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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.3.3 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The news reader gnus.
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262 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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271 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
273 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
274 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
275 are preserved on all copies.
277 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
278 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
279 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
280 permission notice identical to this one.
282 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
283 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
292 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
294 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
297 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
298 are preserved on all copies.
301 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
302 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
303 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
304 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
308 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
309 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
310 permission notice identical to this one.
312 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
313 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
319 @title Semi-gnus 6.3.3 Manual
321 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
324 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
325 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
327 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
328 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
329 are preserved on all copies.
331 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
332 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
333 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
334 permission notice identical to this one.
336 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
337 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
346 @top The gnus Newsreader
350 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
351 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
352 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
355 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
356 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
357 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
358 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
359 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
360 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
362 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.3.3.
373 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
374 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
376 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
377 being accused of plagiarism:
379 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
380 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
381 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
382 even read news with it!
384 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
385 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
386 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
387 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
388 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
395 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
396 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
397 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
398 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
399 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
400 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
401 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
402 * Various:: General purpose settings.
403 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
404 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
405 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
406 * Key Index:: Key Index.
410 @chapter Starting gnus
415 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
416 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
419 @findex gnus-other-frame
420 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
421 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
422 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
424 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
425 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
426 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
428 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
429 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
432 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
433 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
434 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
435 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
436 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
437 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
438 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
439 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
440 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
441 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
442 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
446 @node Finding the News
447 @section Finding the News
450 @vindex gnus-select-method
452 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
453 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
454 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
455 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign
458 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
459 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
462 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
465 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
468 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
471 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
472 certainly be much faster.
474 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
476 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
477 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
478 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
479 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
480 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
481 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an
482 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
484 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
485 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
486 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
487 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
489 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
490 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
491 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
492 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
493 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
494 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
496 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
498 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
499 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
500 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
501 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
502 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
503 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
505 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
507 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
508 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
509 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
510 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
511 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
512 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
515 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
516 would typically set this variable to
519 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
524 @section The First Time
525 @cindex first time usage
527 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
528 be subscribed by default.
530 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
531 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
532 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
533 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
536 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
537 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
538 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
540 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
541 help you with most common problems.
543 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
544 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
548 @node The Server is Down
549 @section The Server is Down
550 @cindex server errors
552 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
553 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
554 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
556 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
557 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
558 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
559 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
560 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
561 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
562 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
564 @findex gnus-no-server
565 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
567 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
568 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
569 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
570 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
571 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
572 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
577 @section Slave Gnusae
580 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
581 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
582 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
583 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
585 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
588 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
589 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
590 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
591 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
592 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
593 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
594 will be much more expensive, of course.)
596 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
597 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
598 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
599 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
600 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
601 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
602 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
603 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
605 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
606 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
609 @node Fetching a Group
610 @section Fetching a Group
611 @cindex fetching a group
613 @findex gnus-fetch-group
614 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
615 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
616 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
617 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
618 It takes the group name as a parameter.
626 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
627 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
628 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
629 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
630 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
631 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
632 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
633 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
634 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
637 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
638 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
639 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
643 @node Checking New Groups
644 @subsection Checking New Groups
646 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
647 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
648 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
649 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
650 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
651 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
652 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
653 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
654 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
655 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
657 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
658 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
659 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
660 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
661 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
662 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
663 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
664 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
665 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
666 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
667 supporting the function properly.)
669 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
670 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
671 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
672 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
673 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
674 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
677 @node Subscription Methods
678 @subsection Subscription Methods
680 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
681 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
682 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
684 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
685 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
687 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
691 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
693 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
694 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
695 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
697 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
699 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
700 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
702 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
704 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
706 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
708 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
709 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
710 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
711 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
712 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
713 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
714 up. Or something like that.
716 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
718 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
719 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
720 will be subscribed hierarchically.
722 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
723 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
728 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
729 A closely related variable is
730 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
731 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
732 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
733 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
736 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
737 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
738 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
739 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
742 @node Filtering New Groups
743 @subsection Filtering New Groups
745 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
746 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
747 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
750 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
753 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
754 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
755 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
756 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
757 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
758 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
759 subscribing these groups.
760 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
761 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
763 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
764 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
765 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
766 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
767 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
768 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
769 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
770 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
772 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
773 Yet another variable that meddles here is
774 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
775 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
776 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
777 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
778 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
779 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
780 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
781 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
783 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
784 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
787 @node Changing Servers
788 @section Changing Servers
789 @cindex changing servers
791 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
792 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
793 very flaky and you want to use another.
795 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
796 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
800 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
801 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
802 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
803 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
806 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
807 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
808 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
809 functions more than absolutely necessary.
811 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
812 @findex gnus-change-server
813 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
814 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
815 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
816 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
817 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
819 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
820 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
821 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
822 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
823 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
825 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
826 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
827 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
828 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
829 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
830 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
834 @section Startup Files
835 @cindex startup files
840 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
841 information is traditionally stored in this file.
843 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
844 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
845 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
846 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
847 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
848 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
849 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
851 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
852 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
853 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
854 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
855 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
856 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
858 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
859 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
860 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
861 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
862 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
863 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
865 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
866 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
867 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
868 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
869 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
870 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
871 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
872 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
873 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
874 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
875 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
876 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
878 @vindex gnus-startup-file
879 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
880 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
881 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
883 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
884 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
885 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
886 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
887 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
888 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
889 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
890 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
891 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
892 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
895 (defun turn-off-backup ()
896 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
898 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
899 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
902 @vindex gnus-init-file
903 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
904 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
905 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
906 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
907 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
908 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
909 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
910 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
911 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
920 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
921 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
922 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
923 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
924 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
927 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
928 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
931 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
932 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
933 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
935 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
936 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
937 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
938 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
939 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
940 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
943 @node The Active File
944 @section The Active File
946 @cindex ignored groups
948 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
949 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
950 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
952 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
953 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
954 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
955 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
956 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
957 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
958 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
961 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
962 @c if you set it to anything else.
964 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
966 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
967 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
968 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
970 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
971 you actually subscribe to.
973 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
974 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
975 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
976 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
978 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
979 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
980 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
981 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
982 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
983 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
985 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
986 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
987 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
988 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
989 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
990 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
992 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
993 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
995 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
996 secondary select methods.
999 @node Startup Variables
1000 @section Startup Variables
1004 @item gnus-load-hook
1005 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1006 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1007 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1008 times you start gnus.
1010 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1011 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1012 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1014 @item gnus-startup-hook
1015 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1016 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1018 @item gnus-started-hook
1019 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1020 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1023 @item gnus-started-hook
1024 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1025 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1026 generating the group buffer.
1028 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1029 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1030 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1031 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1032 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1033 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1034 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1035 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1037 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1038 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1039 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1040 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1041 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1042 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1044 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1045 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1046 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1048 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1049 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1050 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1052 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1053 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1054 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1055 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1060 @node The Group Buffer
1061 @chapter The Group Buffer
1062 @cindex group buffer
1064 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1065 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1066 long as Gnus is active.
1070 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1071 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1072 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1073 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1074 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1075 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1076 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1077 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1083 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1084 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1085 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1086 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1087 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1088 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1089 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1090 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1091 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1092 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1093 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1094 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1095 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1096 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1097 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1098 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1099 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1103 @node Group Buffer Format
1104 @section Group Buffer Format
1107 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1108 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1109 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1113 @node Group Line Specification
1114 @subsection Group Line Specification
1115 @cindex group buffer format
1117 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1118 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1120 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1123 25: news.announce.newusers
1124 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1129 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1130 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1131 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1132 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1134 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1135 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1136 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1137 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1138 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1139 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1141 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1143 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1144 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1145 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1146 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1149 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1150 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1151 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1153 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1158 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1161 Whether the group is subscribed.
1164 Level of subscribedness.
1167 Number of unread articles.
1170 Number of dormant articles.
1173 Number of ticked articles.
1176 Number of read articles.
1179 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1180 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1183 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1186 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1195 Newsgroup description.
1198 @samp{m} if moderated.
1201 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1210 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1214 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1217 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1218 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1219 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1220 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1221 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1224 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1226 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1230 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1234 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1235 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1236 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1237 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1238 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1239 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1244 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1245 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1246 group, or a bogus native group.
1249 @node Group Modeline Specification
1250 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1251 @cindex group modeline
1253 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1254 The mode line can be changed by setting
1255 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1256 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1260 The native news server.
1262 The native select method.
1266 @node Group Highlighting
1267 @subsection Group Highlighting
1268 @cindex highlighting
1269 @cindex group highlighting
1271 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1272 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1273 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1274 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1275 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1277 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1281 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1282 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1283 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1284 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1285 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1287 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1288 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1289 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1290 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1291 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1292 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1295 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1297 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1304 The number of unread articles in the group.
1308 Whether the group is a mail group.
1310 The level of the group.
1312 The score of the group.
1314 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1316 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1317 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1319 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1320 topic being inserted.
1323 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1324 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1325 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1327 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1328 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1329 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1330 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1331 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1334 @node Group Maneuvering
1335 @section Group Maneuvering
1336 @cindex group movement
1338 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1339 expected, hopefully.
1345 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1346 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1347 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1353 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1354 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1355 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1359 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1360 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1364 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1365 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1369 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1370 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1371 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1375 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1376 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1377 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1380 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1386 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1387 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1388 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1393 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1394 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1395 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1399 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1400 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1401 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1404 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1405 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1406 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1407 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1411 @node Selecting a Group
1412 @section Selecting a Group
1413 @cindex group selection
1418 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1419 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1420 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1421 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1422 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1423 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1424 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1425 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1426 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1427 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1431 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1432 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1433 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1434 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1435 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1439 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1440 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1441 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1442 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1443 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1444 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1445 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1446 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1447 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1448 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1451 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1452 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1453 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1454 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1455 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1458 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1459 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1460 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1461 doing any processing of its contents
1462 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1463 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1464 manner will have no permanent effects.
1468 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1469 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1470 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1471 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1472 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1473 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1474 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1475 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1478 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1479 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1480 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1481 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1486 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1487 full summary buffer.
1490 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1493 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1497 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1498 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1499 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1503 @node Subscription Commands
1504 @section Subscription Commands
1505 @cindex subscription
1513 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1514 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1515 Toggle subscription to the current group
1516 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1522 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1523 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1524 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1525 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1531 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1532 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1533 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1539 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1540 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1543 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1544 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1545 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1546 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1547 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1553 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1554 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1558 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1559 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1562 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1563 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1564 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1565 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1566 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1567 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1568 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1569 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1570 @file{.newsrc} file.
1574 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1584 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1585 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1586 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1587 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1588 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1589 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1594 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1595 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1596 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1600 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1601 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1602 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1604 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1605 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1606 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1607 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1608 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1609 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1616 @section Group Levels
1620 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1621 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1622 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1623 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1624 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1626 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1632 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1633 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1634 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1635 prompted for a level.
1638 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1639 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1640 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1641 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1642 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1643 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1644 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1645 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1646 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1647 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1648 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1649 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1650 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1651 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1652 reasons of efficiency.
1654 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1655 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1657 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1658 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1659 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1661 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1662 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1663 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1664 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1665 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1666 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1667 relevant valid ranges.
1669 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1670 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1671 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1672 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1673 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1674 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1677 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1678 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1679 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1682 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1683 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1684 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1685 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1688 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1689 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1690 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1691 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1693 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1694 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1695 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1696 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1697 to 5. The default is 6.
1701 @section Group Score
1706 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1707 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1708 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1711 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1712 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1713 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1714 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1715 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1716 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1717 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1719 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1720 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1721 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1722 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1723 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1724 action after each summary exit, you can add
1725 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1726 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1727 slow things down somewhat.
1730 @node Marking Groups
1731 @section Marking Groups
1732 @cindex marking groups
1734 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1735 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1736 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1737 bidding on those groups.
1739 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1740 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1741 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1749 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1750 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1756 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1757 Remove the mark from the current group
1758 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1762 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1763 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1767 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1768 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1772 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1773 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1777 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1778 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1779 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1782 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1784 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1785 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1786 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1787 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1788 the command to be executed.
1791 @node Foreign Groups
1792 @section Foreign Groups
1793 @cindex foreign groups
1795 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1796 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1797 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1798 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1805 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1806 @cindex making groups
1807 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1808 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1809 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1813 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1814 @cindex renaming groups
1815 Rename the current group to something else
1816 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1817 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1823 @findex gnus-group-customize
1824 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1828 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1829 @cindex renaming groups
1830 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1831 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1835 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1836 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1837 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1841 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1842 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1843 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1847 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1849 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1850 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1855 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1856 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1860 @cindex (ding) archive
1861 @cindex archive group
1862 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1863 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1864 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1865 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1866 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1867 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1868 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1872 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1874 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1875 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1876 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1877 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1881 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1883 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1884 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1885 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1889 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1890 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1892 Make a group based on some file or other
1893 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1894 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1895 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1896 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1897 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1898 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1899 @xref{Document Groups}.
1903 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1908 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1909 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1910 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1911 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1912 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1913 @xref{Web Searches}.
1915 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1916 to a particular group by using a match string like
1917 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1920 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1921 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1922 This function will delete the current group
1923 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1924 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1925 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1926 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1927 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1931 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1932 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1933 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1937 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1938 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1939 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1942 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1945 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1946 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1947 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1948 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1949 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1952 @node Group Parameters
1953 @section Group Parameters
1954 @cindex group parameters
1956 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1957 Here's an example group parameter list:
1960 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1964 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
1965 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
1966 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
1967 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1969 The following group parameters can be used:
1974 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1977 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
1980 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
1981 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
1982 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
1983 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
1984 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
1986 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1987 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1988 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1989 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1990 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1991 list address instead.
1995 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
1998 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2001 It is totally ignored
2002 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2003 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2005 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2006 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2007 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2008 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2009 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2011 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2012 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2013 sending the message.
2017 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2018 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2019 of whether it has any unread articles.
2021 @item broken-reply-to
2022 @cindex broken-reply-to
2023 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2024 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2025 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2026 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2027 broken behavior. So there!
2031 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2032 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2036 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2037 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2038 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2043 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2044 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2045 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2046 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2047 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2048 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2049 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2053 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2054 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2055 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2058 @cindex total-expire
2059 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2060 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2061 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2062 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2067 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2068 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2069 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2070 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2071 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2072 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2075 @cindex score file group parameter
2076 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2077 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2078 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2081 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2082 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2083 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2084 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2087 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2088 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2089 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2090 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2093 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2094 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2098 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2101 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2106 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2107 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2108 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2111 @item @var{(variable form)}
2112 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2113 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2114 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2115 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2116 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2117 @code{eval}ed there.
