-active-file
10591 @vindex nnml-active-file
10592 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10594 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10595 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10596 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10599 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10600 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10601 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10603 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10604 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10605 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10607 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10608 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10609 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10611 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10612 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10613 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10617 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10618 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10619 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10620 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10621 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10622 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10623 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10628 @subsubsection MH Spool
10630 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10632 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10633 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10634 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10635 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10637 Virtual server settings:
10640 @item nnmh-directory
10641 @vindex nnmh-directory
10642 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10644 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10645 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10646 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10649 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10650 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10651 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10652 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10653 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10654 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10655 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10660 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10662 @cindex mbox folders
10663 @cindex mail folders
10665 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10666 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10667 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10670 Virtual server settings:
10673 @item nnfolder-directory
10674 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10675 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10677 @item nnfolder-active-file
10678 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10679 The name of the active file.
10681 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10682 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10683 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10685 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10686 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10687 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10689 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10690 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10691 @cindex backup files
10692 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10693 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10694 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10695 your @file{.emacs} file:
10698 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10699 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10701 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10704 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10705 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10706 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10707 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10708 extract some information from it before removing it.
10713 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10714 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10715 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10716 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10717 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10718 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10721 @node Other Sources
10722 @section Other Sources
10724 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10725 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10729 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10730 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10731 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10732 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10733 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10734 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10738 @node Directory Groups
10739 @subsection Directory Groups
10741 @cindex directory groups
10743 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10744 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10747 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10748 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10749 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10750 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10752 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10753 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10754 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10755 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10756 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10758 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10760 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10761 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10762 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10763 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10766 @node Anything Groups
10767 @subsection Anything Groups
10770 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10771 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10772 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10775 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10776 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10777 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10778 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10779 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10780 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10781 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10782 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10783 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10784 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10787 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10788 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10789 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10790 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10792 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10793 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10794 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10795 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10797 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10798 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10799 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10800 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10801 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10802 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10803 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10804 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10809 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10810 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10811 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10812 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10814 @item nneething-exclude-files
10815 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10816 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10817 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10819 @item nneething-include-files
10820 @vindex nneething-include-files
10821 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
10822 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
10824 @item nneething-map-file
10825 @vindex nneething-map-file
10826 Name of the map files.
10830 @node Document Groups
10831 @subsection Document Groups
10833 @cindex documentation group
10836 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10837 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10844 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10849 The standard Unix mbox file.
10851 @cindex MMDF mail box
10853 The MMDF mail box format.
10856 Several news articles appended into a file.
10859 @cindex rnews batch files
10860 The rnews batch transport format.
10861 @cindex forwarded messages
10864 Forwarded articles.
10867 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10871 @cindex MIME digest
10872 @cindex 1153 digest
10873 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10874 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10875 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10877 @item standard-digest
10878 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10881 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10884 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10885 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10886 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10889 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10890 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10891 group. And that's it.
10893 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10894 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10895 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10896 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10897 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10898 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10899 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10900 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10901 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10902 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10904 Virtual server variables:
10907 @item nndoc-article-type
10908 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10909 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10910 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10911 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10912 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10915 @item nndoc-post-type
10916 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10917 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10918 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10923 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10927 @node Document Server Internals
10928 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10930 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10931 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10932 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10933 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10935 First, here's an example document type definition:
10939 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10940 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10943 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10944 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10945 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10946 types can be defined with very few settings:
10949 @item first-article
10950 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10951 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10954 @item article-begin
10955 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10956 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10958 @item head-begin-function
10959 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10962 @item nndoc-head-begin
10963 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10966 @item nndoc-head-end
10967 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10968 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10970 @item body-begin-function
10971 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10975 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10978 @item body-end-function
10979 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10983 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10986 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10987 regexp will be totally ignored.
10991 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10992 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10993 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10994 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10995 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10998 @item prepare-body-function
10999 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11000 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11001 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11003 @item article-transform-function
11004 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11005 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11006 body of the article.
11008 @item generate-head-function
11009 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11010 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11011 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11012 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11016 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11021 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11022 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11023 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11024 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11025 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11026 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11027 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11028 (subtype digest guess))
11031 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11032 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11033 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11034 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11035 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11037 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11038 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11039 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11040 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11041 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
11042 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11043 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11044 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11045 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11046 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11054 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11055 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11056 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11058 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11059 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11060 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11063 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11064 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11065 that interested in doing things properly.
11067 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11068 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11071 First some terminology:
11076 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11077 get news and/or mail from.
11080 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11081 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11084 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11088 @item message packets
11089 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11090 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11091 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11093 @item response packets
11094 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11095 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11096 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11106 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11107 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11108 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11109 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11112 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11115 You put the packet in your home directory.
11118 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11119 the native or secondary server.
11122 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11123 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11126 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11130 You transfer this packet to the server.
11133 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11136 You then repeat until you die.
11140 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11141 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11144 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11145 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11146 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11150 @node SOUP Commands
11151 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11153 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11157 @kindex G s b (Group)
11158 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11159 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11160 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11161 process/prefix convention.
11164 @kindex G s w (Group)
11165 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11166 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11169 @kindex G s s (Group)
11170 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11171 Send all replies from the replies packet
11172 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11175 @kindex G s p (Group)
11176 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11177 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11180 @kindex G s r (Group)
11181 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11182 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11185 @kindex O s (Summary)
11186 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11187 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11188 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11189 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11194 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11199 @item gnus-soup-directory
11200 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11201 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11202 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11204 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11205 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11206 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11207 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11209 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11210 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11211 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11212 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11214 @item gnus-soup-packer
11215 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11216 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11217 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11219 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11220 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11221 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11222 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11224 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11225 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11226 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11228 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11229 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11230 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11231 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11237 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11240 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11241 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11242 you can read them at leisure.
11244 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11248 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11249 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11250 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11251 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11253 @item nnsoup-directory
11254 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11255 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11256 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11258 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11259 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11260 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11261 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11263 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11264 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11265 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11266 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11267 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11269 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11270 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11271 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11272 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11274 @item nnsoup-active-file
11275 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11276 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11277 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11278 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11279 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11281 @item nnsoup-packer
11282 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11283 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11284 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11286 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11287 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11288 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11289 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11291 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11292 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11293 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11296 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11297 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11298 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11301 @item nnsoup-always-save
11302 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11303 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11309 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11311 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11312 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11313 more for that to happen.
11315 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11316 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11317 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11320 In specific, this is what it does:
11323 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11324 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11327 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11328 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11329 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11333 @subsection Web Searches
11337 @cindex InReference
11338 @cindex Usenet searches
11339 @cindex searching the Usenet
11341 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11342 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11343 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11344 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11345 searches without having to use a browser.
11347 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11348 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11349 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11350 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11351 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11353 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11354 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11355 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11356 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11357 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11358 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11359 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11360 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11361 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11362 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11365 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11366 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11367 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11368 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11369 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11370 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11372 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11373 to use @code{nnweb}.
11375 Virtual server variables:
11380 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11381 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11385 @vindex nnweb-search
11386 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11388 @item nnweb-max-hits
11389 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11390 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11393 @item nnweb-type-definition
11394 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11395 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11396 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11401 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11405 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11408 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11411 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11415 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11422 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11423 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11424 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11427 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11428 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11429 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11431 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11437 @item nngateway-address
11438 @vindex nngateway-address
11439 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11441 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11442 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11443 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11444 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11445 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11446 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11447 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11450 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11451 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11452 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11455 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11458 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11461 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11464 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11466 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11469 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11470 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11471 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11473 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11475 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11476 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11477 @code{nngateway-address}.
11482 (setq gnus-post-method
11483 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11484 (nngateway-header-transformation
11485 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11493 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11496 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11500 @node Combined Groups
11501 @section Combined Groups
11503 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11507 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11508 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11512 @node Virtual Groups
11513 @subsection Virtual Groups
11515 @cindex virtual groups
11516 @cindex merging groups
11518 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11521 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11522 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11523 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11525 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11526 regexp to match component groups.
11528 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11529 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11530 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11531 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11532 the virtual group.)
11534 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11535 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11538 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11541 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11542 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11544 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11545 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11546 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11547 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11550 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11553 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11554 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11555 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11557 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11558 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11559 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11560 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11561 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11563 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11564 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11565 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11567 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11568 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11569 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11570 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11571 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11572 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11573 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11574 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11575 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11576 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11577 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11579 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11580 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11581 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11582 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11583 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11584 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11585 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11587 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11588 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11592 @node Kibozed Groups
11593 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11597 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11598 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11599 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11600 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11602 @kindex G k (Group)
11603 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11606 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11607 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11608 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11609 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11611 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11612 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11613 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11615 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11616 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11617 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11618 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11619 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11620 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11621 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11622 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11624 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11625 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11626 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11627 Stranger things have happened.
11629 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11630 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11632 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11633 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11634 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11635 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11636 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11637 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11639 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11640 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11643 @node Gnus Unplugged
11644 @section Gnus Unplugged
11649 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11651 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11652 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11653 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11654 read news. Believe it or not.
11656 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11657 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11658 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11659 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11660 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11662 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11663 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11664 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11665 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11666 reading news on a machine.
11668 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11672 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11673 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11677 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11678 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11685 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11687 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11690 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11691 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11692 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11693 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11694 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11695 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11696 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11697 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11698 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11703 @subsection Agent Basics
11705 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11707 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11708 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11709 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11710 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11712 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11713 connected to the net continuously.
11715 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11716 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11718 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11723 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11724 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11725 already fetched while in this mode.
11728 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11729 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11730 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11733 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11734 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11735 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11736 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11739 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11740 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11741 then you read the news offline.
11744 And then you go to step 2.
11747 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11753 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11754 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11755 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11756 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11757 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11758 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11761 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11768 @node Agent Categories
11769 @subsection Agent Categories
11771 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11772 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11773 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11774 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11775 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11776 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11777 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11779 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11780 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11781 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11784 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11785 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11786 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11790 @node Category Syntax
11791 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11793 A category consists of two things.
11797 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11798 are eligible for downloading; and
11801 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11802 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11803 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
11806 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
11807 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
11808 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
11809 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
11811 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
11812 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
11813 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
11815 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
11816 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
11817 operators sprinkled in between.
11819 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11821 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11822 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11828 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11829 short (for some value of ``short'').
11831 Here's a more complex predicate:
11840 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11841 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11844 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11845 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11846 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11848 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11849 you want to do, you can write your own.
11853 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11854 lines; default 100.
11857 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11858 lines; default 200.
11861 True iff the article has a download score less than
11862 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11865 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11866 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11869 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11870 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11871 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11880 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11881 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11882 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11885 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
11886 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
11887 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
11888 something along the lines of the following:
11891 (defun my-article-old-p ()
11892 "Say whether an article is old."
11893 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
11894 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
11897 with the predicate then defined as:
11900 (not my-article-old-p)
11903 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
11904 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
11905 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
11906 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
11909 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
11910 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
11911 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
11914 and simply specify your predicate as:
11920 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
11921 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
11922 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
11923 just don't give a damm.
11926 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
11927 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
11928 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
11929 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
11930 parameters like so:
11933 (agent-predicate . short)
11936 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
11937 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
11938 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
11941 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
11944 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
11947 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
11948 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
11949 predicate is assumed to be a list.
11952 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11953 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11954 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11955 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
11956 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
11957 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
11959 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
11960 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
11961 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
11962 if it's to be specific to that group.
11964 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
11971 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
11972 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
11978 Category specification
11982 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11988 Group Parameter specification
11991 (agent-score ("from"
11992 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11997 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12003 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12010 Category specification
12013 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12019 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12023 Group Parameter specification
12026 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12029 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12034 Use @code{normal} score files
12036 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12037 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12038 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12039 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12041 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12042 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12043 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12044 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12048 Category Specification
12055 Group Parameter specification
12058 (agent-score . file)
12063 @node The Category Buffer
12064 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12066 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12067 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12068 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12070 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12074 @kindex q (Category)
12075 @findex gnus-category-exit
12076 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12079 @kindex k (Category)
12080 @findex gnus-category-kill
12081 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12084 @kindex c (Category)
12085 @findex gnus-category-copy
12086 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12089 @kindex a (Category)
12090 @findex gnus-category-add
12091 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12094 @kindex p (Category)
12095 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12096 Edit the predicate of the current category
12097 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12100 @kindex g (Category)
12101 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12102 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12103 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12106 @kindex s (Category)
12107 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12108 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12109 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12112 @kindex l (Category)
12113 @findex gnus-category-list
12114 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12118 @node Category Variables
12119 @subsubsection Category Variables
12122 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12123 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12124 Hook run in category buffers.
12126 @item gnus-category-line-format
12127 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12128 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12129 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12133 The name of the category.
12136 The number of groups in the category.
12139 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12140 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12141 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12143 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12144 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12145 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12147 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12148 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12149 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12151 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12152 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12153 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12156 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12157 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12158 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12164 @node Agent Commands
12165 @subsection Agent Commands
12167 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12168 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12169 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12173 * Group Agent Commands::
12174 * Summary Agent Commands::
12175 * Server Agent Commands::
12178 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12179 following incantation:
12181 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12183 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12188 @node Group Agent Commands
12189 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12193 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12194 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12195 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12196 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12199 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12200 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12201 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12204 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12205 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12206 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12207 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12210 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12211 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12212 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12213 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12216 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12217 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12218 Add the current group to an Agent category
12219 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
12224 @node Summary Agent Commands
12225 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12229 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12230 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12231 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12234 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12235 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12236 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12237 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12240 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12241 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12242 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12245 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12246 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12247 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12252 @node Server Agent Commands
12253 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12257 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12258 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12259 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12260 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12263 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12264 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12265 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12266 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12272 @subsection Agent Expiry
12274 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12275 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12276 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12277 @cindex Agent expiry
12278 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12281 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12282 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12283 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12284 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12285 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12286 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12288 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12289 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12290 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12291 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12292 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12295 @node Outgoing Messages
12296 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12298 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12299 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12300 after posting, and edit them at will.
12302 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12303 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12304 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12305 messages in the draft group.
12309 @node Agent Variables
12310 @subsection Agent Variables
12313 @item gnus-agent-directory
12314 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12315 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12316 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12318 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12319 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12320 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12321 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12322 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12325 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12326 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12327 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12329 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12330 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12331 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12336 @node Example Setup
12337 @subsection Example Setup
12339 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12340 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12341 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12344 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12345 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12346 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12348 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12349 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12350 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12351 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12353 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12354 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12356 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12360 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12361 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12364 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12365 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12366 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12367 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12368 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12371 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12372 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12373 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12374 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12375 back all the killed groups.)
12377 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12378 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12379 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12382 @node Batching Agents
12383 @subsection Batching Agents
12385 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12386 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12387 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12391 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12395 @node Agent Caveats
12396 @subsection Agent Caveats
12398 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12399 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12403 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12408 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12409 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12415 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12416 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12423 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12424 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12425 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12428 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12429 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12430 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12431 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12432 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12434 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12435 before generating the summary buffer.
12437 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12438 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12439 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12441 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12442 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12443 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12444 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12447 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12448 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12449 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12450 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12451 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12452 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12453 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12454 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12455 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12456 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12457 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12458 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12459 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12460 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12461 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12462 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12466 @node Summary Score Commands
12467 @section Summary Score Commands
12468 @cindex score commands
12470 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12471 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12472 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12473 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12474 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12476 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12477 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12478 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12479 score file the current one.
12481 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12486 @kindex V s (Summary)
12487 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12488 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12491 @kindex V S (Summary)
12492 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12493 Display the score of the current article
12494 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12497 @kindex V t (Summary)
12498 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12499 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12500 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12503 @kindex V R (Summary)
12504 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12505 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12506 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12507 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12508 effect you're having.
12511 @kindex V c (Summary)
12512 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12513 Make a different score file the current
12514 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12517 @kindex V e (Summary)
12518 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12519 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12520 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12524 @kindex V f (Summary)
12525 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12526 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12527 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12530 @kindex V F (Summary)
12531 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12532 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12533 after editing score files.
12536 @kindex V C (Summary)
12537 @findex gnus-score-customize
12538 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12539 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12543 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12548 @kindex V m (Summary)
12549 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12550 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12551 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12554 @kindex V x (Summary)
12555 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12556 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12557 expunge all articles below this score
12558 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12561 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12562 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12565 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12566 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12570 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12571 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12573 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12574 keys are available:
12578 Score on the author name.
12581 Score on the subject line.
12584 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12587 Score on the References line.
12593 Score on the number of lines.
12596 Score on the Message-ID.
12599 Score on followups.
12613 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12614 what headers you are scoring on.
12626 Substring matching.
12629 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12658 Greater than number.
12663 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12664 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12665 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12669 Temporary score entry.
12672 Permanent score entry.
12675 Immediately scoring.
12680 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12681 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12682 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12683 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12685 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12686 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12687 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12688 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12689 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12691 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12692 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12693 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12694 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12695 current score file.
12697 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12698 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12699 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12702 @node Group Score Commands
12703 @section Group Score Commands
12704 @cindex group score commands
12706 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12711 @kindex W f (Group)
12712 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12713 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12714 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12715 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12719 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12721 @findex gnus-batch-score
12722 @cindex batch scoring
12724 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12728 @node Score Variables
12729 @section Score Variables
12730 @cindex score variables
12734 @item gnus-use-scoring
12735 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12736 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12737 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12739 @item gnus-kill-killed
12740 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12741 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12742 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12743 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12744 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12745 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12746 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12748 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12749 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12750 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12751 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12752 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12754 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12755 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12756 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12757 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12759 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12760 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12761 @cindex score cache
12762 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12763 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12764 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
12765 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12766 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12767 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12770 @item gnus-save-score
12771 @vindex gnus-save-score
12772 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12773 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12774 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12776 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12777 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12778 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12779 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12780 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12781 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12782 manually entered data.
12784 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12785 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12786 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12788 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12789 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12790 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12791 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12792 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12793 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12795 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12796 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12797 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12798 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12800 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12801 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12802 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12803 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12805 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12806 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12807 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12808 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12810 Predefined functions available are:
12813 @item gnus-score-find-single
12814 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12815 Only apply the group's own score file.
12817 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12818 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12819 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12820 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12821 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12822 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12823 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12824 then a regexp match is done.