2119 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2120 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2121 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2122 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2123 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2127 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2128 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2132 @node Listing Groups
2133 @section Listing Groups
2134 @cindex group listing
2136 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2144 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2145 List all groups that have unread articles
2146 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2147 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2148 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2149 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2156 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2157 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2158 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2159 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2160 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2161 unsubscribed groups).
2165 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2166 List all unread groups on a specific level
2167 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2168 with no unread articles.
2172 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2173 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2174 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2175 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2180 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2181 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2185 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2186 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2187 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2191 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2192 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2196 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2197 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2198 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2199 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2200 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2201 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2202 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2203 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2207 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2208 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2209 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2213 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2214 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2215 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2219 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2220 @cindex visible group parameter
2221 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2222 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2223 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2224 get the same effect.
2226 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2227 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2228 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2229 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2230 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2233 @node Sorting Groups
2234 @section Sorting Groups
2235 @cindex sorting groups
2237 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2238 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2239 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2240 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2241 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2242 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2247 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2248 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2249 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2251 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2252 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2253 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2255 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2256 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2257 Sort by group level.
2259 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2260 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2261 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2263 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2264 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2265 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2266 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2268 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2269 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2270 Sort by number of unread articles.
2272 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2273 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2274 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2279 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2280 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2284 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2285 some sorting criteria:
2289 @kindex G S a (Group)
2290 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2291 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2292 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2295 @kindex G S u (Group)
2296 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2297 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2298 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2301 @kindex G S l (Group)
2302 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2303 Sort the group buffer by group level
2304 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2307 @kindex G S v (Group)
2308 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2309 Sort the group buffer by group score
2310 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2313 @kindex G S r (Group)
2314 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2315 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2316 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2319 @kindex G S m (Group)
2320 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2321 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2322 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2326 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2328 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2332 @kindex G P a (Group)
2333 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2334 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2335 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2338 @kindex G P u (Group)
2339 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2340 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2341 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2344 @kindex G P l (Group)
2345 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2346 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2347 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2350 @kindex G P v (Group)
2351 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2352 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2353 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2356 @kindex G P r (Group)
2357 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2358 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2359 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2362 @kindex G P m (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2364 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2365 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2371 @node Group Maintenance
2372 @section Group Maintenance
2373 @cindex bogus groups
2378 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2379 Find bogus groups and delete them
2380 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2384 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2385 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2386 If given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2390 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2392 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2393 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2396 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2398 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2399 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2404 @node Browse Foreign Server
2405 @section Browse Foreign Server
2406 @cindex foreign servers
2407 @cindex browsing servers
2412 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2413 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2414 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2415 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2418 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2419 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2420 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2421 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2423 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2428 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2429 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2433 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2434 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2437 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2438 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2439 Enter the current group and display the first article
2440 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2443 @kindex RET (Browse)
2444 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2445 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2449 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2450 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2451 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2457 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2458 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2462 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2463 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2464 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2469 @section Exiting Gnus
2470 @cindex exiting Gnus
2472 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2477 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2478 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2479 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2480 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2484 @findex gnus-group-exit
2485 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2486 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-quit
2491 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2492 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2495 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2496 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2497 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2498 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2499 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2504 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2505 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2506 trying to customize meta-variables.
2511 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2512 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2513 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2519 @section Group Topics
2522 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2523 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2524 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2525 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2526 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2527 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2531 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2532 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2543 2: alt.religion.emacs
2546 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2548 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2549 13: comp.sources.unix
2552 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2554 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2555 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2556 is a toggling command.)
2558 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2559 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2560 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2561 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2564 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2565 the hook for the group mode:
2568 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2572 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2573 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2574 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2575 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2576 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2580 @node Topic Variables
2581 @subsection Topic Variables
2582 @cindex topic variables
2584 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2585 really neat, I think.
2587 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2588 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2589 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2602 Number of groups in the topic.
2604 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2606 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2609 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2610 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2611 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2614 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2615 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2617 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2618 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2619 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2622 @node Topic Commands
2623 @subsection Topic Commands
2624 @cindex topic commands
2626 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2627 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2628 definitions slightly.
2634 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2635 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2636 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2640 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2641 Move the current group to some other topic
2642 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2643 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2647 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2648 Copy the current group to some other topic
2649 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2650 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2654 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2655 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2656 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2657 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2661 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2662 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2663 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2667 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2668 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2669 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2673 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2674 Toggle hiding empty topics
2675 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2679 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2680 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2681 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2684 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2685 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2686 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2687 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2691 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2693 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2694 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2695 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2696 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2697 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2698 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2701 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2702 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2703 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2704 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2705 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2709 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2710 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2711 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2715 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2716 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2717 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2722 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2723 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2726 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2727 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2728 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2732 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2733 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2734 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2738 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2739 @cindex group parameters
2740 @cindex topic parameters
2742 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2743 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2749 @subsection Topic Sorting
2750 @cindex topic sorting
2752 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2758 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2759 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2760 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2761 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2764 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2765 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2766 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2767 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2770 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2771 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2772 Sort the current topic by group level
2773 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2776 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2777 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2778 Sort the current topic by group score
2779 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2782 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2783 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2784 Sort the current topic by group rank
2785 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2788 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2789 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2790 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2791 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2795 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2798 @node Topic Topology
2799 @subsection Topic Topology
2800 @cindex topic topology
2803 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2809 2: alt.religion.emacs
2812 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2814 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2815 13: comp.sources.unix
2818 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2819 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2820 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2825 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2826 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2830 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2831 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2832 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2833 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2834 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2835 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2837 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2838 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2839 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2842 @node Topic Parameters
2843 @subsection Topic Parameters
2844 @cindex topic parameters
2846 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2847 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2848 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2850 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2851 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2852 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2853 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2859 2: alt.religion.emacs
2863 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2865 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2866 13: comp.sources.unix
2870 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2871 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2872 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2873 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2874 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2875 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2877 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2878 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2879 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2880 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2881 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2883 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2884 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2885 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2886 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2887 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2888 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2889 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2890 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2893 @node Misc Group Stuff
2894 @section Misc Group Stuff
2897 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2898 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2899 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2900 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2907 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2908 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2909 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2913 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2914 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2915 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2919 @findex gnus-group-mail
2920 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2924 Variables for the group buffer:
2928 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2929 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2930 is called after the group buffer has been
2933 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2934 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2935 is called after the group buffer is
2936 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2939 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2940 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2941 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2942 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2944 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2945 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2946 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2947 whether they are empty or not.
2952 @node Scanning New Messages
2953 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2954 @cindex new messages
2955 @cindex scanning new news
2961 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2962 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
2963 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2964 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2965 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2966 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
2971 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2972 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2973 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
2974 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2975 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2976 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2977 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2979 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2980 @cindex activating groups
2982 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2983 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2988 @findex gnus-group-restart
2989 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2990 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2991 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2995 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2996 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2998 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2999 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3003 @node Group Information
3004 @subsection Group Information
3005 @cindex group information
3006 @cindex information on groups
3013 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3014 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3017 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3018 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3019 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3020 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3021 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3022 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3023 for fetching the file.
3025 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3026 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3030 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3032 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3033 @cindex describing groups
3034 @cindex group description
3035 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3036 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3037 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3041 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3042 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3043 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3050 @findex gnus-version
3051 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3055 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3056 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3059 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3062 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3063 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3067 @node Group Timestamp
3068 @subsection Group Timestamp
3070 @cindex group timestamps
3072 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3073 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3074 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3077 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3080 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3082 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3083 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3086 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3087 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3090 This will result in lines looking like:
3093 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3094 0: custom 19961002T012713
3097 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3098 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3102 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3103 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3108 @subsection File Commands
3109 @cindex file commands
3115 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3116 @vindex gnus-init-file
3117 @cindex reading init file
3118 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3119 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3123 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3124 @cindex saving .newsrc
3125 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3126 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3127 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3130 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3131 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3132 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3137 @node The Summary Buffer
3138 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3139 @cindex summary buffer
3141 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3142 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3144 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3145 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3147 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3150 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3151 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3152 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3153 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3154 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3155 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3156 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3157 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3158 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3159 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3160 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3161 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3162 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3163 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3164 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3165 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3166 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3167 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3168 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3169 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3170 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3171 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3172 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3173 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3174 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3175 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3176 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3180 @node Summary Buffer Format
3181 @section Summary Buffer Format
3182 @cindex summary buffer format
3186 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3187 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3188 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3194 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3195 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3196 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3199 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3200 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3201 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3202 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3203 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3204 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3205 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3206 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3207 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3208 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3209 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3211 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3212 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3213 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3214 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3217 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3218 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3220 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3221 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3222 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3223 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3224 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3226 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3228 The following format specification characters are understood:
3236 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3237 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3238 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3240 Full @code{From} header.
3242 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3244 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3245 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3246 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3247 may be more thorough.
3249 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3252 Number of lines in the article.
3254 Number of characters in the article.
3256 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3258 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3259 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3261 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3262 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3264 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3265 for adopted articles.
3267 One space for each thread level.
3269 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3274 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3275 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3279 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3281 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3282 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3283 default level. If the difference between
3284 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3285 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3293 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3295 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3301 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3302 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3304 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3305 article has any children.
3311 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3312 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3313 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3314 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3315 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3316 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3319 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3320 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3321 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3322 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3323 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3324 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3326 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3327 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3329 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3332 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3333 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3335 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3336 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3337 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3338 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3340 Here are the elements you can play with:
3346 Unprefixed group name.
3348 Current article number.
3352 Number of unread articles in this group.
3354 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3357 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3358 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3359 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3360 and no unselected ones.
3362 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3363 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3365 Subject of the current article.
3367 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3369 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3371 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3373 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3375 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3377 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3381 @node Summary Highlighting
3382 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3386 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3387 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3388 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3389 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3390 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3392 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3393 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3394 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3395 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3397 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3398 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3399 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3400 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3402 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3403 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3404 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3405 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3406 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3407 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3409 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3410 ((> score default) . bold))
3412 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3413 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3417 @node Summary Maneuvering
3418 @section Summary Maneuvering
3419 @cindex summary movement
3421 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3422 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3424 None of these commands select articles.
3429 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3430 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3431 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3432 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3433 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3437 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3438 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3439 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3440 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3441 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3446 @kindex G j (Summary)
3447 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3448 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3449 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3452 @kindex G g (Summary)
3453 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3454 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3455 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3458 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3459 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3460 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3461 to the group buffer.
3463 Variables related to summary movement:
3467 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3468 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3469 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3470 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3471 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3472 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3473 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3474 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3475 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3476 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3477 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3478 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3479 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3480 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3482 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3483 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3484 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3485 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3486 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3487 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3488 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3490 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3491 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3492 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3493 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3494 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3496 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3497 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3498 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3499 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3500 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3501 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3502 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3503 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3509 @node Choosing Articles
3510 @section Choosing Articles
3511 @cindex selecting articles
3514 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3515 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3519 @node Choosing Commands
3520 @subsection Choosing Commands
3522 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3523 and they all select and display an article.
3527 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3528 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3529 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3530 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3535 @kindex G n (Summary)
3536 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3537 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3538 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3543 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3544 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3545 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3550 @kindex G N (Summary)
3551 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3552 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3557 @kindex G P (Summary)
3558 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3559 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3562 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3563 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3564 Go to the next article with the same subject
3565 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3568 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3569 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3570 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3571 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3575 @kindex G f (Summary)
3577 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3578 Go to the first unread article
3579 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3583 @kindex G b (Summary)
3585 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3586 Go to the article with the highest score
3587 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3592 @kindex G l (Summary)
3593 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3594 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3597 @kindex G o (Summary)
3598 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3600 @cindex article history
3601 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3602 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3603 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3604 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3605 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3606 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3610 @node Choosing Variables
3611 @subsection Choosing Variables
3613 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3616 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3617 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3618 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3619 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3620 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3621 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3623 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3624 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3625 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3626 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3628 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3629 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3630 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3631 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3632 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3633 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3634 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3635 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3636 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3637 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3638 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3639 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3640 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3641 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3646 @node Paging the Article
3647 @section Scrolling the Article
3648 @cindex article scrolling
3653 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3654 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3655 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3656 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3657 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3660 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3662 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3665 @kindex RET (Summary)
3666 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3667 Scroll the current article one line forward
3668 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3672 @kindex A g (Summary)
3674 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3675 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3676 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3677 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3678 the way it came from the server.
3683 @kindex A < (Summary)
3684 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3685 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3686 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3691 @kindex A > (Summary)
3692 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3693 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3697 @kindex A s (Summary)
3699 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3700 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3701 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3705 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3706 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3711 @node Reply Followup and Post
3712 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3715 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3716 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3720 @node Summary Mail Commands
3721 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3723 @cindex composing mail
3725 Commands for composing a mail message:
3731 @kindex S r (Summary)
3733 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3734 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3735 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3736 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3737 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3742 @kindex S R (Summary)
3743 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3744 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3745 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3746 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3747 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3750 @kindex S w (Summary)
3751 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3752 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3753 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3754 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3755 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3758 @kindex S W (Summary)
3759 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3760 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3761 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3762 the process/prefix convention.
3765 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3766 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3767 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3768 Forward the current article to some other person
3769 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3770 headers of the forwarded article.
3775 @kindex S m (Summary)
3776 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3777 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3778 Send a mail to some other person
3779 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3782 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3783 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3784 @cindex bouncing mail
3785 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3786 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3787 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3788 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3789 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3790 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3791 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3792 very well fail, though.
3795 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3796 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3797 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3798 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3799 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3800 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3801 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3802 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3803 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3804 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3806 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3807 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3808 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3809 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3810 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3812 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3813 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3816 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3817 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3818 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3819 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3820 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3823 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3824 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3825 @cindex crossposting
3826 @cindex excessive crossposting
3827 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3828 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3830 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3831 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3832 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3833 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3834 command understands the process/prefix convention
3835 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3839 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3842 @node Summary Post Commands
3843 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3845 @cindex composing news
3847 Commands for posting a news article:
3853 @kindex S p (Summary)
3854 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3855 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3856 Post an article to the current group
3857 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3862 @kindex S f (Summary)
3863 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3864 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3865 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3869 @kindex S F (Summary)
3871 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3872 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3873 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3874 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3875 process/prefix convention.