12826 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12827 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12829 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12830 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12831 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12832 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12834 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12835 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12836 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12837 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12838 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12841 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12842 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12843 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12844 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12845 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12846 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12849 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12850 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12851 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12852 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12853 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12855 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12856 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12857 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12858 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12859 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12860 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12861 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12864 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12865 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12866 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12868 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12869 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12870 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12871 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12872 threading---according to the current value of
12873 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12874 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12875 simplified in this manner.
12880 @node Score File Format
12881 @section Score File Format
12882 @cindex score file format
12884 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12885 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12886 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12888 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12892 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12894 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12896 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12898 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12903 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12907 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12908 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12909 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12910 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12914 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12915 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12917 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12918 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12919 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12921 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12926 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12927 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12928 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12929 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12930 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12931 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12932 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12933 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12934 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12935 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12936 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12937 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12938 to articles that matches these score entries.
12940 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12941 score entry has one to four elements.
12945 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12946 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12950 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12951 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12952 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12953 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12954 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12955 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12958 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12959 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12960 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12961 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12962 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12965 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12966 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12967 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12968 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12971 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12972 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12973 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12974 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12975 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12976 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12977 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12978 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12979 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12980 instead, if you feel like.
12983 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12984 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12986 These predicates are true if
12989 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12992 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12993 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13000 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13001 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13002 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13003 it's not. I think.)
13005 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13006 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13007 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13008 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13011 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13012 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13013 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13014 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13015 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13016 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13017 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13021 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13022 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13023 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13024 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13025 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13026 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13027 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13028 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13031 @item Head, Body, All
13032 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13036 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13037 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13038 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13039 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13040 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13041 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13042 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13046 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13047 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
13048 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13049 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13050 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13051 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13052 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13053 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13054 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13055 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13059 @cindex Score File Atoms
13061 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13062 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13065 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13066 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13068 @item mark-and-expunge
13069 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13070 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13073 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13074 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13075 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13076 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13077 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13080 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13081 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13084 @item exclude-files
13085 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13086 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13090 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13091 ignored when handling global score files.
13094 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13095 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13096 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13097 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13100 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13101 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13102 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13103 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13105 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13109 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13112 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13113 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13114 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13115 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13116 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13118 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13119 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13120 ordinary scoring rules.
13123 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13124 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13125 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13126 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13127 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13128 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13129 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13130 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13131 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13132 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13133 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13137 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13138 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13139 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13140 file for a number of groups.
13143 @cindex local variables
13144 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13145 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13146 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13147 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13148 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13152 @node Score File Editing
13153 @section Score File Editing
13155 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13156 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13157 with a mode for that.
13159 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13160 additional commands:
13165 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13166 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13167 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13168 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13171 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13172 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13173 Insert the current date in numerical format
13174 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13175 you were wondering.
13178 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13179 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13180 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13181 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13182 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13187 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13189 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13190 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13192 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13193 e} to begin editing score files.
13196 @node Adaptive Scoring
13197 @section Adaptive Scoring
13198 @cindex adaptive scoring
13200 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13201 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13202 stupidity, to be precise.
13204 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13205 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13206 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13207 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13208 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13209 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13210 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13211 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13212 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13214 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13215 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13216 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13217 might look something like this:
13220 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13221 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13222 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13223 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13224 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13225 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13226 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13227 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13228 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13229 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13230 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13231 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13234 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13235 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13236 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13237 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13238 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13239 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13242 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13243 will be applied to each article.
13245 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13246 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13247 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13248 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13250 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13251 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13252 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13253 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13255 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13256 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13257 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13258 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13260 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13261 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13262 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13263 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13264 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13265 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13267 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13268 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13269 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13270 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13271 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13272 aspirins afterwards.)
13274 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13275 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13276 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13278 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13279 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13280 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13282 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13283 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13284 let you use different rules in different groups.
13286 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13287 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13288 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13291 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13292 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13293 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13294 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13295 the length of the match is less than
13296 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13297 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13300 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13301 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13302 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13303 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13304 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13307 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13308 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13309 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13310 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13311 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13314 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13315 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13316 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13317 score with 30 points.
13319 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13320 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13321 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13322 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13323 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13325 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13326 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13327 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13328 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13330 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13331 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13332 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13333 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13335 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13336 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13337 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13338 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13339 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13341 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13342 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13343 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13345 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13346 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13347 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13348 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13351 @node Home Score File
13352 @section Home Score File
13354 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13355 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13356 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13357 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13359 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13360 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13361 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13363 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13364 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13369 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13373 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13374 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13378 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13382 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13383 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13386 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13387 the home score file.
13390 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13393 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13398 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13401 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13402 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13405 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13406 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13408 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13410 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13411 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13414 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13415 Other functions include
13418 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13419 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13420 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13421 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13425 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13426 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13427 their own home score files:
13430 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13431 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13432 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13433 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13434 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13437 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13438 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13439 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13440 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13441 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13443 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13444 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13445 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13446 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13447 precedence over this variable.
13450 @node Followups To Yourself
13451 @section Followups To Yourself
13453 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13454 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13455 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13456 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13457 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13458 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13462 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13463 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13464 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13467 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13468 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13469 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13473 @vindex message-sent-hook
13474 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13475 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13477 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13478 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13482 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13483 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13486 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13487 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13492 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13496 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13497 is system-dependent.
13501 @section Scoring Tips
13502 @cindex scoring tips
13508 @cindex scoring crossposts
13509 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13510 the @code{Xref} header.
13512 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13515 @item Multiple crossposts
13516 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13517 more than, say, 3 groups:
13519 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13522 @item Matching on the body
13523 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13524 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13525 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13526 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13527 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13528 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13529 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13532 @item Marking as read
13533 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13534 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13535 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13539 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13541 @item Negated character classes
13542 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13543 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13544 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13548 @node Reverse Scoring
13549 @section Reverse Scoring
13550 @cindex reverse scoring
13552 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13553 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13554 like this in your score file:
13558 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13563 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13564 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13567 @node Global Score Files
13568 @section Global Score Files
13569 @cindex global score files
13571 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13572 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13573 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13575 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13576 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13577 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13579 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13580 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13581 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13582 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13583 files are applicable to which group.
13585 Say you want to use the score file
13586 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13587 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13590 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13591 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13592 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13595 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13596 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13597 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13598 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13599 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13601 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13602 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13604 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13605 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13606 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13607 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13608 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13609 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13611 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13617 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13619 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13621 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13623 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13624 lowered out of existence.
13626 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13627 articles completely.
13630 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13631 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13632 old articles for a long time.
13635 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13636 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13637 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13638 holding our breath yet?
13642 @section Kill Files
13645 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13646 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13647 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13649 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13650 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13651 files into score files.
13653 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13654 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13655 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13656 that isn't a very good idea.
13658 Normal kill files look like this:
13661 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13662 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13666 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13667 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13669 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13670 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13673 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13678 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13679 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13680 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13683 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13684 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13685 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13688 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13693 @kindex M-k (Group)
13694 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13695 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13698 @kindex M-K (Group)
13699 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13700 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13703 Kill file variables:
13706 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13707 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13708 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13709 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13710 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13711 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13712 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13714 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13715 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13716 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13717 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13720 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13721 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13722 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13723 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13724 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13725 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13726 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13727 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13728 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13730 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13731 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13732 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13737 @node Converting Kill Files
13738 @section Converting Kill Files
13740 @cindex converting kill files
13742 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13743 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13744 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13747 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13748 You can fetch it from
13749 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13751 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13752 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13753 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13761 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13762 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13763 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13765 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13766 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13767 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13768 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13769 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13770 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13771 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13772 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13776 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13777 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13778 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13779 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13783 @node Using GroupLens
13784 @subsection Using GroupLens
13786 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13788 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13789 better bit in town at the moment.
13791 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13795 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13796 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13797 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13798 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13800 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13801 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13802 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13803 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13805 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13806 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13807 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13811 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13812 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13813 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13814 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13815 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13816 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13819 @node Rating Articles
13820 @subsection Rating Articles
13822 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13823 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13824 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13825 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13828 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13833 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13834 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13835 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13838 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13839 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13840 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13841 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13842 threads in rec.humor.
13846 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13847 the score of the article you're reading.
13852 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13853 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13854 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13857 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13858 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13859 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13863 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13864 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13867 @node Displaying Predictions
13868 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13870 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13871 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13872 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13873 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13874 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13876 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13877 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13878 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13879 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13880 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13881 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13882 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13883 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13884 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13885 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13886 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13887 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13888 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13890 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13891 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13892 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13893 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13895 The following are valid values for that variable.
13898 @item prediction-spot
13899 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13902 @item confidence-interval
13903 A numeric confidence interval.
13905 @item prediction-bar
13906 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13908 @item confidence-bar
13909 Numerical confidence.
13911 @item confidence-spot
13912 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13914 @item prediction-num
13915 Plain-old numeric value.
13917 @item confidence-plus-minus
13918 Prediction +/- confidence.
13923 @node GroupLens Variables
13924 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13928 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13929 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13930 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13931 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13934 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13935 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13938 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13939 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13941 @item grouplens-score-offset
13942 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13943 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13946 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13947 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13948 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13953 @node Advanced Scoring
13954 @section Advanced Scoring
13956 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13957 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13958 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13959 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13960 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13962 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13966 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13967 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13968 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13972 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13973 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13975 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13976 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13977 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13978 non-@code{nil} value.