3878 @kindex S n (Summary)
3879 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3880 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3881 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3884 @kindex S N (Summary)
3885 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
3886 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3887 message through mail and include the original message
3888 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3889 the process/prefix convention.
3892 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3893 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3894 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3895 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3896 headers of the forwarded article.
3899 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3900 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3902 @cindex making digests
3903 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3904 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3905 process/prefix convention.
3908 @kindex S u (Summary)
3909 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3910 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3911 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3912 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3915 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3918 @node Canceling and Superseding
3919 @section Canceling Articles
3920 @cindex canceling articles
3921 @cindex superseding articles
3923 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3924 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3926 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3928 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3930 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3931 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3932 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3933 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3934 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3935 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3937 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3938 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3941 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
3942 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
3943 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
3945 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3946 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3947 your original article.
3949 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3951 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3952 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3953 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3956 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3957 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3958 have posted almost the same article twice.
3960 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3961 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3962 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3963 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3964 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3965 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3966 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3967 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3968 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3969 canceled/superseded.
3971 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3974 @node Marking Articles
3975 @section Marking Articles
3976 @cindex article marking
3977 @cindex article ticking
3980 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3982 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3983 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3984 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3986 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3989 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3990 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3991 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3995 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3999 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4000 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4004 @node Unread Articles
4005 @subsection Unread Articles
4007 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4012 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4013 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4015 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4016 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4017 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4018 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4019 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4023 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4024 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4026 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4027 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4028 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4031 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4032 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4034 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4039 @subsection Read Articles
4040 @cindex expirable mark
4042 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4047 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4048 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4049 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4052 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4053 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4056 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4057 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4058 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4061 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4062 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4065 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4066 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4069 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4070 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4073 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4074 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4077 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4078 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4081 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4082 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4085 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4086 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4090 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4091 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4092 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4096 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4097 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4099 One more special mark, though:
4103 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4104 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4106 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4107 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4108 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4109 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4115 @subsection Other Marks
4116 @cindex process mark
4119 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4125 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4126 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4127 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4128 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4129 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4132 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4133 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4134 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4135 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4138 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4139 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4140 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4143 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4144 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4145 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4146 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4149 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4150 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4151 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4152 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4153 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4156 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4157 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4158 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4159 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4160 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4161 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4165 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4166 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4167 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4169 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4170 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4171 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4175 @subsection Setting Marks
4176 @cindex setting marks
4178 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4183 @kindex M c (Summary)
4184 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4185 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4186 @cindex mark as unread
4187 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4188 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4194 @kindex M t (Summary)
4195 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4196 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4197 @xref{Article Caching}
4202 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4203 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4204 Mark the current article as dormant
4205 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4209 @kindex M d (Summary)
4211 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4212 Mark the current article as read
4213 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4217 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4218 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4219 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4224 @kindex M k (Summary)
4225 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4226 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4227 and then select the next unread article
4228 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4232 @kindex M K (Summary)
4233 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4234 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4235 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4236 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4239 @kindex M C (Summary)
4240 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4241 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4242 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4245 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4246 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4247 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4248 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4251 @kindex M H (Summary)
4252 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4253 Catchup the current group to point
4254 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4257 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4258 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4259 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4260 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4263 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4264 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4265 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4266 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4270 @kindex M e (Summary)
4272 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4273 Mark the current article as expirable
4274 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4277 @kindex M b (Summary)
4278 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4279 Set a bookmark in the current article
4280 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4283 @kindex M B (Summary)
4284 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4285 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4286 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4289 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4290 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4291 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4292 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4295 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4296 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4297 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4298 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4301 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4302 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4303 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4304 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4305 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4308 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4309 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4310 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4311 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4312 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4313 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4314 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4315 The default is @code{t}.
4318 @node Setting Process Marks
4319 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4320 @cindex setting process marks
4327 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4328 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4329 Mark the current article with the process mark
4330 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4331 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4335 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4336 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4337 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4338 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4341 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4342 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4343 Remove the process mark from all articles
4344 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4347 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4348 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4349 Invert the list of process marked articles
4350 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4353 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4354 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4355 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4356 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4359 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4360 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4361 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4364 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4365 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4366 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4367 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4370 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4371 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4372 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4373 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4376 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4378 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4379 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4382 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4383 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4384 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4387 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4388 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4389 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4390 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4393 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4394 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4395 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4398 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4399 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4400 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4401 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4404 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4405 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4406 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4407 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4410 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4411 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4412 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4413 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4416 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4417 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4418 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4419 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4428 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4429 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4430 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4433 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4434 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4435 additional articles.
4441 @kindex / / (Summary)
4442 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4443 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4444 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4447 @kindex / a (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4449 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4450 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4454 @kindex / u (Summary)
4456 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4457 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4458 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4459 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4460 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4463 @kindex / m (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4465 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4466 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4469 @kindex / t (Summary)
4470 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4471 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4472 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4473 articles younger than that number of days.
4476 @kindex / n (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4478 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4480 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4483 @kindex / w (Summary)
4484 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4485 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4486 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4490 @kindex / v (Summary)
4491 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4492 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4493 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4497 @kindex M S (Summary)
4498 @kindex / E (Summary)
4499 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4500 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4501 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4504 @kindex / D (Summary)
4505 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4506 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4507 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4510 @kindex / * (Summary)
4511 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4512 Include all cached articles in the limit
4513 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4516 @kindex / d (Summary)
4517 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4518 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4519 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4522 @kindex / T (Summary)
4523 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4524 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4527 @kindex / c (Summary)
4528 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4529 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4530 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4533 @kindex / C (Summary)
4534 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4535 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4536 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4537 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4545 @cindex article threading
4547 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4548 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4549 hierarchical fashion.
4551 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4552 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4553 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4554 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4555 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4556 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4557 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4559 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4563 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4566 A tree-like article structure.
4569 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4572 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4573 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4574 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4575 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4576 called loose threads.
4578 @item thread gathering
4579 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4581 @item sparse threads
4582 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4583 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4589 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4590 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4594 @node Customizing Threading
4595 @subsection Customizing Threading
4596 @cindex customizing threading
4599 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4600 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4601 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4602 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4607 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4610 @cindex loose threads
4613 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4614 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4615 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4616 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4617 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4618 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4620 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4621 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4622 There are four possible values:
4626 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4627 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4628 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4629 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4630 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4635 @cindex adopting articles
4640 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4641 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4642 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4643 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4646 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4647 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4648 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4649 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4650 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4651 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4652 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4655 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4656 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4657 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4661 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4662 display them after one another.
4665 Don't gather loose threads.
4668 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4669 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4670 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4671 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4672 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4673 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4674 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4675 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4676 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4677 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4678 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4680 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4681 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4682 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4685 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4686 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4687 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4688 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4689 simplification is used.
4691 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4692 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4693 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4694 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4696 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4698 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4704 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4705 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4706 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4707 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4712 (mapconcat 'identity
4713 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4715 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4718 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4721 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4722 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4723 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4724 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4725 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4726 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4728 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4731 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4732 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4733 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4735 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4736 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4739 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4740 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4741 Remove excessive whitespace.
4744 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4747 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4748 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4749 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4750 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4751 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4752 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4753 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4754 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4756 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4757 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4758 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4759 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4760 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4761 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4762 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4763 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4764 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4768 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4769 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4770 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4771 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4773 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4774 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4775 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4778 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4782 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4783 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4789 @node Filling In Threads
4790 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4793 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4794 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4795 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4796 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4797 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4798 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4799 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4800 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4801 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4802 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4803 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4804 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4806 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4807 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4808 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4810 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4811 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4812 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4813 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4814 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4815 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4816 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4817 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4818 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4819 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4820 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4821 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4822 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4823 @code{nil} by default.
4828 @node More Threading
4829 @subsubsection More Threading
4832 @item gnus-show-threads
4833 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4834 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4835 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4836 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4837 slower and more awkward.
4839 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4840 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4841 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4844 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4845 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4846 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4847 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4848 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4849 threads are expunged.
4851 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4852 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4853 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4856 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4857 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4858 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4859 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4860 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4863 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4864 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4865 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4871 @node Low-Level Threading
4872 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4876 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4877 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4878 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4879 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4880 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4881 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4883 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4884 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4885 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4886 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4887 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4888 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4889 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4890 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4891 meaningful. Here's one example:
4894 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4896 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4897 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4899 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4901 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4908 @node Thread Commands
4909 @subsection Thread Commands
4910 @cindex thread commands
4916 @kindex T k (Summary)
4917 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4919 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4920 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4921 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4926 @kindex T l (Summary)
4927 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4928 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4929 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4930 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4933 @kindex T i (Summary)
4934 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4935 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4936 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4939 @kindex T # (Summary)
4940 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4941 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4942 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4945 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4946 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4947 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4948 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4951 @kindex T T (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4953 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4956 @kindex T s (Summary)
4957 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4958 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4959 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4962 @kindex T h (Summary)
4963 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4964 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4967 @kindex T S (Summary)
4968 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4969 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4972 @kindex T H (Summary)
4973 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4974 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4977 @kindex T t (Summary)
4978 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4979 Re-thread the current article's thread
4980 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4981 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4984 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4985 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4986 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4987 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
4991 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4992 understand the numeric prefix.
4997 @kindex T n (Summary)
4998 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4999 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5002 @kindex T p (Summary)
5003 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5004 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5007 @kindex T d (Summary)
5008 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5009 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5012 @kindex T u (Summary)
5013 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5014 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5017 @kindex T o (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5019 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5022 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5023 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5024 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5025 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5026 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5027 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5028 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5029 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5030 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5031 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5032 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5033 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5040 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5041 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5042 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5043 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5044 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5045 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5046 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5047 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5048 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5049 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5050 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5051 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5052 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5053 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5055 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5056 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5057 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5058 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5059 in the list. You should probably always include
5060 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5061 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5062 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5063 ascending article order.
5065 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5066 number, you could do something like:
5069 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5070 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5071 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5072 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5075 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5076 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5077 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5078 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5079 which the articles arrived.
5081 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5085 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5087 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5088 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5091 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5092 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5093 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5094 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5097 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5098 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5099 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5100 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5101 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5102 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5103 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5104 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5105 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5106 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5107 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5108 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5109 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5111 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5115 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5116 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5117 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5122 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5123 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5124 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5125 @cindex article pre-fetch
5128 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5129 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5130 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5131 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5132 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5134 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5135 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5137 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5138 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5139 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5140 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5141 connection is blocked.
5143 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5144 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5145 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5146 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5148 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5149 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5150 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5151 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5154 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5157 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5158 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5159 happen automatically.
5161 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5162 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5163 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5164 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5165 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5166 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5167 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5169 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5170 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5171 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5172 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5173 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5174 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5175 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5176 data structure as the only parameter.
5178 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5181 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5182 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5183 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5184 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5187 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5190 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5191 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5192 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5194 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5195 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5196 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5197 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5201 Remove articles when they are read.
5204 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5207 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5209 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5210 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5211 from the next group.
5214 @node Article Caching
5215 @section Article Caching
5216 @cindex article caching
5219 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5220 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5221 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5222 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5223 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5225 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5227 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5228 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5229 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5230 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5231 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5232 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5233 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5234 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5236 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5237 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5238 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5239 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5240 as dormant, and don't worry.
5242 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5244 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5245 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5246 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5247 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5248 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5249 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5250 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5251 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5252 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5253 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5255 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5256 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5257 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5258 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5259 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5260 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5261 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5262 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5263 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5264 not then be downloaded by this command.
5266 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5267 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
5268 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5269 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5270 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
5271 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
5272 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
5275 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5276 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5277 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5278 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5279 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5280 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5281 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5282 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5283 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5287 @node Persistent Articles
5288 @section Persistent Articles
5289 @cindex persistent articles
5291 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5292 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5293 useful in my opinion.
5295 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5296 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5297 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5298 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5299 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5300 the expiry going on at the news server.
5302 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5303 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5304 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5310 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5311 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5314 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5315 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5316 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5317 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5321 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5323 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5324 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5325 interested in persistent articles:
5328 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5332 @node Article Backlog
5333 @section Article Backlog
5335 @cindex article backlog
5337 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5338 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5339 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5340 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5341 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5342 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5343 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5344 increase memory usage some.
5346 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5347 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5348 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5349 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5350 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5351 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5352 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5354 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5357 @node Saving Articles
5358 @section Saving Articles
5359 @cindex saving articles
5361 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5362 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5363 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5364 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5365 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5367 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5368 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5369 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5371 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5372 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5373 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5374 deleted before saving.
5380 @kindex O o (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5383 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5384 Save the current article using the default article saver
5385 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5388 @kindex O m (Summary)
5389 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5390 Save the current article in mail format
5391 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5394 @kindex O r (Summary)
5395 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5396 Save the current article in rmail format
5397 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5400 @kindex O f (Summary)
5401 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5402 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5403 Save the current article in plain file format
5404 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5407 @kindex O F (Summary)
5408 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5409 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5410 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5413 @kindex O b (Summary)
5414 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5415 Save the current article body in plain file format
5416 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5419 @kindex O h (Summary)
5420 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5421 Save the current article in mh folder format
5422 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5425 @kindex O v (Summary)
5426 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5427 Save the current article in a VM folder
5428 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5431 @kindex O p (Summary)
5432 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5433 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5434 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5437 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5438 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5439 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5440 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5441 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5442 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5443 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5444 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5445 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5446 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5447 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5448 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5452 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5453 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5454 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5455 functions below, or you can create your own.
5459 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5460 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5461 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5462 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5463 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5464 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5465 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5467 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5468 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5469 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5470 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5471 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5472 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5474 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5475 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5476 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5477 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5478 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5479 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5480 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5482 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5483 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5484 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5485 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5486 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5488 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5489 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5490 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5491 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5492 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5495 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5496 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5497 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5498 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5499 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5501 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5502 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5503 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5504 reader to use this setting.
5507 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5508 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5509 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5510 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5513 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5514 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5515 available functions that generate names:
5519 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5520 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5521 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5523 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5524 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5525 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5527 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5528 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5529 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5531 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5532 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5533 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5536 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5537 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5538 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5539 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5540 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5544 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5545 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5546 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5547 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5550 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5551 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5552 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5553 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5554 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5555 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5556 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5557 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5558 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5560 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5561 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5562 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5563 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5565 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5566 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5567 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5570 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5571 lots of mail groups called things like
5572 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5573 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5574 following will do just that:
5577 (defun my-save-name (group)
5578 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5579 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5581 (setq gnus-split-methods
5582 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5587 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5588 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5589 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5590 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5591 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5592 all the files in the top level directory
5593 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5594 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5595 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5596 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5598 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5599 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5600 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5601 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5602 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5605 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5609 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5610 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5613 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5614 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5615 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5616 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5619 @node Decoding Articles
5620 @section Decoding Articles
5621 @cindex decoding articles
5623 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5624 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5627 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5628 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5629 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5630 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5631 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5632 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5636 @cindex article series
5637 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5638 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5639 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5640 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5641 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5643 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5644 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5645 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5647 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5648 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5649 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5651 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5652 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5653 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5656 @node Uuencoded Articles
5657 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5659 @cindex uuencoded articles
5664 @kindex X u (Summary)
5665 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5666 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5667 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5670 @kindex X U (Summary)
5671 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5672 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5673 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5676 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5677 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5678 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5681 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5682 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5683 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5684 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5688 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5689 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5690 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5691 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5692 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5694 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5695 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5696 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5697 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5700 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5701 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5702 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5703 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5704 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5705 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5709 @node Shell Archives
5710 @subsection Shell Archives
5712 @cindex shell archives
5713 @cindex shared articles
5715 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5716 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5717 some commands to deal with these:
5722 @kindex X s (Summary)
5723 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5724 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5727 @kindex X S (Summary)
5728 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5729 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5732 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5733 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5734 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5737 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5738 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5739 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5740 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5744 @node PostScript Files
5745 @subsection PostScript Files
5751 @kindex X p (Summary)
5752 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5753 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5756 @kindex X P (Summary)
5757 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5758 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5759 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5762 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5763 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5764 View the current PostScript series
5765 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5768 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5770 View and save the current PostScript series
5771 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5776 @subsection Other Files
5780 @kindex X o (Summary)
5781 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5782 Save the current series
5783 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5786 @kindex X b (Summary)
5787 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5788 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5789 doesn't really work yet.
5793 @node Decoding Variables
5794 @subsection Decoding Variables
5796 Adjective, not verb.
5799 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5800 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5801 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5805 @node Rule Variables
5806 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5807 @cindex rule variables
5809 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5810 variables are of the form
5813 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5820 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5821 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5823 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5824 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5827 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5828 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5831 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5832 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5833 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5834 user and default view rules.
5836 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5837 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5838 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5843 @node Other Decode Variables
5844 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5847 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5849 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5850 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5851 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5852 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5853 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5857 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5858 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5861 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5862 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5863 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5866 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5867 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5868 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5869 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5870 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5873 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5874 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5875 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5877 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5878 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5879 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5880 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5881 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5884 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5885 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5886 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5888 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5889 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5890 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5891 looking for files to display.
5893 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5894 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5895 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5898 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5899 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5900 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5903 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5904 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5905 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5908 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5909 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5910 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5913 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5914 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5915 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5916 decoded articles as unread.
5918 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5919 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5920 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5921 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5923 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5924 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5925 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5927 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5928 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5930 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5931 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5932 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5933 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5935 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5936 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5937 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5938 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5939 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5940 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5941 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5942 simply dropped them.
5947 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5948 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5952 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5953 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5954 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5955 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5956 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5957 for you when you post the article.
5959 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5960 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5961 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5962 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5964 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5965 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5966 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5967 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
5968 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5969 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5970 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5972 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5973 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5974 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5975 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5976 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5977 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5978 Default is @code{t}.
5984 @subsection Viewing Files
5985 @cindex viewing files
5986 @cindex pseudo-articles
5988 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5989 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5990 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5991 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5992 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5993 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5994 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5996 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5997 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5998 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5999 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6001 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6002 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6003 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6005 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6006 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6007 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6008 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6009 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6011 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6012 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6013 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6014 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6015 a list of parameters to that command.
6017 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6018 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6019 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6021 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6022 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6023 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6026 @node Article Treatment
6027 @section Article Treatment
6029 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6030 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6031 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6032 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6033 these articles easier.
6036 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6037 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6038 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6039 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6040 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6041 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6042 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6046 @node Article Highlighting
6047 @subsection Article Highlighting
6050 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6051 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6056 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6057 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6058 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
6061 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6062 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6063 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6064 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6065 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6066 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6067 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6068 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6069 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6070 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6071 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6074 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6075 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6076 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6078 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6081 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6083 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6084 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6085 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6087 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6088 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6089 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6091 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6092 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6093 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6095 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6096 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6097 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6098 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6099 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6100 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6102 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6103 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6104 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6106 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6107 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6108 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6110 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6111 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6112 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6113 that it's a citation.
6115 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6116 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6117 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6119 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6120 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6121 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6123 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6124 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6125 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6126 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6132 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6133 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6134 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6135 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6136 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6137 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6138 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6139 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6145 @node Article Fontisizing
6146 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6148 @cindex article emphasis
6150 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6151 @kindex W e (Summary)
6152 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6153 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6154 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6155 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6157 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
6158 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6159 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
6160 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6161 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6162 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6163 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6164 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6168 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6169 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6170 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6173 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6174 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6175 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6176 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6177 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6178 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6179 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6180 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6181 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6182 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6183 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6184 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6185 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6187 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6188 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6189 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6193 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6197 @node Article Hiding
6198 @subsection Article Hiding
6199 @cindex article hiding
6201 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6202 too much cruft in most articles.
6207 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6208 @findex gnus-article-hide
6209 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
6212 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6213 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6214 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6218 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6220 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6221 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6224 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6225 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6226 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6230 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6232 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6233 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6234 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6235 signature has been hidden.
6238 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6240 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6241 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6244 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6246 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6247 customizing the hiding:
6251 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6252 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6253 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6254 50), hide the cited text.
6256 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6257 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6258 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6261 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6262 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6263 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6264 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6265 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6270 Start point of the hidden text.
6272 End point of the hidden text.
6274 Length of the hidden text.
6277 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6278 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6279 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6284 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6285 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6286 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6287 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6288 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6289 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6293 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6294 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6295 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6297 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6298 citation customization.
6301 @node Article Washing
6302 @subsection Article Washing
6304 @cindex article washing
6306 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6307 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6309 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6310 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6316 @kindex W l (Summary)
6317 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6318 Remove page breaks from the current article
6319 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
6322 @kindex W r (Summary)
6323 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6324 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6325 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6326 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6327 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6328 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6330 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6331 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6332 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6333 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6336 @kindex W t (Summary)
6337 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6338 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6339 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6342 @kindex W v (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6344 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6345 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6348 @kindex W m (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6350 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6351 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6354 @kindex W o (Summary)
6355 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6356 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6359 @kindex W d (Summary)
6360 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6361 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6364 @kindex W w (Summary)
6365 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6366 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6367 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6368 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6370 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6374 @kindex W c (Summary)
6375 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6376 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6377 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6380 @kindex W q (Summary)
6381 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6382 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6383 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6384 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6385 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6389 @kindex W f (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6392 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6393 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6394 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6400 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6401 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6402 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6403 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6404 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6405 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6406 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6407 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6408 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6409 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6410 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6411 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6412 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6413 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6417 @kindex W b (Summary)
6418 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6419 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6420 @xref{Article Buttons}
6423 @kindex W B (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6425 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6426 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6429 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6430 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6431 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6432 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6435 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6436 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6437 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6438 lines with a single empty line.
6439 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6442 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6443 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6444 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6445 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6448 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6450 Do all the three commands above
6451 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6454 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6456 Remove all blank lines
6457 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6460 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6461 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6462 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6463 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6468 @node Article Buttons
6469 @subsection Article Buttons
6472 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6473 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6474 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6475 button on these references.
6477 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6478 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6479 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6484 @item gnus-button-alist
6485 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6486 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6489 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6495 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6496 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6497 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6500 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6501 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6502 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6505 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6506 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6507 avoid false matches.
6510 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6513 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6514 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6518 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6521 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6524 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6525 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6526 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6527 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6528 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6531 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6534 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6536 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6537 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6538 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6539 default values of the variables above.
6541 @item gnus-article-button-face
6542 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6543 Face used on buttons.
6545 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6546 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6547 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6553 @subsection Article Date
6555 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6556 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6557 when the article was sent.
6562 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6563 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6564 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6565 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6568 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6569 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6571 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6572 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6575 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6576 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6577 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6580 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6581 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6582 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6583 @findex format-time-string
6584 Display the date using a user-defined format
6585 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6586 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6587 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6588 for a list of possible format specs.
6591 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6593 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6594 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6595 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6596 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6597 updated continually, you can put
6600 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6603 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6604 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6608 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6609 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6610 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6611 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6612 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6613 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6614 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6619 @node Article Signature
6620 @subsection Article Signature
6622 @cindex article signature
6624 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6625 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6626 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6627 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6628 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6629 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6630 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6631 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6632 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6635 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6636 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6637 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6638 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6639 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6640 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6641 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6642 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6645 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6648 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6649 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6654 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6657 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6660 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6661 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6663 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6664 in question is not a signature.
6667 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6668 listed above. Here's an example:
6671 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6672 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6675 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6676 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6677 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6678 signature after all.
6681 @node Article Commands
6682 @section Article Commands
6689 @kindex A P (Summary)
6690 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6691 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6692 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6693 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6694 run just before printing the buffer.
6699 @node Summary Sorting
6700 @section Summary Sorting
6701 @cindex summary sorting
6703 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6704 can't really see why you'd want that.
6709 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6711 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6714 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6715 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6716 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6719 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6720 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6721 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6724 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6725 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6726 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6729 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6730 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6731 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6734 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6735 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6736 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6739 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6740 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6741 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6742 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6743 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6747 @node Finding the Parent
6748 @section Finding the Parent
6749 @cindex parent articles
6750 @cindex referring articles
6755 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6756 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6757 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6758 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6759 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6760 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6761 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6762 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6763 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6765 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6766 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6767 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6768 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6769 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6773 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6774 @kindex A R (Summary)
6775 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6776 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6779 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6780 @kindex A T (Summary)
6781 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6782 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6783 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6784 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6785 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6786 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6787 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6789 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6790 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6791 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6792 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6793 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6794 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6797 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6798 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6800 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6801 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6802 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6803 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6804 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6805 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6806 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6809 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6810 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6811 by giving this command a prefix.
6813 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6814 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6815 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6816 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6817 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6818 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6821 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6822 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6823 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6824 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6825 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6826 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6829 @node Alternative Approaches
6830 @section Alternative Approaches
6832 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6833 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6836 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6837 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6842 @subsection Pick and Read
6843 @cindex pick and read
6845 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6846 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6847 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6848 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6850 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6851 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6852 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6853 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6854 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6855 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6857 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6862 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6863 Pick the article on the current line
6864 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6865 go to that article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
6866 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6869 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6870 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6871 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6872 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6876 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6877 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6881 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6882 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6886 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6887 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6891 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6892 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6896 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6897 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6901 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6902 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6906 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6907 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6911 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6912 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6916 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6917 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6921 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6922 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6926 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6927 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6928 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6929 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6930 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6931 will still be visible when you are reading.
6935 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6938 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6941 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6942 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6944 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6945 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6946 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6948 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6949 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
6950 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6951 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6952 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6953 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6954 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6958 @subsection Binary Groups
6959 @cindex binary groups
6961 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6962 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6963 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6964 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6965 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6966 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6967 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6970 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6971 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
6972 command, when you have turned on this mode
6973 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6975 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6976 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6980 @section Tree Display
6983 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6984 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6985 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6986 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6989 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6992 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6993 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6994 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6996 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6997 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6998 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6999 is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list of valid specs, @pxref{Summary
7002 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7003 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7004 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7005 default is @code{modeline}.
7007 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7008 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7009 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7010 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7011 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7012 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7013 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7019 The name of the poster.
7021 The @code{From} header.
7023 The number of the article.
7025 The opening bracket.
7027 The closing bracket.
7032 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7034 Variables related to the display are:
7037 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7038 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7039 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7040 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7041 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7042 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7044 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7045 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7046 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7047 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7051 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7052 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7053 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7054 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7055 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7056 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7057 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7058 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7059 other windows displayed next to it.
7061 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7062 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7063 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7064 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7065 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7066 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7067 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7071 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7074 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7084 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7088 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7089 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7091 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7093 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7098 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7099 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7100 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7103 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7104 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7105 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7106 (gnus-add-configuration
7110 (summary 0.75 point)
7115 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7118 @node Mail Group Commands
7119 @section Mail Group Commands
7120 @cindex mail group commands
7122 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7123 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7125 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7126 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7131 @kindex B e (Summary)
7132 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7133 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7134 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7137 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7138 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7139 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7140 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7141 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7142 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7145 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7146 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7147 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7148 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7149 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7150 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7153 @kindex B m (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7156 Move the article from one mail group to another
7157 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7160 @kindex B c (Summary)
7162 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7163 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7164 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7165 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7168 @kindex B B (Summary)
7169 @cindex crosspost mail
7170 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7171 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7172 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7173 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7174 be properly updated.
7177 @kindex B i (Summary)
7178 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7179 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7180 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7181 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7184 @kindex B r (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7186 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7187 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7188 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7189 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7193 @kindex B w (Summary)
7195 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7196 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7197 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7198 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7199 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7200 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7203 @kindex B q (Summary)
7204 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7205 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7206 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7207 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7210 @kindex B p (Summary)
7211 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7212 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7213 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7214 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7215 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7216 article from your news server (or rather, from
7217 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7218 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7219 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7220 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7221 just not have arrived yet.
7225 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7226 @cindex moving articles
7227 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7228 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7229 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7230 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7231 suggestions you find reasonable.
7234 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7235 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7236 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7237 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7241 @node Various Summary Stuff
7242 @section Various Summary Stuff
7245 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7246 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7247 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7248 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7252 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7253 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7254 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7256 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7257 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7258 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7259 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7260 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7261 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7264 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7265 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7266 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7267 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7268 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7270 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7271 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7272 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7273 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7274 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7275 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7276 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7277 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7278 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7279 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7284 @node Summary Group Information
7285 @subsection Summary Group Information
7290 @kindex H f (Summary)
7291 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7292 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7293 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7294 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7295 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7296 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7297 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7298 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7299 be used for fetching the file.