13980 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13981 operator, and various match operators.
13988 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13989 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13990 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13995 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13996 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13997 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14002 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14003 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14007 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14008 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14009 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14010 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14011 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14012 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14013 the ancestry you want to go.
14015 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14016 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14017 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14018 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14019 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14022 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14023 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14025 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14026 when he's talking about Gnus:
14030 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14031 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14037 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14041 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14048 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14049 really don't want to read what he's written:
14053 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14054 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14058 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14059 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14060 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14067 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14068 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14069 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14070 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14074 The possibilities are endless.
14077 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14078 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14080 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14081 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14082 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14083 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14084 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14085 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14086 @samp{subject}) first.
14088 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14089 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14100 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14101 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14107 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14114 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14115 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14120 @section Score Decays
14121 @cindex score decays
14124 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14125 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14126 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14127 use them in any sensible way.
14129 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14130 @findex gnus-decay-score
14131 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14132 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14133 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14134 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14135 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14136 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14137 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14138 definition of that function:
14141 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14143 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14144 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14147 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14149 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14151 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14154 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14155 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14156 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14157 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14161 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14164 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14167 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14171 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14172 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14173 the new score, which should be an integer.
14175 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14176 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14183 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14184 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14185 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14186 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14187 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14188 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14189 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14190 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14191 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14192 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14193 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14194 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14195 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14196 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14197 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14198 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14199 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14200 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14204 @node Process/Prefix
14205 @section Process/Prefix
14206 @cindex process/prefix convention
14208 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14209 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14211 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14212 command to be performed on.
14216 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14217 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14218 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14219 with the current one.
14221 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14222 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14223 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14225 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14226 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14229 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14230 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14232 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14235 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14236 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14237 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14238 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14240 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14241 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14242 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14243 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14244 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14245 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14246 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14247 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14251 @section Interactive
14252 @cindex interaction
14256 @item gnus-novice-user
14257 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14258 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14259 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14260 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14261 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14264 @item gnus-expert-user
14265 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14266 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14267 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14268 matter how strange.
14270 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14271 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14272 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14273 is @code{t} by default.
14275 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14276 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14277 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14282 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14283 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14284 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14286 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14287 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14288 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14289 rule of 900 to the current article.
14291 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14292 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14293 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14294 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14295 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14296 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14297 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14299 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14300 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14301 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14302 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14303 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14304 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14305 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14306 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14307 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14309 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14310 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14311 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14313 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14317 @node Formatting Variables
14318 @section Formatting Variables
14319 @cindex formatting variables
14321 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14322 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14323 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14324 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14325 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14328 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14329 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14330 lots of percentages everywhere.
14333 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14334 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14335 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14336 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14337 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14340 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14341 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14342 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14343 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14344 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14345 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14346 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14347 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14349 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14350 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14352 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14353 @findex gnus-update-format
14354 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14355 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14356 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14357 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14361 @node Formatting Basics
14362 @subsection Formatting Basics
14364 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14365 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14366 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14368 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14369 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14370 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14371 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14372 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14375 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14376 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14377 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14378 less than 4 characters wide.
14381 @node Mode Line Formatting
14382 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14384 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14385 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14386 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14387 with the following two differences:
14392 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14395 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14396 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14397 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14398 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14399 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14400 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14401 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14406 @node Advanced Formatting
14407 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14409 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14410 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14411 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14412 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14414 These are the valid modifiers:
14419 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14423 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14428 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14431 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14436 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14439 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14442 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14445 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14449 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14450 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14451 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14452 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14453 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14454 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14455 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14457 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14458 last operation, padding.
14460 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14461 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14462 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14463 @xref{Compilation}.
14466 @node User-Defined Specs
14467 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14469 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14470 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14471 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14472 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14473 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14474 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14475 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14476 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14477 should protect against that.
14479 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14480 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14481 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14482 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14486 @node Formatting Fonts
14487 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14489 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14490 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14491 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14492 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14495 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14496 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14497 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14498 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14499 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14500 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14502 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14503 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14504 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14505 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14506 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14507 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14508 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14509 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14511 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14514 ;; Create three face types.
14515 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14516 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14518 ;; We want the article count to be in
14519 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14520 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14521 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14523 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14524 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14526 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14527 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14528 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14531 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14532 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14534 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14535 mode-line variables.
14538 @node Windows Configuration
14539 @section Windows Configuration
14540 @cindex windows configuration
14542 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14544 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14545 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14546 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14547 @code{t} by default.
14549 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14550 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14552 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14553 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14554 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14557 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14558 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14559 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14563 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14564 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14565 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14566 possible names is listed below.
14568 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14569 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14572 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14576 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14577 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14578 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14579 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14580 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14581 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14582 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14583 size spec per split.
14585 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14586 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14587 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14588 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14589 present) gets focus.
14591 Here's a more complicated example:
14594 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14595 (summary 0.25 point)
14596 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14600 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14601 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14602 occupy, not a percentage.
14604 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14605 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14606 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14607 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14608 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14611 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14614 (article (horizontal 1.0
14619 (summary 0.25 point)
14624 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14625 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14627 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14628 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14629 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14630 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14631 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14633 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14634 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14635 lines from the splits.
14637 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14641 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14642 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14643 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14644 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14645 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14646 size = number | frame-params
14647 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14650 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14651 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14652 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14653 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14655 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14656 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14657 @cindex window height
14658 @cindex window width
14659 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14660 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14661 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14662 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14663 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14664 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14666 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14667 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14668 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14669 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14671 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14672 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14673 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14674 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14675 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14676 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14677 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14678 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14679 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14680 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14681 configuration list.
14684 (gnus-configure-frame
14688 (article 0.3 point))
14696 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14697 @code{frame} split:
14700 (gnus-configure-frame
14703 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14705 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14706 (user-position . t)
14707 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14712 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14713 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14714 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14715 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14716 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14717 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14718 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14719 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14722 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14723 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14725 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14726 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14727 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14728 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14729 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14730 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14732 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14733 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14734 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14738 (message (horizontal 1.0
14739 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14741 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14746 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14747 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14748 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14749 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14750 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14753 (gnus-add-configuration
14754 '(article (vertical 1.0
14756 (summary .25 point)
14760 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14761 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14762 Gnus has been loaded.
14764 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14765 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14766 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14767 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14768 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14770 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
14771 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
14772 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
14776 @node Faces and Fonts
14777 @section Faces and Fonts
14782 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14783 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14784 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14789 @section Compilation
14790 @cindex compilation
14791 @cindex byte-compilation
14793 @findex gnus-compile
14795 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14796 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14797 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14798 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14799 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14800 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14803 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14804 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14805 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14806 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14807 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14808 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14809 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14813 @section Mode Lines
14816 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14817 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14818 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14819 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14820 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14821 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14822 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14825 @cindex display-time
14827 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14828 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14829 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14830 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14831 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14832 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14833 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14834 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14837 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14839 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14840 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14842 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14843 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14844 (length display-time-string)))))
14847 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14848 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14849 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14850 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14851 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14854 @node Highlighting and Menus
14855 @section Highlighting and Menus
14857 @cindex highlighting
14860 @vindex gnus-visual
14861 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14862 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14863 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14866 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14867 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14870 @item group-highlight
14871 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14872 @item summary-highlight
14873 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14874 @item article-highlight
14875 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14878 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14880 Create menus in the group buffer.
14882 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14884 Create menus in the article buffer.
14886 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14888 Create menus in the server buffer.
14890 Create menus in the score buffers.
14892 Create menus in all buffers.
14895 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14896 buffers, you could say something like:
14899 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14902 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14905 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14908 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14909 in all Gnus buffers.
14911 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14914 @item gnus-mouse-face
14915 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14916 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14917 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14921 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14925 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14926 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14927 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14929 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14930 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14931 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14933 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14934 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14935 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14937 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14938 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14939 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14941 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14942 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14943 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14945 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14946 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14947 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14958 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14959 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14960 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14961 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14962 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14966 @vindex gnus-carpal
14967 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14968 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14969 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14974 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14975 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14976 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14978 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14979 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14980 Face used on buttons.
14982 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14983 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14984 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14986 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14987 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14988 Buttons in the group buffer.
14990 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14991 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14992 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14994 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14995 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14996 Buttons in the server buffer.
14998 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14999 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15000 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15003 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15004 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15005 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15013 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15014 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15015 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15016 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15017 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15019 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15020 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15021 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15023 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15024 been idle for thirty minutes:
15027 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15030 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15034 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15037 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15038 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15039 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15041 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15042 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15043 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15044 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15046 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15047 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15048 @var{idle} minutes.
15050 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15051 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15054 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15055 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15056 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15058 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15059 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15060 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15061 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15063 @vindex gnus-use-demon
15064 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
15065 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
15067 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15068 your @file{.gnus} file:
15070 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15072 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15075 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15076 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15077 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15078 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15079 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15080 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15081 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15082 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15083 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15084 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15085 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15087 @findex gnus-demon-init
15088 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15089 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15090 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15091 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15092 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15094 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15095 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15096 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15105 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15106 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15108 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15109 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15110 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15111 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15114 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15115 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15116 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15117 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15119 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15120 this will make spam disappear.
15122 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15125 @item gnus-use-nocem
15126 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15127 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15130 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15131 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15132 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15133 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15134 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15136 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15137 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15138 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15139 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15140 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15141 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15142 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15144 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15147 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15148 @cindex Chris Lewis
15149 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15150 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15153 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15154 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15155 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15157 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15159 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15162 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15163 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15164 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15167 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15168 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15169 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15170 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15171 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15172 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15173 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15174 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15175 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15176 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15178 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15179 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15182 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15185 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15186 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15189 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15192 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15195 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15196 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15198 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15199 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15200 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15201 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15203 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15204 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15207 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15209 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15217 This might be dangerous, though.
15219 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15220 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15221 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15222 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15224 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15225 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15226 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15227 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15228 might then see old spam.
15232 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15233 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15234 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15235 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15242 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15243 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15244 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15246 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15247 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15248 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15249 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15250 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15251 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15252 @code{undo} function.
15254 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15255 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15256 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15257 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15258 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15259 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15260 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15261 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15262 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15263 never be totally undoable.
15265 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15266 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15268 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15269 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15270 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15271 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15276 @section Moderation
15279 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15280 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15281 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15284 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15288 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15291 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15293 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15298 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15299 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15300 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15303 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15304 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15307 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15308 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15312 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15315 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15316 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15320 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15321 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15324 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15328 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15329 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15330 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15331 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15344 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15345 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15346 over your shoulder as you read news.
15349 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15350 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15351 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15352 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15353 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15358 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15360 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15369 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15370 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15371 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15372 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15373 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15374 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15375 @code{GIF} formats.
15378 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15379 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15380 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15381 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15382 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15384 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15385 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15386 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15387 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15388 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15389 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15392 @node Picon Requirements
15393 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15395 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15396 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15399 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15400 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15401 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15403 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15404 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15405 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15406 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15407 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15411 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15413 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15414 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15417 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15418 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15419 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15420 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15421 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
15424 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15425 containing the Picons databases.
15427 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15430 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15431 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15436 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15444 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15445 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15446 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15447 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15448 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15453 @item gnus-picons-database
15454 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15455 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15456 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15457 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15458 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15459 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15461 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15462 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15463 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15464 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15465 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15466 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15467 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15469 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15470 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15471 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15472 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15473 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15474 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15475 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15476 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15478 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15479 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15480 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15485 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15486 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15488 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15489 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15492 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15493 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15495 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15496 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15497 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15498 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15499 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15501 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15502 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15503 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15504 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15508 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15509 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15512 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15516 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15517 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15525 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15526 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15527 don't need to worry about.
15531 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15532 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15533 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15534 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15536 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15537 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15538 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15539 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15541 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15542 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15543 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15544 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15545 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15547 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15548 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15549 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15550 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15551 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15552 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15553 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15555 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15556 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15557 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15558 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15560 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15561 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15562 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15563 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15564 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15565 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15566 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15568 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15569 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15570 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15571 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15573 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15574 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15575 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15576 Defaults to @code{t}.
15578 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15579 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15580 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15581 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15583 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
15584 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
15585 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
15587 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15588 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15589 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15590 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15592 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
15593 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
15595 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15596 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15597 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15598 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15599 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15600 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15601 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15602 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15613 @subsection Smileys
15618 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15623 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15624 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15626 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15627 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15630 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15633 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15634 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15635 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15636 text and maps that to file names.
15638 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15639 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15640 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15641 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15642 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15643 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15645 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15646 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15648 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15649 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15650 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15652 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15653 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15657 @item smiley-data-directory
15658 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15659 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15661 @item smiley-flesh-color
15662 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15663 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15665 @item smiley-features-color
15666 @vindex smiley-features-color
15667 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15669 @item smiley-tongue-color
15670 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15671 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15673 @item smiley-circle-color
15674 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15675 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15677 @item smiley-mouse-face
15678 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15679 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15685 @subsection Toolbar
15695 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15696 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15697 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15698 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15699 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15701 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15702 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15703 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15705 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15706 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15707 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15709 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15710 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15711 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15717 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15720 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15721 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15722 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15723 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15724 unusual directory structure.
15726 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15727 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15728 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15729 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15731 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15732 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15733 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15734 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15735 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15736 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15738 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15739 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15740 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15754 @node Fuzzy Matching
15755 @section Fuzzy Matching
15756 @cindex fuzzy matching
15758 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15759 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15761 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15762 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15763 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15765 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15766 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15767 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15768 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15769 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15772 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15773 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15777 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15779 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15780 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15781 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15782 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15783 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15784 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15785 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15786 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15789 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15790 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15791 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15792 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15793 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15794 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15798 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15799 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15801 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15802 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15803 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15804 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15805 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15806 part of the mail address.)
15809 (setq message-default-news-headers
15810 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15813 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15814 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15819 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15820 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15821 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15827 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15828 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15829 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15830 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15832 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15833 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15834 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15835 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15836 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15837 your fancy split rule in this way:
15842 (to "larsi" "misc")
15846 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15847 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15848 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15849 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15850 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15852 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15853 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15854 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15855 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15856 cosmic balance somewhat.
15858 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15859 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15860 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15861 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15864 @node Various Various
15865 @section Various Various
15871 @item gnus-home-directory
15872 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15873 defaults to @file{~/}.
15875 @item gnus-directory
15876 @vindex gnus-directory
15877 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15878 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15879 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15881 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15882 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15883 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15884 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15886 @item gnus-default-directory
15887 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15888 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15889 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15890 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15891 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15892 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15893 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15896 @vindex gnus-verbose
15897 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15898 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15899 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15900 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15901 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15903 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15904 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15905 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15906 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15908 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15909 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15910 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15911 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15912 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15913 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15914 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15915 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15916 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15917 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15919 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15920 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15921 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15922 read when doing the operation described above.
15924 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15925 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15927 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15928 @cindex characters in file names
15929 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15930 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15931 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15934 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15938 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15939 Windows (phooey) systems.
15941 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15942 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15943 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15944 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15945 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15947 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15948 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15949 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15950 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15951 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15953 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15954 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15955 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15964 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15965 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15967 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15969 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15975 Not because of victories @*
15978 but for the common sunshine,@*
15980 the largess of the spring.
15984 but for the day's work done@*
15985 as well as I was able;@*
15986 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15987 but at the common table.@*
15992 @chapter Appendices
15995 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15996 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15997 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15998 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15999 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16000 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16001 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16009 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16010 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16012 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16013 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16014 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16015 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16016 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16018 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16019 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16020 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16021 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16022 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16023 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16025 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16026 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16027 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16028 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16030 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16031 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16032 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16034 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16035 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16037 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16038 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16040 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16041 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16043 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16044 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16045 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16046 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16047 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16051 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16052 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16053 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16054 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16055 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16056 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16057 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16064 What's the point of Gnus?
16066 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16067 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16068 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16069 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16070 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16071 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16072 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16073 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16074 keep track of millions of people who post?
16076 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16077 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16078 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16079 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16080 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16081 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16082 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16083 every one of you to explore and invent.
16085 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16086 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16089 @node Compatibility
16090 @subsection Compatibility
16092 @cindex compatibility
16093 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16094 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16095 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16100 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16104 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16107 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16110 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16111 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16112 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16113 important variables have their values copied into their global
16114 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16115 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16117 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16118 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16119 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16120 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16121 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16125 @cindex highlighting
16126 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16127 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16128 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16129 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16130 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16131 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16134 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16135 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16136 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16137 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16139 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16140 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16141 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16142 to stop doing it the old way.
16144 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16146 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16148 @cindex reporting bugs
16150 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16151 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16152 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16154 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16155 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16156 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16157 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16162 @subsection Conformity
16164 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16165 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16172 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16176 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16178 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16179 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16180 We do have some breaches to this one.
16185 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
16186 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
16189 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
16190 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
16191 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
16192 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
16193 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16198 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16199 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16200 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16201 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16205 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16206 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16211 @subsection Emacsen
16217 Gnus should work on :
16225 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16229 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16230 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16233 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16234 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16235 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16240 @subsection Contributors
16241 @cindex contributors
16243 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16244 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16245 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16246 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16247 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16248 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16249 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16250 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16251 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16252 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16254 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16260 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16263 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16264 well as numerous other things).
16267 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16270 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16273 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16274 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16277 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16278 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16281 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16284 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16285 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16288 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16291 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16294 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16297 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16300 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16301 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16304 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16307 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16310 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16313 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16317 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16320 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16323 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16326 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16327 well as autoconf support.
16331 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16332 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16334 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16343 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16347 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16369 Massimo Campostrini,
16377 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16383 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16386 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16390 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16397 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16399 Michelangelo Grigni,
16402 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16404 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16406 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16411 François Felix Ingrand,
16412 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16414 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16423 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16424 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16425 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16426 Thor Kristoffersen,
16429 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16446 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16447 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16454 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16458 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16461 John McClary Prevost,
16467 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16472 Christian von Roques,
16474 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16481 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16483 Randal L. Schwartz,
16513 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka.
16515 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16516 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16517 (550kB and counting).