7302 @kindex H d (Summary)
7303 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7304 Give a brief description of the current group
7305 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7306 rereading the description from the server.
7309 @kindex H h (Summary)
7310 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7311 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7312 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7315 @kindex H i (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7317 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7321 @node Searching for Articles
7322 @subsection Searching for Articles
7327 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7328 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7329 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7330 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7333 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7334 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7335 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7336 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7340 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7341 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7342 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7343 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7347 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7348 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7349 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7350 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7353 @node Summary Generation Commands
7354 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7359 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7360 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7361 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7364 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7365 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7366 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7367 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7372 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7373 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7378 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7380 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7381 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7382 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7383 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7384 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7385 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7386 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7390 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7391 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7392 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7393 several documents into one biiig group
7394 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7395 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7396 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7397 command understands the process/prefix convention
7398 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7401 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7402 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7403 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7404 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7405 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7406 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7410 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7411 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7412 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7415 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7416 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7417 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7418 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7423 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7424 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7425 @cindex summary exit
7426 @cindex exiting groups
7428 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7429 group and return you to the group buffer.
7435 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7437 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7438 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7439 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7440 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7441 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7442 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7443 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7444 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7445 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7446 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7447 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7451 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7453 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7454 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7455 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7459 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7461 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7462 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7463 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7464 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7467 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7468 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7469 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7470 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7473 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7474 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7475 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7476 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7479 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7480 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7481 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7482 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7483 all articles, both read and unread.
7487 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7488 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7489 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7490 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7491 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7492 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7493 articles, both read and unread.
7496 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7497 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7498 Exit the group and go to the next group
7499 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7502 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7504 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7505 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7508 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7509 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7510 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7511 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7512 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7513 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7516 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7517 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7520 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7521 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7522 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7523 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7524 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7525 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7526 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7527 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7528 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7529 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7530 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7531 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7533 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7535 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7536 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7537 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7538 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7539 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7540 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7541 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7542 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7543 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7546 @node Crosspost Handling
7547 @section Crosspost Handling
7551 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7552 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7553 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7554 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7555 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7556 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7559 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7560 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7561 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7562 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7563 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7565 @cindex cross-posting
7568 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7569 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7570 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7571 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7572 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7573 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7574 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7575 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7576 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7577 the cross reference mechanism.
7579 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7580 @cindex overview.fmt
7581 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7582 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7583 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7584 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7585 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7586 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7589 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7590 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7591 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7596 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7599 @node Duplicate Suppression
7600 @section Duplicate Suppression
7602 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7603 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7604 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7605 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7610 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7611 is evil and not very common.
7614 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7615 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7618 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7619 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7622 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7625 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7626 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7628 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7629 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7630 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7631 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7632 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7633 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7634 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7637 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7638 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7639 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7640 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7641 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7645 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7646 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7647 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7649 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7650 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7651 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7652 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7653 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7654 session are suppressed.
7656 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7657 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7658 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7659 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7661 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7662 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7663 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7664 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7667 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7668 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7669 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7670 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7671 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7672 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7673 to you to figure out, I think.
7676 @node The Article Buffer
7677 @chapter The Article Buffer
7678 @cindex article buffer
7680 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7681 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7682 tell Gnus otherwise.
7685 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7686 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7687 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7688 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7689 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7693 @node Hiding Headers
7694 @section Hiding Headers
7695 @cindex hiding headers
7696 @cindex deleting headers
7698 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7699 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7701 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7702 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7703 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7704 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7705 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7706 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7707 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7708 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7709 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7711 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7715 @item gnus-visible-headers
7716 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7717 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7718 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7719 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7721 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7722 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7725 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7728 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7731 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7732 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7733 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7734 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7735 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7736 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7738 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7739 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7742 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7745 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7748 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7749 variable will have no effect.
7753 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7754 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7755 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7756 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7757 the headers are to be displayed.
7759 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7760 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7763 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7766 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7767 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
7769 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7770 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7771 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7772 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7773 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7774 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7775 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7776 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7777 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7779 These conditions are:
7782 Remove all empty headers.
7784 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7787 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7788 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7790 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7793 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7796 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7798 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7801 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7804 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7805 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7808 This is also the default value for this variable.
7812 @section Using @sc{mime}
7815 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7816 while people stand around yawning.
7818 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7819 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7821 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7822 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7823 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7825 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7826 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7827 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7828 @findex metamail-buffer
7829 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7830 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7831 default. This function calls the external @code{metamail} program to
7832 actually do the work. One common problem with this program is that is
7833 thinks that it can't display 8-bit things in the Emacs buffer. To tell
7834 it the truth, put something like the following in your
7835 @file{.bash_profile} file. (You do use @code{bash}, don't you?)
7838 export MM_CHARSET="iso-8859-1"
7841 For more information on @code{metamail}, see its manual page.
7843 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7844 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7845 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7846 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7847 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7848 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7850 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7851 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7852 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7853 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7854 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7855 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7856 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7857 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7858 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7860 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7863 @node Customizing Articles
7864 @section Customizing Articles
7865 @cindex article customization
7867 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7868 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7869 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7870 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7872 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7873 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7874 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7875 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7876 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7877 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7878 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7879 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7880 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7882 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7883 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7884 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7885 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7886 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7889 @node Article Keymap
7890 @section Article Keymap
7892 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7893 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7894 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7895 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7898 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7903 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7904 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7905 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7908 @kindex DEL (Article)
7909 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7910 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7913 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7914 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7915 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7916 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7917 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7920 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7921 @findex gnus-article-mail
7922 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7923 given a prefix, include the mail.
7927 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7928 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7929 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7933 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7934 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7935 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7938 @kindex TAB (Article)
7939 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7940 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
7941 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7944 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7945 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7946 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
7952 @section Misc Article
7956 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7957 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7958 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7959 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7962 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7963 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7964 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7965 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7966 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7967 the contents of the article buffer.
7969 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7970 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7971 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7972 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7973 hiding headers, and the like.
7975 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7976 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7977 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7979 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7980 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7981 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7982 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7984 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7985 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7986 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7987 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7988 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7992 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7993 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7997 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7999 @item gnus-break-pages
8000 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8001 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8002 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8003 paging will not be done.
8005 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8006 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8007 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8012 @node Composing Messages
8013 @chapter Composing Messages
8014 @cindex composing messages
8017 @cindex sending mail
8022 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8023 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8024 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8025 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8026 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8027 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8028 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8031 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8032 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8033 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8034 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8035 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8036 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8037 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8040 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8041 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8047 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8050 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8051 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8052 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8053 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8055 @item gnus-add-to-list
8056 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8057 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8058 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8066 Variables for composing news articles:
8069 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8070 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8071 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8072 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8073 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8074 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8075 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8076 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8077 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8080 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8081 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8082 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8083 file. It is 1000 by default.
8088 @node Posting Server
8089 @section Posting Server
8091 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8092 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8094 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8096 @vindex gnus-post-method
8098 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8099 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8100 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8101 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8102 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8105 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8108 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8109 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8110 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8111 the ``current'' server for posting.
8113 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8114 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8116 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8117 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8120 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8121 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8122 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8127 @section Mail and Post
8129 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8133 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8134 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8135 @cindex mailing lists
8137 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8138 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8139 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8140 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8141 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8142 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8143 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8144 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8145 still a pain, though.
8149 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8150 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8151 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8154 @findex ispell-message
8156 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8160 @node Archived Messages
8161 @section Archived Messages
8162 @cindex archived messages
8163 @cindex sent messages
8165 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8166 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8167 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8168 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8171 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8172 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8173 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8177 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8178 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8179 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8180 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8183 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8184 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8185 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8186 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8189 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8190 '(nnfolder "archive"
8191 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8192 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8193 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8196 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8198 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8199 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8200 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8202 This variable can be used to do the following:
8206 Messages will be saved in that group.
8207 @item a list of strings
8208 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8209 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8210 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8212 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8217 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8219 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8222 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8224 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8227 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8229 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8230 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8231 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8232 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8237 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8238 '((if (message-news-p)
8243 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8244 messages in one file per month:
8247 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8248 '((if (message-news-p)
8250 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8251 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8254 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8255 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8257 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8258 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8259 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8260 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8261 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8262 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8263 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8264 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8265 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8266 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8268 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8269 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8270 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8271 this will disable archiving.
8274 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8275 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8276 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8277 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8278 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8281 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8282 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8283 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8286 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8287 but the latter is the preferred method.
8291 @c @node Posting Styles
8292 @c @section Posting Styles
8293 @c @cindex posting styles
8296 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
8298 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8299 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8300 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8303 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8304 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8305 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8306 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8307 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8312 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
8313 @c (organization . "What me?"))
8315 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
8316 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8317 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
8320 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8321 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8322 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8323 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8324 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8325 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8326 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8327 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8329 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8330 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8331 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8332 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8333 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8334 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8337 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8338 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8339 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
8340 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8341 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8344 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8345 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8346 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8348 @c So here's a new example:
8351 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
8353 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
8354 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
8355 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8356 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
8358 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8359 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8360 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
8361 @c (posting-from-work-p
8362 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
8363 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
8364 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
8366 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
8373 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8374 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8375 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8376 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8377 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8379 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8380 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8381 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8382 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8383 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8387 @vindex nndraft-directory
8388 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8389 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8390 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8391 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8392 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8393 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8395 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8396 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8399 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8400 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8401 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8402 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8403 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8404 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8405 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8406 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8407 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8408 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8409 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8410 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8411 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8412 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8414 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8415 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8416 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8418 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8420 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8421 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8422 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8424 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8427 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8428 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8429 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8430 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8431 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8432 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8433 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8436 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8437 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8438 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8441 @node Rejected Articles
8442 @section Rejected Articles
8443 @cindex rejected articles
8445 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8446 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8447 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8448 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8450 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8451 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8452 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8453 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8454 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8456 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8457 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8458 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8461 @node Select Methods
8462 @chapter Select Methods
8463 @cindex foreign groups
8464 @cindex select methods
8466 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8467 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8468 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8469 personal mail group.
8471 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8472 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8473 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8474 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8475 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8476 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8478 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8479 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8481 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8484 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8485 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8486 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8487 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8488 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8490 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8493 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8494 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8495 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8496 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8497 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8498 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8502 @node The Server Buffer
8503 @section The Server Buffer
8505 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8506 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8507 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8508 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8509 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8510 backend represents a virtual server.
8512 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8513 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8514 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8515 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8517 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8518 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8519 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8520 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8521 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8522 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8523 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8525 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8526 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8529 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8530 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8531 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8532 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8533 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8534 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8535 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8538 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8539 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8542 @node Server Buffer Format
8543 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8544 @cindex server buffer format
8546 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8547 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8548 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8549 variable, with some simple extensions:
8554 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8557 The name of this server.
8560 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8563 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8566 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8567 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8568 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
8579 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8582 @node Server Commands
8583 @subsection Server Commands
8584 @cindex server commands
8590 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8591 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8595 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8596 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8599 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8600 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8601 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8605 @findex gnus-server-exit
8606 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8610 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8611 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8615 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8616 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8620 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8621 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8625 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8626 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8630 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8631 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8632 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8637 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8638 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8639 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8640 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8645 @node Example Methods
8646 @subsection Example Methods
8648 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8651 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8654 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8660 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8661 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8664 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8665 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8667 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8668 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8672 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8675 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8676 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8678 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8679 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8680 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8684 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8687 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8690 Here's the method for a public spool:
8694 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8695 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8698 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8699 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8700 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8701 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8702 should probably look something like this:
8706 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8707 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8708 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8709 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8710 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8713 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8714 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8715 server that would look something like this:
8719 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8720 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8721 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8722 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8723 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8724 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8727 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8728 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8729 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8730 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8733 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8734 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8736 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8737 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8739 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8740 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8741 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8743 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8745 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8746 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8747 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8748 will contain the following:
8758 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8759 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8760 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8763 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8764 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8765 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8768 @node Server Variables
8769 @subsection Server Variables
8771 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8772 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8773 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8774 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8775 won't change the "derived" variables.
8777 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8778 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8779 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8780 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8781 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8782 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8783 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8784 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8785 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8789 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8790 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8791 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8795 @node Servers and Methods
8796 @subsection Servers and Methods
8798 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8799 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8800 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8801 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8805 @node Unavailable Servers
8806 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8808 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8809 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8810 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8811 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8812 actually the case or not.
8814 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8815 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8816 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8817 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8818 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8819 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8820 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8821 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8823 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8824 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8826 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8827 with the following commands:
8833 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8834 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8835 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8839 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8840 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8841 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8845 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8846 Mark the current server as unreachable
8847 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8850 @kindex M-o (Server)
8851 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8852 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8853 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8856 @kindex M-c (Server)
8857 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8858 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8859 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8863 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8864 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8865 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8871 @section Getting News
8872 @cindex reading news
8873 @cindex news backends
8875 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8876 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8877 or it can read from a local spool.
8880 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8881 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8886 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8889 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8890 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8891 server as the, uhm, address.
8893 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8894 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8895 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8896 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8898 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8899 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8900 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8902 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8907 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8908 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8909 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8911 @cindex authentification
8912 @cindex nntp authentification
8913 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8914 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8915 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
8916 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
8917 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
8918 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
8919 present in this hook.
8921 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8922 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8923 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8924 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
8925 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8926 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
8927 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
8928 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
8929 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
8930 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
8931 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
8932 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
8936 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
8939 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
8940 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password}, and
8941 @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp}
8942 token, which is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format deviates
8943 from the @file{.netrc} file format.)
8947 Here's an example file:
8950 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
8951 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
8954 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
8955 have to be first, for instance.
8957 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
8958 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
8959 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
8960 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
8961 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
8962 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
8963 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
8965 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
8967 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8968 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8969 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8970 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8971 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8974 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8978 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8980 The default value is
8983 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8984 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8987 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8988 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8990 @item nntp-maximum-request
8991 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8992 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8993 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8994 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8995 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8996 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8997 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8999 @c @item nntp-connection-timeout
9000 @c @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9001 @c If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9002 @c regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9003 @c responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9004 @c time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9005 @c somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9006 @c that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9007 @c connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9008 @c no timeouts are done.
9010 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9011 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9012 @c @cindex PPP connections
9013 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9014 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9015 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9016 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9017 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9018 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9019 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9020 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9021 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9022 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9024 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9025 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9026 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9027 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9030 @item nntp-server-hook
9031 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9032 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9035 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9036 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9037 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9038 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9039 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9040 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Three pre-made
9041 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
9042 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
9043 two are @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9044 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9045 available there, and @code{nntp-open-telnet}, which does a @samp{telnet}
9046 to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet} to get to the
9049 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9053 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9054 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9055 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9056 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9058 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9059 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9060 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9062 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9063 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9064 User name on the remote system.
9068 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9071 @item nntp-telnet-command
9072 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9073 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9075 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9076 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9077 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9079 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9080 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9081 User name for log in on the remote system.
9083 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9084 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9085 Password to use when logging in.
9087 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9088 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9089 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9092 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9093 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9094 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9095 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9097 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9098 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9099 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9100 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9101 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9105 @item nntp-end-of-line
9106 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9107 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9108 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9109 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9111 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9112 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9113 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9117 @vindex nntp-address
9118 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9120 @item nntp-port-number
9121 @vindex nntp-port-number
9122 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9125 @item nntp-buggy-select
9126 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9127 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9129 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9130 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9131 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9132 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9135 @item nntp-xover-commands
9136 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9139 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9140 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9144 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9145 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9146 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9147 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9148 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9149 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9150 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9151 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9152 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9153 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9154 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9156 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9157 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9158 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9160 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9161 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9162 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9163 server closes connection.
9165 @item nntp-record-commands
9166 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9167 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9168 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9169 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9170 that doesn't seem to work.
9176 @subsection News Spool
9180 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9181 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9182 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9185 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9186 anything else) as the address.
9188 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9189 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9190 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9191 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9195 @item nnspool-inews-program
9196 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9197 Program used to post an article.
9199 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9200 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9201 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9203 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9204 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9205 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9206 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9208 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9209 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9210 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9211 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9213 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9214 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9215 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9217 @item nnspool-active-file
9218 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9219 The path to the active file.
9221 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9222 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9223 The path to the group descriptions file.
9225 @item nnspool-history-file
9226 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9227 The path to the news history file.
9229 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9230 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9231 The path to the active date file.
9233 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9234 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9235 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9238 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9239 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9241 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9242 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9243 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9249 @section Getting Mail
9250 @cindex reading mail
9253 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9257 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9258 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9259 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9260 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9261 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9262 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9263 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9264 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9265 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9266 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9267 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9271 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9272 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9274 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9275 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9276 and things will happen automatically.
9278 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9279 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9282 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9283 '((nnml "private")))
9286 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9287 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9288 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9289 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9290 like any other group.
9292 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9295 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9296 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9297 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9301 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9302 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9303 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9306 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9307 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9308 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9311 @node Splitting Mail
9312 @subsection Splitting Mail
9313 @cindex splitting mail
9314 @cindex mail splitting
9316 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9317 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9318 to be split into groups.
9321 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9322 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9323 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9327 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9328 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9329 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9330 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9331 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9332 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9333 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9336 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9339 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
9340 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
9343 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9344 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9345 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9346 mail belongs in that group.
9348 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9349 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9350 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9351 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9352 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9353 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9355 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9356 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9357 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9358 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9359 thinks should carry this mail message.
9361 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9362 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9363 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9364 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9366 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9367 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9368 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9369 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9370 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9372 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9375 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9376 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9377 links. If that's the case for you, set
9378 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9379 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9381 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9382 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9383 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9384 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9386 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9387 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9388 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9389 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9390 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9391 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9392 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9393 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9397 @node Mail Backend Variables
9398 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9400 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9404 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9405 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9406 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9407 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9409 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9410 @item nnmail-spool-file
9414 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9415 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9416 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9417 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9418 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9419 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9420 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9421 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9422 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9423 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9424 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9425 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9426 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9427 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9428 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9430 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9432 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9433 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9436 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9437 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9438 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9439 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9440 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9441 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9443 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9444 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9445 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9446 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9447 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9448 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9449 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9452 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9453 @item nnmail-crash-box
9454 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9455 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9456 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9459 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9460 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9461 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9462 used for, well, anything, really.
9464 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9465 @item nnmail-split-hook
9466 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9467 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9468 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9469 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9470 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9471 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9472 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9473 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9475 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9476 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9477 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9478 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9479 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9480 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9481 starting to handle the new mail) and
9482 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9483 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9484 default file modes the new mail files get:
9487 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9488 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9490 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9491 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9494 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9495 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9496 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9497 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9498 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9499 it will be used instead.
9501 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9502 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9503 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9504 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9506 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9507 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9510 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9511 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9512 @cindex incoming mail files
9513 @cindex deleting incoming files
9514 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9515 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9518 @c This is @code{nil} by
9519 @c default for reasons of security.
9521 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9522 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9523 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9524 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9525 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9528 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9530 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9531 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9532 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9533 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9534 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9535 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9536 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9538 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9539 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9541 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9543 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9544 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9545 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9546 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9547 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9552 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9553 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9554 @cindex mail splitting
9555 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9557 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9558 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9559 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9560 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9561 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9562 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9564 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9567 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9568 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9569 ;; from real errors.
9570 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9572 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9573 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9574 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9575 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9576 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9577 ;; Other mailing lists...
9578 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9579 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9581 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9582 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9586 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9587 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9588 the five possible split syntaxes:
9593 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
9596 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9597 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9598 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9601 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9602 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9603 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9604 be stored in one or more groups.
9607 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9608 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9611 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9615 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9616 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9617 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9622 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9623 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9624 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9625 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9626 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9628 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9629 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9630 are expanded as specified by the variable
9631 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9632 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9635 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9636 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9637 when all this splitting is performed.
9639 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9640 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9641 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9644 (any "debian-\\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9647 @node Mail and Procmail
9648 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9653 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9654 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9655 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9656 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9657 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9659 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9660 something like the following:
9662 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9664 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9665 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9666 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9669 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9670 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9673 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9674 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9675 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9676 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9677 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9678 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9680 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9683 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9685 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9686 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9688 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9689 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9690 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9691 to include all your mail groups.
9693 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9694 method will be created automatically.
9696 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9697 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9698 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9699 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9700 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9701 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9702 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9703 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9705 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9706 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9707 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9708 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9709 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9711 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9712 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9713 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9714 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9715 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9716 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9718 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9719 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9720 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9721 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9722 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9725 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9726 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9727 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9728 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9729 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9733 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9734 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9736 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9737 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9738 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9741 Doing so can be quite easy.
9743 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9744 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9745 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9746 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9747 your @code{nnml} groups.
9753 Go to the group buffer.
9756 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9757 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9760 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9763 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9764 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9767 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9768 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9771 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9772 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9773 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9774 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9775 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9777 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9778 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9779 using the new mail backend.
9783 @subsection Expiring Mail
9784 @cindex article expiry
9786 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9787 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9788 different approach to mail reading.
9790 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9791 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9792 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9793 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9794 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9795 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9798 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9799 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9800 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9801 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9802 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9803 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9804 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9805 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9807 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9808 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9809 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9810 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9811 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9812 column in the summary buffer.
9814 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9815 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9816 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9817 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9820 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9822 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9823 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9824 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9827 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9828 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
9829 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9830 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9831 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9833 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9834 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9837 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9838 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9841 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9842 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9844 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9845 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9846 don't really mix very well.
9848 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9849 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9850 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9851 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9854 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9855 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9856 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9857 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9860 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9862 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9864 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9866 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9868 ((string= group "important")
9874 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9875 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9877 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9878 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
9879 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
9882 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9883 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9885 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9886 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9887 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9888 easier for procmail users.
9890 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9891 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9892 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9893 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9894 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9895 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9896 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9897 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9898 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9899 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9900 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9901 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9902 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9905 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9909 @subsection Washing Mail
9910 @cindex mail washing
9911 @cindex list server brain damage
9912 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9914 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9915 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9916 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9917 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9918 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9919 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9921 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9922 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9923 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9926 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9927 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9928 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9929 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9932 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9933 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9934 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9935 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9938 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9939 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9940 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9941 Emacs running on MS machines.
9945 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9946 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9947 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9948 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9951 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9952 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9953 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9954 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
9956 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9957 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9958 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9959 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9960 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9961 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9962 also be a list of regexp.
9964 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9965 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9968 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9969 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9972 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9973 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9974 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9978 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9979 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9980 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9984 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9985 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9986 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9993 @subsection Duplicates
9995 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9996 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9997 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9998 @cindex duplicate mails
9999 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10000 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10001 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10002 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10003 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10004 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10005 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10006 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10007 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10008 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10009 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10010 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10011 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10013 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10014 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10015 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10016 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10018 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10021 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10022 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10026 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10027 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10028 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10029 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10030 (any mail "mail.misc")
10037 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10038 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10043 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10044 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10045 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10046 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10047 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10050 @node Not Reading Mail
10051 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10053 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10054 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10055 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10057 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10058 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10060 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10061 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10062 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10063 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10064 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10065 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10066 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10067 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10068 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10069 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10070 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10072 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10073 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10077 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10078 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10080 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10081 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10082 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10085 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10086 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10087 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10088 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10089 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10093 @node Unix Mail Box
10094 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10096 @cindex unix mail box
10098 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10099 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10100 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10101 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10102 which group it belongs in.
10104 Virtual server settings:
10107 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10108 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10109 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10111 @item nnmbox-active-file
10112 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10113 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10115 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10116 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10117 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10123 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10127 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10128 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10129 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10130 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10131 article to say which group it belongs in.
10133 Virtual server settings:
10136 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10137 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10138 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10140 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10141 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10142 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10144 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10145 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10146 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10151 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10153 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10155 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10156 format. It should be used with some caution.
10158 @vindex nnml-directory
10159 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10160 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10161 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10162 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10164 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10167 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10168 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10169 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10170 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10171 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10172 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10173 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10174 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10176 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10177 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10178 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10179 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10181 Virtual server settings:
10184 @item nnml-directory
10185 @vindex nnml-directory
10186 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10188 @item nnml-active-file
10189 @vindex nnml-active-file
10190 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10192 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10193 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10194 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10197 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10198 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10199 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10201 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10202 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10203 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10205 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10206 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10207 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10209 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10210 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10211 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10215 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10216 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10217 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10218 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10219 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10220 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10221 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10226 @subsubsection MH Spool
10228 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10230 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10231 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10232 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10233 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10235 Virtual server settings:
10238 @item nnmh-directory
10239 @vindex nnmh-directory
10240 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10242 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10243 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10244 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10247 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10248 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10249 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10250 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10251 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10252 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10253 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10258 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10260 @cindex mbox folders
10261 @cindex mail folders
10263 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10264 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10265 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10268 Virtual server settings:
10271 @item nnfolder-directory
10272 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10273 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10275 @item nnfolder-active-file
10276 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10277 The name of the active file.
10279 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10280 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10281 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10283 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10284 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10285 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10288 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10289 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10290 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10291 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10292 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10293 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10296 @node Other Sources
10297 @section Other Sources
10299 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10300 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10304 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10305 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10306 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10307 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10308 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10309 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10313 @node Directory Groups
10314 @subsection Directory Groups
10316 @cindex directory groups
10318 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10319 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10322 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10323 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10324 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10325 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10327 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10328 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10329 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10330 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10331 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10333 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10335 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10336 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10337 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10338 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10341 @node Anything Groups
10342 @subsection Anything Groups
10345 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10346 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10347 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10350 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10351 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10352 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10353 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10354 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10355 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10356 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10357 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10358 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10359 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10362 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10363 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10364 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10365 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10367 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10368 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10369 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10370 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10372 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10373 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10374 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10375 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10376 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10377 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10378 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10379 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10384 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10385 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10386 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10387 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10389 @item nneething-exclude-files
10390 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10391 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10392 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10394 @item nneething-map-file
10395 @vindex nneething-map-file
10396 Name of the map files.
10400 @node Document Groups
10401 @subsection Document Groups
10403 @cindex documentation group
10406 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10407 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10414 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10419 The standard Unix mbox file.
10421 @cindex MMDF mail box
10423 The MMDF mail box format.
10426 Several news articles appended into a file.
10429 @cindex rnews batch files
10430 The rnews batch transport format.
10431 @cindex forwarded messages
10434 Forwarded articles.
10438 @cindex MIME digest
10439 @cindex 1153 digest
10440 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10441 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10442 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10444 @item standard-digest
10445 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10448 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10451 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10452 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10453 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10456 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10457 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10458 group. And that's it.
10460 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10461 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10462 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10463 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10464 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10465 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10466 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10467 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10468 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10469 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10471 Virtual server variables:
10474 @item nndoc-article-type
10475 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10476 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10477 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10478 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{standard-digest},
10479 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
10481 @item nndoc-post-type
10482 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10483 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10484 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10489 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10493 @node Document Server Internals
10494 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10496 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10497 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10498 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10499 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10501 First, here's an example document type definition:
10505 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10506 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10509 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10510 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10511 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10512 types can be defined with very few settings:
10515 @item first-article
10516 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10517 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10520 @item article-begin
10521 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10522 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10524 @item head-begin-function
10525 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10528 @item nndoc-head-begin
10529 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10532 @item nndoc-head-end
10533 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10534 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10536 @item body-begin-function
10537 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10541 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10544 @item body-end-function
10545 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10549 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10552 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10553 regexp will be totally ignored.
10557 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10558 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10559 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10560 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10561 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10564 @item prepare-body-function
10565 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10566 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10567 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10569 @item article-transform-function
10570 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10571 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10572 body of the article.
10574 @item generate-head-function
10575 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10576 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10577 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10578 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10582 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10587 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10588 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10589 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10590 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10591 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10592 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10593 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10594 (subtype digest guess))
10597 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10598 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10599 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10600 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10601 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10603 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10604 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10605 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10606 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10607 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
10608 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10609 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10610 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10611 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10612 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10620 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10621 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10622 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10624 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10625 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10626 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10629 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10630 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10631 that interested in doing things properly.
10633 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10634 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10637 First some terminology:
10642 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10643 get news and/or mail from.
10646 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10647 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10650 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10654 @item message packets
10655 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10656 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10657 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10659 @item response packets
10660 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10661 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10662 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10672 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10673 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10674 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10675 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10678 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10681 You put the packet in your home directory.
10684 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10685 the native or secondary server.
10688 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10689 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10692 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10696 You transfer this packet to the server.
10699 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10702 You then repeat until you die.
10706 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10707 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10710 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10711 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10712 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10716 @node SOUP Commands
10717 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10719 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10723 @kindex G s b (Group)
10724 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10725 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10726 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10727 process/prefix convention.