16519 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16522 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16523 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16527 @subsection New Features
16528 @cindex new features
16531 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16532 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16533 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16534 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16537 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16538 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16539 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16543 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16545 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16550 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16551 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16554 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16555 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16558 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16561 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16562 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16563 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16566 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16567 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16568 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16569 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16572 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16573 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16576 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16577 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16578 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16581 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16582 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16585 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16586 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16587 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16590 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16591 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16592 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16595 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16596 the @file{.emacs} file.
16599 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16600 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16603 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16604 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16607 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16608 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16611 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16612 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16615 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16616 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16619 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16622 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16623 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16626 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16627 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16630 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16631 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16634 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16637 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16638 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16641 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16645 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16649 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16650 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16653 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16659 @node September Gnus
16660 @subsubsection September Gnus
16664 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16668 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16673 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16674 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16678 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16679 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16683 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16687 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16688 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16691 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16695 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16698 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16701 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16704 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16708 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16709 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16712 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16716 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16720 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16724 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16728 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16731 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16732 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16735 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16739 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16740 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16743 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16746 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16747 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16748 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16751 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16755 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16758 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16762 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16763 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16766 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16767 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16770 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16771 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16774 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16775 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16776 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16779 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16780 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16783 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16786 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16789 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16790 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16794 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16797 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16800 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16801 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16804 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16808 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16811 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16816 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16819 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16823 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16826 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16830 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16833 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16836 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16837 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16840 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16841 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16845 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16846 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16849 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16853 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16854 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16857 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16860 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16864 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16868 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16869 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16872 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16876 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16877 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16880 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16881 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16884 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16888 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16891 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16892 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16896 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16899 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16905 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16907 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16911 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16918 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16921 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16922 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16925 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16926 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16930 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16931 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16934 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16937 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16938 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16941 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16945 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16946 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16950 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16951 Server Internals}).
16954 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16958 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16961 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16962 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16965 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16966 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16967 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16970 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16971 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16974 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16975 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16978 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16982 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16983 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16986 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16987 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16990 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16994 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16997 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17001 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17002 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17005 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17006 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17009 A new command for reading collections of documents
17010 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17011 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17014 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17018 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17019 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17022 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17023 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17024 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17027 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17028 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17032 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17036 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17040 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17045 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17049 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17053 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17054 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17057 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17060 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
17061 'gnus-article-emphasize)
17068 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17070 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17075 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17076 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17077 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17080 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17081 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17082 group, which is created automatically.
17085 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17089 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17092 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17093 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17096 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17100 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17103 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17104 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17107 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17110 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17111 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17114 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17115 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17118 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17119 control over simplification.
17122 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17125 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17129 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17132 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17135 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17136 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17137 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17140 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17141 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17144 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17148 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17149 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17152 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17153 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17156 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17160 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17163 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17166 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17167 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17170 A new function for citing in Message has been
17171 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17174 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17177 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17181 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17182 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17185 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17186 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17189 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17192 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17197 @node Newest Features
17198 @subsection Newest Features
17201 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17204 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17206 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17207 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17210 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17215 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
17218 Really do unbinhexing.
17221 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17222 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17225 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17228 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17231 facep is not declared.
17234 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17235 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17238 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17243 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17244 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17245 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17246 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17247 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17248 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17249 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17254 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17257 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17260 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17262 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17263 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17265 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17267 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17269 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17270 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17272 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17274 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17275 be marked as unread.
17277 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17279 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17281 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17282 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17284 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17286 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17288 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17289 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17291 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17292 articles aren't displayed.
17294 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17296 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17297 make the mail groups killed.
17299 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17301 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17302 and articles have to be removed.
17304 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17307 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17309 finding short score file names takes forever.
17311 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17313 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17315 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17317 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17319 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17321 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17323 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17324 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17328 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17330 really unbinhex binhex files.
17332 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17333 bar and the Gnus bar.
17336 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17337 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17338 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17339 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17340 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17341 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17346 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17350 postponed commands.
17352 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17354 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17357 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17358 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17360 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17361 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17363 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17365 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17366 for backends that support that.
17368 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17370 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17371 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17373 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17374 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17376 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17378 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17380 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17382 server mode command: close/open all connections
17384 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17385 has been changed before using it.
17387 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17389 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17391 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17393 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17395 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17396 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17398 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17399 contain groups that match a regexp.
17401 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17404 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17407 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17408 from subject lines.
17410 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17412 nntp-ping-before-connect
17414 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17416 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17417 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17419 message annotations.
17421 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17423 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17424 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17426 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17431 support qmail maildir spools
17433 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17435 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17437 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17439 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17440 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17442 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17444 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17446 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17447 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17449 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17450 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17452 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17454 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17456 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17457 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17459 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17461 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17463 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17464 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17467 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17469 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17471 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17472 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17474 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17477 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17478 should be marker as expirable.
17480 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17482 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17483 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17485 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17486 Also consult Date headers.
17488 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17490 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17492 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17493 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17495 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17496 into a See-Also header.
17498 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17500 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17502 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17503 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17505 generate font names dynamically.
17507 score file mode auto-alist.
17509 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17510 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17512 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17513 absolutely all headers there is.
17515 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17516 and pipe them to the process.
17518 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17519 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17520 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17522 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17523 the current mail group.
17525 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17527 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17528 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17530 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17531 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17533 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17535 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17536 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17538 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17539 groups it has been mailed to.
17541 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17543 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17545 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17547 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17548 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17550 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17551 newlines) should be ignored.
17553 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17554 groups in subtopics as well.
17556 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17558 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17561 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17563 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17565 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17567 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17569 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17571 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17573 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17574 or the formatted article.
17576 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17578 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17579 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17581 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17583 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17585 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17587 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17588 even unread articles.
17590 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17592 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17594 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17596 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17598 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17600 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17603 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17604 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17606 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17607 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17609 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17611 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17613 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17614 from a particular server? Hm.
17616 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17617 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17619 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17621 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17622 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17624 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17625 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17627 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17628 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17629 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17632 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17633 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17635 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17637 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17639 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17641 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17644 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17647 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17648 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17650 command to show and edit group scores
17652 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17655 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17657 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17659 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17660 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17663 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17664 that are of that length.
17666 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17668 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17670 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17672 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17674 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17676 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17678 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17679 a score lower than this number.
17681 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17683 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17685 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17686 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17688 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17690 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17691 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17693 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17696 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17697 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17698 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17699 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17701 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17704 command to remove all topic stuff.
17706 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17707 and splitting the resulting digests.
17709 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17711 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17713 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17714 matches an alist -- before saving.
17716 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17718 variable to activate each group before entering them
17719 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17721 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17722 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17724 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17725 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17727 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17729 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17730 of several groups at once.
17732 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17733 matches some regexp(s).
17735 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17737 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17739 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17741 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17743 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17745 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17747 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17749 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17750 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17751 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17752 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17754 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17755 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17757 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17759 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17760 recently cited text.
17762 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17764 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17767 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17768 server and just read the articles in the server
17770 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17771 value of nnoo variables.
17773 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17775 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17776 listed in each group info.
17778 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17781 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17782 should only be applied to some groups.
17784 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17785 mail-copies-to: never.
17787 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17788 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17790 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
17792 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17795 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17798 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17800 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17803 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17807 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17809 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17810 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17811 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17812 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17813 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17815 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17816 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17823 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17824 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17826 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17827 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17829 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17830 "Return the date the group was last read."
17831 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17836 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17837 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17838 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17839 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17843 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17844 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17846 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17849 They could be used like this:
17853 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17854 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17855 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17857 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17859 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17862 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17865 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17866 affect the summary line format.
17870 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17872 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17873 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17875 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17878 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17880 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17882 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17884 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17886 - For other files, just find them normally.
17888 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17889 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17892 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17893 tell him what you are doing.
17896 Currently, I get prompted:
17900 decend into sci.something ?
17904 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17905 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17906 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17907 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17910 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17911 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17912 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17913 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17916 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17917 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17923 more than n blank lines
17925 more than m identical lines
17926 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17928 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17932 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17933 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17934 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17935 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17938 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17939 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17940 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17941 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17944 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17947 soup - bowl of soup
17948 score below - dim light bulb
17949 score over - bright light bulb
17952 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17957 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17958 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17959 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17960 if (articles-selected)
17961 start-reading-selected-articles;
17962 junk-unread-articles;
17967 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17968 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17969 select-thread-under-cursor;
17971 select-article-under-cursor;
17975 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17976 if (more-pages-in-article)
17978 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17985 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17986 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17987 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17990 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17991 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17992 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17993 the wildcard expression).
17996 It would be nice if it also handled
17998 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18000 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18005 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18006 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18007 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18008 article versions) variable.
18010 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18012 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18013 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18017 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18020 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18021 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18022 (message-sent-hook).
18024 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18027 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18031 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18032 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18035 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18036 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18037 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18040 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18041 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18045 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18048 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18052 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18053 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18056 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18057 value of the signature file.
18060 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18061 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18064 (setq message-tab-alist
18065 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18066 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18068 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18072 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18075 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18078 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18081 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18082 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18085 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18088 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18089 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18090 do more gathering by subject.
18093 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18094 article numerical order.
18097 (gnus-thread-total-score
18098 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18102 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18105 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18106 in the summary buffer.