10730 @kindex G s w (Group)
10731 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10732 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10735 @kindex G s s (Group)
10736 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10737 Send all replies from the replies packet
10738 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10741 @kindex G s p (Group)
10742 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10743 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10746 @kindex G s r (Group)
10747 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10748 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10751 @kindex O s (Summary)
10752 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10753 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10754 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10755 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10760 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10765 @item gnus-soup-directory
10766 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10767 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10768 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10770 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10771 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10772 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10773 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10775 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10776 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10777 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10778 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10780 @item gnus-soup-packer
10781 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10782 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10783 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10785 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10786 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10787 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10788 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10790 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10791 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10792 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10794 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10795 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10796 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10797 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10803 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10806 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10807 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10808 you can read them at leisure.
10810 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10814 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10815 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10816 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10817 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10819 @item nnsoup-directory
10820 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10821 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10822 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10824 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10825 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10826 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
10827 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10829 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10830 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10831 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10832 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10833 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10835 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10836 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10837 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
10838 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10840 @item nnsoup-active-file
10841 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10842 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10843 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10844 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10845 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10847 @item nnsoup-packer
10848 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10849 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10850 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10852 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10853 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10854 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10855 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10857 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10858 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10859 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10862 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10863 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10864 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10867 @item nnsoup-always-save
10868 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
10869 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
10875 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10877 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10878 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10879 more for that to happen.
10881 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10882 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10883 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10886 In specific, this is what it does:
10889 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10890 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10893 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10894 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10895 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10899 @subsection Web Searches
10903 @cindex InReference
10904 @cindex Usenet searches
10905 @cindex searching the Usenet
10907 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10908 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10909 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10910 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10911 searches without having to use a browser.
10913 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10914 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10915 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10916 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10917 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10919 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10920 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10921 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10922 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10923 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
10924 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10925 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10926 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10927 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10928 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
10931 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10932 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10933 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10934 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10935 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10936 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10938 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10939 to use @code{nnweb}.
10941 Virtual server variables:
10946 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10947 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
10951 @vindex nnweb-search
10952 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10954 @item nnweb-max-hits
10955 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10956 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10959 @item nnweb-type-definition
10960 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10961 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10962 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10967 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10971 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10974 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10977 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10981 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10988 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10989 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10990 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10993 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10994 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10995 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10997 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11003 @item nngateway-address
11004 @vindex nngateway-address
11005 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11007 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11008 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11009 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11010 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11011 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11012 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11013 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11016 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11017 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11018 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11021 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11024 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11027 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11032 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11035 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11039 @node Combined Groups
11040 @section Combined Groups
11042 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11046 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11047 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11051 @node Virtual Groups
11052 @subsection Virtual Groups
11054 @cindex virtual groups
11056 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11059 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11060 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11061 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11063 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11064 regexp to match component groups.
11066 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11067 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11068 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11069 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11070 the virtual group.)
11072 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11073 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11076 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11079 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11080 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11082 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11083 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11084 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11085 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11088 "^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11091 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11092 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11093 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11095 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11096 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11097 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11098 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11099 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11101 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11102 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11103 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11105 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11106 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11107 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11108 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11109 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11110 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11111 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11112 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11113 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11114 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11115 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11118 @node Kibozed Groups
11119 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11123 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11124 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11125 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11126 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11128 @kindex G k (Group)
11129 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11132 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11133 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11134 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11135 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11137 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11138 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11139 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11141 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11142 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11143 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11144 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11145 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11146 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11147 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11148 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11150 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11151 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11152 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11153 Stranger things have happened.
11155 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11156 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11158 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11159 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11160 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11161 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11162 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11163 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11165 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11166 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11169 @node Gnus Unplugged
11170 @section Gnus Unplugged
11175 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11177 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11178 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11179 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11180 read news. Believe it or not.
11182 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11183 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11184 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11185 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11186 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11188 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11189 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11190 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11191 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11192 reading news on a machine.
11194 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11198 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11199 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11203 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11204 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11211 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11213 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11216 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11217 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11218 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11219 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11220 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11221 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11222 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11223 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11228 @subsection Agent Basics
11230 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11232 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11233 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11234 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11235 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11237 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11238 connected to the net continuously.
11240 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11241 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11243 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11248 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11249 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11250 already fetched while in this mode.
11253 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11254 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11255 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11258 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11259 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11260 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11261 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11264 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11265 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11266 then you read the news offline.
11269 And then you go to step 2.
11272 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11278 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11279 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11280 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11281 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11282 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11283 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11286 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11293 @node Agent Categories
11294 @subsection Agent Categories
11296 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11297 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11298 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11299 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11300 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11301 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11302 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11304 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11305 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11306 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11309 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11310 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11311 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11315 @node Category Syntax
11316 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11318 A category consists of two things.
11322 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11323 are eligible for downloading; and
11326 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11327 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11328 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11331 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11334 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11336 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11337 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11343 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11344 short (for some value of ``short'').
11346 Here's a more complex predicate:
11355 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11356 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11359 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11360 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11361 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11363 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11364 you want to do, you can write your own.
11368 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11369 lines; default 100.
11372 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11373 lines; default 200.
11376 True iff the article has a download score less than
11377 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11380 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11381 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11384 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11385 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11386 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11395 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11396 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11397 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11400 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11401 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11402 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11403 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11404 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11405 and @code{References}.
11408 @node The Category Buffer
11409 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11411 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11412 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11413 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11415 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11419 @kindex q (Category)
11420 @findex gnus-category-exit
11421 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11424 @kindex k (Category)
11425 @findex gnus-category-kill
11426 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11429 @kindex c (Category)
11430 @findex gnus-category-copy
11431 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11434 @kindex a (Category)
11435 @findex gnus-category-add
11436 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11439 @kindex p (Category)
11440 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11441 Edit the predicate of the current category
11442 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11445 @kindex g (Category)
11446 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11447 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11448 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11451 @kindex s (Category)
11452 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11453 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11454 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11457 @kindex l (Category)
11458 @findex gnus-category-list
11459 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11463 @node Category Variables
11464 @subsubsection Category Variables
11467 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11468 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11469 Hook run in category buffers.
11471 @item gnus-category-line-format
11472 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11473 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11474 Variables}). Legal elements are:
11478 The name of the category.
11481 The number of groups in the category.
11484 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11485 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11486 Format of the category mode line.
11488 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11489 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11490 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11492 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11493 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11494 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11496 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11497 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11498 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11501 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11502 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11503 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11509 @node Agent Commands
11510 @subsection Agent Commands
11512 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11513 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11514 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11518 * Group Agent Commands::
11519 * Summary Agent Commands::
11520 * Server Agent Commands::
11523 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11524 following incantation:
11526 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11528 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11533 @node Group Agent Commands
11534 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11538 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11539 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11540 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11541 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11544 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11545 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11546 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11549 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11550 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11551 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11552 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11555 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11556 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11557 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11558 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11561 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11562 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11563 Add the current group to an Agent category
11564 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11569 @node Summary Agent Commands
11570 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11574 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11575 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11576 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11579 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11580 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11581 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11582 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11585 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11586 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11587 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11590 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11591 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11592 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11597 @node Server Agent Commands
11598 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11602 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11603 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11604 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11605 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11608 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11609 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11610 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11611 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11617 @subsection Agent Expiry
11619 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11620 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11621 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11622 @cindex Agent expiry
11623 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11626 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11627 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11628 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11629 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11630 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11631 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11633 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11634 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11635 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11636 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11637 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11640 @node Outgoing Messages
11641 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11643 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11644 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11645 after posting, and edit them at will.
11647 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11648 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11649 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11650 messages in the draft group.
11654 @node Agent Variables
11655 @subsection Agent Variables
11658 @item gnus-agent-directory
11659 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11660 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11661 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11663 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11664 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11665 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11666 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11667 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11670 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11671 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11672 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11674 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11675 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11676 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11681 @node Example Setup
11682 @subsection Example Setup
11684 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11685 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11686 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11689 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11690 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11691 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11693 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11694 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11695 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11696 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11698 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11699 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11701 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11705 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11706 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11709 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11710 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11711 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11712 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11713 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11716 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11717 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11718 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11719 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11720 back all the killed groups.)
11722 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11723 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11724 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11727 @node Batching Agents
11728 @subsection Batching Agents
11730 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11731 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11732 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11736 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11745 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11746 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11747 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11750 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11751 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11752 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11753 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11754 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11756 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11757 before generating the summary buffer.
11759 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11760 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11761 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
11763 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
11764 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
11765 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
11766 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
11769 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
11770 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
11771 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
11772 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
11773 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
11774 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
11775 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
11776 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
11777 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
11778 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
11779 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
11780 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
11781 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
11782 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
11783 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
11784 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
11788 @node Summary Score Commands
11789 @section Summary Score Commands
11790 @cindex score commands
11792 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
11793 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
11794 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
11795 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
11796 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
11798 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
11799 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
11800 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
11801 score file the current one.
11803 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
11808 @kindex V s (Summary)
11809 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
11810 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
11813 @kindex V S (Summary)
11814 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
11815 Display the score of the current article
11816 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
11819 @kindex V t (Summary)
11820 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
11821 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
11822 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
11825 @kindex V R (Summary)
11826 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
11827 Run the current summary through the scoring process
11828 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
11829 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
11830 effect you're having.
11833 @kindex V a (Summary)
11834 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
11835 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
11836 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
11839 @kindex V c (Summary)
11840 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
11841 Make a different score file the current
11842 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
11845 @kindex V e (Summary)
11846 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
11847 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
11848 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
11852 @kindex V f (Summary)
11853 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
11854 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
11855 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
11858 @kindex V F (Summary)
11859 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11860 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
11861 after editing score files.
11864 @kindex V C (Summary)
11865 @findex gnus-score-customize
11866 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
11867 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
11871 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
11876 @kindex V m (Summary)
11877 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
11878 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
11879 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
11882 @kindex V x (Summary)
11883 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
11884 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
11885 expunge all articles below this score
11886 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
11889 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
11890 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
11893 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
11894 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
11898 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
11899 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
11901 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
11902 keys are available:
11906 Score on the author name.
11909 Score on the subject line.
11912 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
11915 Score on thread---the References line.
11921 Score on the number of lines.
11924 Score on the Message-ID.
11927 Score on followups.
11937 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
11938 what headers you are scoring on.
11950 Substring matching.
11953 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
11982 Greater than number.
11987 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
11988 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
11989 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
11993 Temporary score entry.
11996 Permanent score entry.
11999 Immediately scoring.
12004 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12005 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12006 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12007 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12009 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12010 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12011 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12012 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12013 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12015 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12016 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12017 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12018 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12019 current score file.
12021 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12022 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12023 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12026 @node Group Score Commands
12027 @section Group Score Commands
12028 @cindex group score commands
12030 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12035 @kindex W f (Group)
12036 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12037 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12038 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12039 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12043 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12045 @findex gnus-batch-score
12046 @cindex batch scoring
12048 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12052 @node Score Variables
12053 @section Score Variables
12054 @cindex score variables
12058 @item gnus-use-scoring
12059 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12060 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12061 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12063 @item gnus-kill-killed
12064 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12065 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12066 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12067 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12068 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12069 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12070 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12072 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12073 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12074 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12075 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12076 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12078 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12079 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12080 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12081 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12083 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12084 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12085 @cindex score cache
12086 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12087 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12088 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
12089 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12090 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12091 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12094 @item gnus-save-score
12095 @vindex gnus-save-score
12096 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12097 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12098 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12100 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12101 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12102 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12103 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12104 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12105 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12106 manually entered data.
12108 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12109 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12110 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12112 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12113 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12114 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12115 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12116 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12117 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12119 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12120 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12121 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12122 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12124 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12125 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12126 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12127 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12129 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12130 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12131 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12132 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12134 Predefined functions available are:
12137 @item gnus-score-find-single
12138 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12139 Only apply the group's own score file.
12141 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12142 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12143 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12144 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12145 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12146 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12147 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12148 then a regexp match is done.
12150 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12151 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12153 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12154 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12155 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12156 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12158 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12159 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12160 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12161 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12162 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12165 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12166 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12167 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12168 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12169 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12170 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12173 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12174 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12175 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12176 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12177 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12179 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12180 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12181 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12182 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12183 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12184 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12185 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12188 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12189 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12190 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12192 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12193 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12194 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12195 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12196 threading---according to the current value of
12197 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12198 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12199 simplified in this manner.
12204 @node Score File Format
12205 @section Score File Format
12206 @cindex score file format
12208 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12209 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12210 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12212 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12216 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12218 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12220 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12222 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12227 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12231 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12232 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12233 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12234 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12238 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12239 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12241 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12242 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12243 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12245 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12250 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12251 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12252 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12253 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12254 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12255 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12256 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12257 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12258 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12259 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12260 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12261 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12262 to articles that matches these score entries.
12264 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12265 score entry has one to four elements.
12269 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12270 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12274 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12275 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12276 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12277 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12278 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12279 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12282 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12283 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12284 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12285 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12286 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12289 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12290 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12291 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12292 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12295 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12296 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12297 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12298 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12299 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12300 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12301 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12302 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12303 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12304 instead, if you feel like.
12307 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12308 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
12309 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
12310 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
12311 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
12312 the articles with few lines.
12315 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12316 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12317 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12318 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12319 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12320 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12321 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12325 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12326 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12327 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12328 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12329 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12330 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12331 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12332 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12335 @item Head, Body, All
12336 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12340 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12341 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12342 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12343 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12344 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12345 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12346 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12350 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12351 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
12352 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12353 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12354 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12355 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12356 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12357 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12358 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12359 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12363 @cindex Score File Atoms
12365 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12366 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12369 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12370 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12372 @item mark-and-expunge
12373 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12374 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12377 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12378 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12379 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12380 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12381 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12384 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12385 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12388 @item exclude-files
12389 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12390 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12394 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12395 ignored when handling global score files.
12398 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12399 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12400 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12401 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12404 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12405 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12406 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12407 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12409 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12413 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12416 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12417 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12418 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12419 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12420 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12422 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12423 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12424 ordinary scoring rules.
12427 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12428 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12429 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12430 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12431 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12432 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12433 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12434 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12435 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12436 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12437 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12441 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12442 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12443 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12444 file for a number of groups.
12447 @cindex local variables
12448 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12449 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12450 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12451 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12452 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12456 @node Score File Editing
12457 @section Score File Editing
12459 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12460 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12461 with a mode for that.