18109 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18110 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18113 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18114 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18115 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18116 and/or newsgroup name.
18119 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18122 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18125 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18128 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18129 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18130 will automatically get the process mark.
18133 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18134 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18135 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18138 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18142 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18143 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18146 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18147 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18151 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18152 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18155 be able to post via DejaNews.
18158 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18161 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18162 allow them to be displayed separately.
18165 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18166 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18169 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18170 articles that match a certain From header.
18173 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18174 saving living summary buffers.
18177 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18178 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18181 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18182 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18185 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18186 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18189 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18190 (goto-char (point-min))
18191 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18192 (replace-match "`" t t))
18193 (goto-char (point-min))
18194 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18195 (replace-match "'" t t))
18196 (goto-char (point-min))
18197 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18198 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18199 (goto-char (point-min))
18200 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18201 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18206 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18208 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18209 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18210 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18211 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18215 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18218 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18219 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18223 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18224 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18225 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18227 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18228 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18230 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18231 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18236 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18237 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18240 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18241 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18243 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18245 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18246 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18249 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18250 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18253 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18257 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18258 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18261 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18264 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18267 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18270 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18274 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18280 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18283 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18287 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18288 X characters in the body.
18291 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18294 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18297 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18300 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18303 command to display all dormant articles.
18306 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18309 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18310 to something someone else has said.
18313 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18314 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18317 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18318 the displayed version.
18321 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18325 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18328 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18329 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18330 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18334 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18335 in the head or body.
18338 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18341 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18344 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18345 in a special, unique buffer.
18348 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18351 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18352 is less than a certain number of days old.
18355 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18358 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18361 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18362 file, for instance.
18365 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18366 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
18367 dummy root instead of the first article.
18370 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18371 topics for displaying.
18374 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18375 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18378 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18381 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18382 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18383 summary buffer for each article.
18386 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18389 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18393 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18396 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18400 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18403 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18406 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18407 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18410 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18413 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18414 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18417 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18418 po:username often fails.
18421 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18423 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18426 Solve the halting problem.
18435 @section The Manual
18439 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18440 either @code{texi2dvi}
18442 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18443 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18445 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18447 The following conventions have been used:
18452 This is a @samp{string}
18455 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18458 This is a @file{file}
18461 This is a @code{symbol}
18465 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18469 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18472 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18475 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18478 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18479 ever get them confused.
18483 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18484 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18485 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18486 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18487 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18488 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18489 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18497 @section Terminology
18499 @cindex terminology
18504 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18505 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18506 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18507 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18508 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18512 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18513 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18514 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18515 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18519 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18523 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18528 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18529 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18530 is all done by the backends.
18534 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18535 default, way of getting news.
18539 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18540 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18545 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18546 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18550 A message that has been posted as news.
18553 @cindex mail message
18554 A message that has been mailed.
18558 A mail message or news article
18562 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18567 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18572 A line from the head of an article.
18576 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18577 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18581 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18582 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18583 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18584 normal @sc{head} format.
18588 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18589 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18590 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18591 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18592 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18593 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18595 @item killed groups
18596 @cindex killed groups
18597 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18598 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18600 @item zombie groups
18601 @cindex zombie groups
18602 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18605 @cindex active file
18606 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18607 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18608 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18611 @cindex bogus groups
18612 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18613 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18614 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18617 @cindex activating groups
18618 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18619 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18620 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18624 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18626 @item select method
18627 @cindex select method
18628 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18631 @item virtual server
18632 @cindex virtual server
18633 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18634 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18635 whole is a virtual server.
18639 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18640 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18643 @item ephemeral groups
18644 @cindex ephemeral groups
18645 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18646 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18647 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18650 @cindex solid groups
18651 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18652 group buffer are solid groups.
18654 @item sparse articles
18655 @cindex sparse articles
18656 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18657 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18661 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18662 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18666 @cindex thread root
18667 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18668 articles in the thread.
18672 An article that has responses.
18676 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18680 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18681 specified by RFC1153.
18687 @node Customization
18688 @section Customization
18689 @cindex general customization
18691 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18692 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18693 for some quite common situations.
18696 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18697 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18698 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18699 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18703 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18704 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18706 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18707 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18708 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18712 @item gnus-read-active-file
18713 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18714 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18715 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18716 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18717 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18719 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18720 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18721 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18722 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18726 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18727 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18729 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18730 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18731 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18735 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18736 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18737 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18738 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18739 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18741 @item gnus-visible-headers
18742 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18743 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18744 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18745 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18747 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18748 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18750 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18751 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18752 gnus-article-hide-signature
18753 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18756 @item gnus-use-full-window
18757 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18758 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18759 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18760 want to read them anyway.
18762 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18763 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18766 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18767 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18768 lines, which might save some time.
18772 @node Little Disk Space
18773 @subsection Little Disk Space
18776 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18777 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18781 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18782 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18783 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18784 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18787 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18788 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18789 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18790 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18791 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18797 @subsection Slow Machine
18798 @cindex slow machine
18800 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18801 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18803 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18804 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18806 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18807 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18808 summary buffer faster.
18810 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18811 processing a bit faster.
18815 @node Troubleshooting
18816 @section Troubleshooting
18817 @cindex troubleshooting
18819 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18827 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18830 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18831 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18835 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18836 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18837 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18838 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18841 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18845 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18846 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18847 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18848 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18849 something like that.
18852 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18855 @cindex reporting bugs
18857 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18859 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18860 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18861 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18862 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18864 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18865 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18866 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18867 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18870 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18871 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18872 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18873 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18874 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18875 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18877 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18878 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18879 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18882 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18883 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18885 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18886 @cindex ding mailing list
18887 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18888 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18892 @node Gnus Reference Guide
18893 @section Gnus Reference Guide
18895 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18896 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18897 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18898 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18901 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18902 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18903 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18904 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18905 and general methods of operation.
18908 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18909 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18910 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18911 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18912 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18913 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18914 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18915 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18916 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18920 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18921 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18922 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18923 @cindex utility functions
18925 @cindex internal variables
18927 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18928 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18929 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18933 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18934 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18935 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18937 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18938 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18939 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18941 @item gnus-group-real-name
18942 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18943 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18946 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18947 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18948 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18949 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18951 @item gnus-get-info
18952 @findex gnus-get-info
18953 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18955 @item gnus-group-unread
18956 @findex gnus-group-unread
18957 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18961 @findex gnus-active
18962 The active entry for @var{group}.
18964 @item gnus-set-active
18965 @findex gnus-set-active
18966 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18968 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18969 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18970 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18973 @item gnus-continuum-version
18974 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18975 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18976 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18979 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18980 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18981 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18983 @item gnus-news-group-p
18984 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18985 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18987 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18988 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18989 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18991 @item gnus-server-to-method
18992 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18993 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18995 @item gnus-server-equal
18996 @findex gnus-server-equal
18997 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18999 @item gnus-group-native-p
19000 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19001 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19003 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19004 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19005 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19007 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19008 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19009 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19011 @item group-group-find-parameter
19012 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19013 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19014 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19016 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19017 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19018 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19020 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19021 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19022 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19024 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19025 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19026 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19027 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19030 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19034 @item gnus-read-method
19035 @findex gnus-read-method
19036 Prompts the user for a select method.
19041 @node Backend Interface
19042 @subsection Backend Interface
19044 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19045 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19046 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19047 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19048 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19049 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19051 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19052 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19053 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19054 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19055 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19056 been opened, the function should fail.
19058 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19059 name. Take this example:
19063 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19064 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19067 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19068 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19070 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19071 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19072 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19074 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19075 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19076 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19078 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19079 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19080 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19081 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19082 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19083 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19086 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19087 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19088 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19089 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19092 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19095 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19098 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19099 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19100 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19101 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19102 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19103 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19107 @node Required Backend Functions
19108 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19112 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19114 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19115 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19116 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19117 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19119 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19120 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19121 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19122 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19124 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19125 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19126 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19127 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19128 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19129 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19130 number, do maximum fetches.
19132 Here's an example HEAD:
19135 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19136 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19137 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19138 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19139 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19140 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19141 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19143 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19144 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19145 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19149 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19150 these in the data buffer.
19152 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19156 head = error / valid-head
19157 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19158 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19159 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19160 header = <text> eol
19163 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19164 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19168 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19169 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19170 field = <text except TAB>
19173 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19177 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19179 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19180 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19182 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19183 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19184 server. In fact, it should do so.
19186 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19187 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19190 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19192 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19193 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19196 There should be no data returned.
19199 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19201 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19202 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19203 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19204 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19206 There should be no data returned.
19209 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19211 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19212 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19213 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19214 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19216 There should be no data returned.
19219 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19221 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19223 There should be no data returned.
19226 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19228 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19229 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19230 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19231 it would be nice if that were possible.
19233 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19234 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19235 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19236 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19237 into its article buffer.
19239 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19240 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19241 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19242 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19243 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19244 on successful article retrieval.
19247 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19249 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19250 making @var{group} the current group.
19252 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19255 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19258 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19261 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19262 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19263 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19264 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19265 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19266 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19267 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19268 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19271 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19272 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19273 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19277 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19279 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19280 a no-op on most backends.
19282 There should be no data returned.
19285 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19287 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19290 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19293 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19294 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19297 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19298 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19301 active-file = *active-line
19302 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19304 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19307 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19308 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19309 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19312 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19314 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19315 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19316 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19317 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19318 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19319 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19321 There should be no result data from this function.
19326 @node Optional Backend Functions
19327 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19331 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19333 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19334 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19335 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19337 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19338 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19339 former is in the same format as the data from
19340 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19341 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19344 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19348 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19350 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19351 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19352 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19353 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19354 should return the (altered) group info.
19356 There should be no result data from this function.
19359 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19361 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19362 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19363 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19364 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19365 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19366 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19367 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19368 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19370 There should be no result data from this function.
19373 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19375 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19376 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19377 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19378 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19379 the mark information to the server.
19381 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19384 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19387 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19388 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19389 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19390 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19391 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19392 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19393 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19394 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19395 not limit itself to theese.
19397 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19398 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19399 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19400 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19402 An example action list:
19405 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19406 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19407 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19410 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19411 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19413 There should be no result data from this function.
19415 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19417 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19418 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19419 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19420 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19421 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19423 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19424 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19425 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19428 There should be no result data from this function.
19431 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19433 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19434 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19435 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19436 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19437 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19438 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19439 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19441 There should be no result data from this function.
19444 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19446 The result data from this function should be a description of
19450 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19452 description = <text>
19455 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19457 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19458 groups available on the server.
19461 description-buffer = *description-line
19465 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19467 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19468 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19469 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19472 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19474 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19476 There should be no return data.
19479 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19481 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19482 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19483 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19484 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19485 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19488 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19491 There should be no result data returned.
19494 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19497 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19498 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19500 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19501 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19502 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19503 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19504 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19505 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19507 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19508 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19511 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19512 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19514 There should be no data returned.
19517 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19519 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19520 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19521 this function in short order.
19523 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19524 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19526 There should be no data returned.
19529 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19531 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19532 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19534 There should be no data returned.
19537 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19539 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19540 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19541 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19543 There should be no data returned.
19546 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19548 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19549 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19551 There should be no data returned.
19556 @node Error Messaging
19557 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19559 @findex nnheader-report
19560 @findex nnheader-get-report
19561 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19562 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19563 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19564 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19565 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19566 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19569 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19571 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19574 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19575 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19576 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19577 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19579 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19580 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19581 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19584 @node Writing New Backends
19585 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19587 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19588 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19589 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19590 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19591 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19594 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19595 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19596 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19598 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19599 package called @code{nnoo}.
19601 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19602 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19608 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19609 parameters. For instance:
19612 (nnoo-declare nndir
19616 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19617 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19620 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19621 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19622 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19624 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19625 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19626 a function in those backends.
19629 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19630 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19631 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19634 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19635 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19636 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19638 @item nnoo-define-basics
19639 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19643 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19647 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19648 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19649 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19651 @item nnoo-map-functions
19652 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19653 functions from the parent backends.
19656 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19657 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19658 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19661 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19662 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19663 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19664 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19667 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19668 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19669 haven't already been defined.
19675 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19679 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19680 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19681 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19686 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19689 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19690 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19694 (require 'nnheader)
19698 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19700 (nnoo-declare nndir
19703 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19704 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19705 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19707 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19708 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19711 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19712 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19713 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19715 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19716 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19718 ;;; Interface functions.
19720 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19722 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19723 (setq nndir-directory
19724 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19726 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19727 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19728 (push `(nndir-current-group
19729 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19731 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19732 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19734 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19736 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19737 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19738 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19739 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19740 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19744 nnmh-status-message
19746 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19752 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19753 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19755 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19756 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19757 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19758 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19760 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19761 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19766 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19769 The abilities can be:
19773 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19775 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19777 This backend supports both mail and news.
19779 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19782 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19783 articles and groups.
19785 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19786 true for almost all backends.
19787 @item prompt-address
19788 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19789 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19790 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19794 @node Mail-like Backends
19795 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19797 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19798 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19799 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19800 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19803 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19804 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19805 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19808 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19809 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19812 This function takes four parameters.
19816 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19819 @item exit-function
19820 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19822 @item temp-directory
19823 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19826 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19827 performed for one group only.
19830 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19831 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19832 find the article number assigned to this article.
19834 The function also uses the following variables:
19835 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19836 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19837 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19838 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19842 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19843 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19847 @node Score File Syntax
19848 @subsection Score File Syntax
19850 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19851 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19852 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19854 Here's a typical score file:
19858 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19865 BNF definition of a score file:
19868 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19869 element = rule / atom
19870 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19871 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19872 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19873 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19875 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19876 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19877 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19878 date-header = "date"
19879 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19880 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19881 score = "nil" / <integer>
19882 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19883 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19884 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19885 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19886 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19887 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19888 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19889 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19890 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19891 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19892 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19893 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19894 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19895 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19896 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19897 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19898 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19899 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19900 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19901 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19902 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19903 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19904 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19905 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19906 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19907 eval = "eval" space <form>
19908 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19911 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19914 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19915 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19916 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19917 one looong line, then that's ok.
19919 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19920 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19924 @subsection Headers
19926 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19927 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19928 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19929 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19931 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19932 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19933 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19934 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19935 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19936 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19937 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19939 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19940 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19941 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
19942 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19943 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19945 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
19946 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
19952 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19953 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19955 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19956 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19957 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19958 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19960 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19964 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19967 is transformed into
19970 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19973 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19974 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19977 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19980 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19981 is slightly tricky:
19984 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19990 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19993 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19999 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20006 and is equal to the previous range.
20008 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20009 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20010 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20014 range = simple-range / normal-range
20015 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20016 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20017 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20018 number *[ " " contents ]
20021 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20022 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20023 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20024 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20025 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20030 @subsection Group Info
20032 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20033 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20034 describes the group.
20036 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20037 second is a more complex one:
20040 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20042 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20043 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20045 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20048 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20049 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20050 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20051 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20052 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20053 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20054 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20055 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20056 this section is about.
20058 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20059 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20060 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20062 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20065 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20066 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20067 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20068 group = quote <string> quote
20069 ralevel = rank / level
20070 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20071 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20072 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20074 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20075 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20076 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20077 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20080 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20081 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20084 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20085 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20088 @item gnus-info-group
20089 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20090 @findex gnus-info-group
20091 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20092 Get/set the group name.
20094 @item gnus-info-rank
20095 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20096 @findex gnus-info-rank
20097 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20098 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20100 @item gnus-info-level
20101 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20102 @findex gnus-info-level
20103 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20104 Get/set the group level.
20106 @item gnus-info-score
20107 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20108 @findex gnus-info-score
20109 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20110 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20112 @item gnus-info-read
20113 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20114 @findex gnus-info-read
20115 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20116 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20118 @item gnus-info-marks
20119 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20120 @findex gnus-info-marks
20121 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20122 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20124 @item gnus-info-method
20125 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20126 @findex gnus-info-method
20127 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20128 Get/set the group select method.
20130 @item gnus-info-params
20131 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20132 @findex gnus-info-params
20133 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20134 Get/set the group parameters.
20137 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20138 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20140 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20141 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20142 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20143 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20146 @node Extended Interactive
20147 @subsection Extended Interactive
20148 @cindex interactive
20149 @findex gnus-interactive
20151 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20152 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20153 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20156 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20157 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20162 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20163 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20164 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20165 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20166 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20167 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20168 @code{interactive}.
20170 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20175 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20176 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20180 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20181 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20182 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20185 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20189 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20193 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20199 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20200 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20204 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20205 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20206 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20208 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20209 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20210 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20211 Gnus, that's very useful.
20213 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20214 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20215 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20216 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20217 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20218 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20219 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20220 following function:
20223 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20227 (,function ,@@args))
20231 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20232 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20233 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20236 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20237 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20238 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20240 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20241 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20242 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20245 @node Various File Formats
20246 @subsection Various File Formats
20249 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20250 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20254 @node Active File Format
20255 @subsubsection Active File Format
20257 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20258 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20261 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20264 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20265 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20266 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20267 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20268 no.general 1000 900 y
20271 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20274 active = *group-line
20275 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20276 group = <non-white-space string>
20278 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20279 low-number = <positive integer>
20280 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20283 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20284 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20287 @node Newsgroups File Format
20288 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20290 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20291 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20292 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20295 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20296 Here's the definition:
20300 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20301 group = <non-white-space string>
20303 description = <string>
20308 @node Emacs for Heathens
20309 @section Emacs for Heathens
20311 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20312 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20313 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20314 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20315 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20316 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20317 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20321 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20322 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20327 @subsection Keystrokes
20331 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20334 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20337 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20338 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20339 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20340 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20341 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20342 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20344 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20345 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20346 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20347 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20348 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20349 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20350 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20352 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20353 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20354 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20355 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20356 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20357 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20358 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20360 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20361 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20362 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20363 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20364 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20370 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20372 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20373 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20374 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20375 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20377 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20378 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20379 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20380 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20381 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20382 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20383 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20386 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20387 write the following:
20390 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20393 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20394 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20395 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20398 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20399 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20400 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20401 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20402 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20404 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20405 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20406 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20410 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20414 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20417 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20418 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20421 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20424 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20425 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20428 @include gnus-faq.texi