12463 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12464 additional commands:
12469 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12470 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12471 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12472 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12475 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12476 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12477 Insert the current date in numerical format
12478 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12479 you were wondering.
12482 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12483 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12484 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12485 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12486 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12491 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12493 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12494 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12496 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12497 e} to begin editing score files.
12500 @node Adaptive Scoring
12501 @section Adaptive Scoring
12502 @cindex adaptive scoring
12504 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12505 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12506 stupidity, to be precise.
12508 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12509 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12510 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12511 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12512 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12513 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12514 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12515 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12516 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12518 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12519 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12520 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12521 might look something like this:
12524 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12525 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12526 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12527 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12528 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12529 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12530 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12531 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12532 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12533 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12534 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12535 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12538 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12539 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12540 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12541 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12542 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12543 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12546 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12547 will be applied to each article.
12549 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12550 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12551 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12552 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12554 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12555 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12556 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12557 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12559 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12560 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12561 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12562 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12564 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12565 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12566 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12567 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12568 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12569 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12571 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12572 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12573 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12574 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12575 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12576 aspirins afterwards.)
12578 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12579 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12580 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12582 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12583 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12584 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12586 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12587 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12588 let you use different rules in different groups.
12590 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12591 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12592 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12595 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12596 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12597 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12598 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12599 the length of the match is less than
12600 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12601 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12604 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12605 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12606 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12607 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12608 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12611 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12612 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12613 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12614 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12615 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12618 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12619 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12620 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12621 score with 30 points.
12623 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12624 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12625 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12626 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12627 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12629 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12630 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12631 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12632 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12634 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12635 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12636 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12637 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12639 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12640 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12641 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12643 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12644 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12645 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12646 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12649 @node Home Score File
12650 @section Home Score File
12652 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12653 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12654 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12655 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12657 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12658 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12659 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12661 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12662 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12667 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12671 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12672 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12676 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12680 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12681 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12684 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12685 the home score file.
12688 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12691 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12696 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12699 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12700 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12703 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12704 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12707 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12708 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12711 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12713 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12714 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12715 their own home score files:
12718 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12719 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12720 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12721 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12722 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
12725 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12726 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12727 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12728 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12729 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12731 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12732 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12733 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
12734 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
12735 precedence over this variable.
12738 @node Followups To Yourself
12739 @section Followups To Yourself
12741 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
12742 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
12743 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
12744 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
12745 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
12746 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
12750 @item gnus-score-followup-article
12751 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
12752 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
12755 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
12756 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
12757 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
12761 @vindex message-sent-hook
12762 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
12763 @code{message-sent-hook}.
12765 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
12766 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
12770 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12771 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12774 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
12775 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
12780 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
12784 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
12785 is system-dependent.
12789 @section Scoring Tips
12790 @cindex scoring tips
12796 @cindex scoring crossposts
12797 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
12798 the @code{Xref} header.
12800 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
12803 @item Multiple crossposts
12804 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
12805 more than, say, 3 groups:
12807 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
12810 @item Matching on the body
12811 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
12812 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
12813 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
12814 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
12815 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
12816 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
12817 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
12820 @item Marking as read
12821 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
12822 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
12823 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
12827 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
12829 @item Negated character classes
12830 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
12831 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
12832 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
12836 @node Reverse Scoring
12837 @section Reverse Scoring
12838 @cindex reverse scoring
12840 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
12841 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
12842 like this in your score file:
12846 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
12851 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
12852 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
12855 @node Global Score Files
12856 @section Global Score Files
12857 @cindex global score files
12859 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
12860 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
12861 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
12863 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
12864 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
12865 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
12867 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
12868 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
12869 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
12870 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
12871 files are applicable to which group.
12873 Say you want to use the score file
12874 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
12875 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
12878 (setq gnus-global-score-files
12879 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
12880 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
12883 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
12884 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
12885 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
12886 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
12887 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
12889 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
12890 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
12892 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
12893 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
12894 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
12895 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
12896 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
12897 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
12899 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
12905 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
12907 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
12909 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
12911 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
12912 lowered out of existence.
12914 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
12915 articles completely.
12918 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
12919 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
12920 old articles for a long time.
12923 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
12924 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
12925 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
12926 holding our breath yet?
12930 @section Kill Files
12933 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
12934 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
12935 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
12937 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
12938 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
12939 files into score files.
12941 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
12942 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
12943 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
12944 that isn't a very good idea.
12946 Normal kill files look like this:
12949 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12950 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
12954 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
12955 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
12957 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
12958 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
12961 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
12966 @kindex M-k (Summary)
12967 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
12968 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
12971 @kindex M-K (Summary)
12972 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
12973 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
12976 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
12981 @kindex M-k (Group)
12982 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
12983 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
12986 @kindex M-K (Group)
12987 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
12988 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
12991 Kill file variables:
12994 @item gnus-kill-file-name
12995 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
12996 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
12997 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
12998 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
12999 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13000 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13002 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13003 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13004 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13005 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13008 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13009 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13010 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13011 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13012 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13013 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13014 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13015 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13016 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13018 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13019 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13020 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13025 @node Converting Kill Files
13026 @section Converting Kill Files
13028 @cindex converting kill files
13030 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13031 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13032 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13035 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13036 You can fetch it from
13037 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13039 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13040 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13041 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13049 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13050 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13051 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13053 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13054 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13055 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13056 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13057 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13058 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13059 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13060 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13064 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13065 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13066 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13067 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13071 @node Using GroupLens
13072 @subsection Using GroupLens
13074 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13076 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13077 better bit in town at the moment.
13079 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13083 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13084 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13085 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13086 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13088 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13089 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13090 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13091 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13093 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13094 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13095 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13099 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13100 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13101 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13102 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13103 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13104 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13107 @node Rating Articles
13108 @subsection Rating Articles
13110 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13111 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13112 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13113 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13116 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13121 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13122 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13123 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13126 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13127 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13128 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13129 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13130 threads in rec.humor.
13134 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13135 the score of the article you're reading.
13140 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13141 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13142 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13145 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13146 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13147 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13151 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13152 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13155 @node Displaying Predictions
13156 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13158 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13159 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13160 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13161 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13162 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13164 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13165 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13166 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13167 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13168 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13169 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13170 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13171 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13172 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13173 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13174 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13175 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13176 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13178 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13179 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13180 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13181 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13183 The following are valid values for that variable.
13186 @item prediction-spot
13187 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13190 @item confidence-interval
13191 A numeric confidence interval.
13193 @item prediction-bar
13194 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13196 @item confidence-bar
13197 Numerical confidence.
13199 @item confidence-spot
13200 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13202 @item prediction-num
13203 Plain-old numeric value.
13205 @item confidence-plus-minus
13206 Prediction +/- confidence.
13211 @node GroupLens Variables
13212 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13216 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13217 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13218 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13219 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13222 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13223 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13226 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13227 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13229 @item grouplens-score-offset
13230 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13231 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13234 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13235 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13236 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13241 @node Advanced Scoring
13242 @section Advanced Scoring
13244 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13245 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13246 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13247 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13248 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13250 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13254 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13255 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13256 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13260 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13261 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13263 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13264 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13265 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13266 non-@code{nil} value.
13268 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13269 operator, and various match operators.
13276 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13277 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13278 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13283 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13284 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13285 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13290 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13291 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13295 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13296 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13297 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13298 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13299 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13300 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13301 the ancestry you want to go.
13303 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13304 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13305 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13306 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13307 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13310 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13311 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13313 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13314 when he's talking about Gnus:
13318 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13319 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13325 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13329 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13336 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13337 really don't want to read what he's written:
13341 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13342 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13346 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13347 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13348 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13355 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13356 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13357 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13358 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13362 The possibilities are endless.
13365 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13366 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13368 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13369 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13370 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13371 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13372 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13373 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13374 @samp{subject}) first.
13376 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13377 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13388 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13389 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13395 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13402 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13403 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13408 @section Score Decays
13409 @cindex score decays
13412 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13413 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13414 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13415 use them in any sensible way.
13417 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13418 @findex gnus-decay-score
13419 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
13420 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13421 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13422 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13423 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13424 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
13425 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13426 definition of that function:
13429 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13430 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant' and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13433 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13435 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13437 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13440 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13441 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13442 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13443 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13447 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13450 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13453 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13457 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13458 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13459 the new score, which should be an integer.
13461 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13462 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13469 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13470 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13471 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13472 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13473 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13474 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13475 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13476 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13477 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13478 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13479 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13480 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13481 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13482 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13483 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13484 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13485 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
13486 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13490 @node Process/Prefix
13491 @section Process/Prefix
13492 @cindex process/prefix convention
13494 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13495 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13497 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13498 command to be performed on.
13502 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13503 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13504 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13505 with the current one.
13507 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13508 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13509 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13511 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13512 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13515 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13516 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13518 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13521 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13522 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13523 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13524 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13526 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13527 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13528 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13529 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13530 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13531 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13532 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13533 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13537 @section Interactive
13538 @cindex interaction
13542 @item gnus-novice-user
13543 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13544 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13545 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13546 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13547 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13550 @item gnus-expert-user
13551 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13552 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13553 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13554 matter how strange.
13556 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13557 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13558 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13559 is @code{t} by default.
13561 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13562 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13563 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13568 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13569 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13570 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13572 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13573 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
13574 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13575 rule of 900 to the current article.
13577 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13578 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13579 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13580 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13581 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13582 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13583 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13585 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13586 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13587 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13588 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13589 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13590 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13591 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13592 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13593 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13595 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13596 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13597 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13599 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13603 @node Formatting Variables
13604 @section Formatting Variables
13605 @cindex formatting variables
13607 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13608 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13609 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13610 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13613 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13614 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13615 lots of percentages everywhere.
13618 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13619 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13620 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13621 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13624 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13625 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13626 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13627 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13628 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13629 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13630 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13631 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13633 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13634 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13636 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13637 @findex gnus-update-format
13638 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13639 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13640 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13641 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13645 @node Formatting Basics
13646 @subsection Formatting Basics
13648 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13649 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13650 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13652 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13653 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13654 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13655 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13656 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13659 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13660 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13661 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13662 less than 4 characters wide.
13665 @node Advanced Formatting
13666 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13668 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13669 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13670 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13671 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13673 These are the valid modifiers:
13678 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13682 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13687 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13690 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13695 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13698 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13701 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13704 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
13708 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
13709 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
13710 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
13711 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
13712 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
13713 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
13714 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
13716 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
13717 last operation, padding.
13719 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
13720 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
13721 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
13722 @xref{Compilation}.
13725 @node User-Defined Specs
13726 @subsection User-Defined Specs
13728 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
13729 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
13730 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
13731 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
13732 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
13733 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
13734 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
13735 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
13736 should protect against that.
13738 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
13739 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
13740 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
13741 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
13745 @node Formatting Fonts
13746 @subsection Formatting Fonts
13748 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
13749 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
13750 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
13751 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
13754 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
13755 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
13756 default. If you say @samp{%1[}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
13757 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
13758 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
13759 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
13761 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
13764 ;; Create three face types.
13765 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
13766 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
13768 ;; We want the article count to be in
13769 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
13770 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
13771 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
13773 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
13774 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
13776 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
13777 (setq gnus-group-line-format
13778 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
13781 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
13782 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
13784 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
13785 mode-line variables.
13788 @node Windows Configuration
13789 @section Windows Configuration
13790 @cindex windows configuration
13792 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
13794 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
13795 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
13796 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
13797 @code{t} by default.
13799 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
13800 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
13801 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
13804 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
13805 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
13806 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13810 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
13811 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
13812 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
13813 possible names is listed below.
13815 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
13816 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
13819 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13823 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
13824 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
13825 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
13826 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
13827 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
13828 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
13829 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
13830 size spec per split.
13832 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
13833 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
13834 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
13835 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
13836 present) gets focus.
13838 Here's a more complicated example:
13841 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
13842 (summary 0.25 point)
13843 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
13847 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
13848 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
13849 occupy, not a percentage.
13851 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
13852 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
13853 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
13854 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
13855 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
13858 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
13861 (article (horizontal 1.0
13866 (summary 0.25 point)
13871 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
13872 @code{horizontal} thingie?
13874 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
13875 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
13876 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
13877 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
13878 the screen is to be given to this strip.
13880 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
13881 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
13882 lines from the splits.
13884 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
13888 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
13889 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
13890 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
13891 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
13892 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
13893 size = number | frame-params
13894 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
13897 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
13898 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
13899 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
13900 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
13902 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
13903 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
13904 @cindex window height
13905 @cindex window width
13906 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
13907 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
13908 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
13909 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
13910 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
13911 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
13913 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
13914 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
13915 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
13916 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
13918 @findex gnus-configure-frame
13919 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
13920 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
13921 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
13922 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
13923 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
13924 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
13925 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
13926 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
13927 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
13928 configuration list.
13931 (gnus-configure-frame
13935 (article 0.3 point))
13943 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
13944 @code{frame} split:
13947 (gnus-configure-frame
13950 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
13952 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
13953 (user-position . t)
13954 (left . -1) (top . 1))
13959 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
13960 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
13961 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
13962 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
13963 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
13964 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
13965 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
13966 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
13969 Here's a list of all possible keys for
13970 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
13972 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
13973 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
13974 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
13975 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
13976 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
13977 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
13979 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
13980 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
13981 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
13985 (message (horizontal 1.0
13986 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
13988 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
13993 @findex gnus-add-configuration
13994 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
13995 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
13996 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
13997 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14000 (gnus-add-configuration
14001 '(article (vertical 1.0
14003 (summary .25 point)
14007 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14008 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14009 Gnus has been loaded.
14011 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14012 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14013 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14014 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14015 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14018 @node Faces and Fonts
14019 @section Faces and Fonts
14024 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14025 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14026 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14031 @section Compilation
14032 @cindex compilation
14033 @cindex byte-compilation
14035 @findex gnus-compile
14037 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14038 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14039 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14040 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14041 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14042 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14045 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14046 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14047 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14048 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14049 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14050 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14051 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14055 @section Mode Lines
14058 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14059 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14060 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14061 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14062 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14063 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14064 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14067 @cindex display-time
14069 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14070 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14071 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14072 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14073 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14074 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14075 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14076 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14079 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14081 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14082 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14084 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14085 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14086 (length display-time-string)))))
14089 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14090 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14091 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14092 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14093 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14096 @node Highlighting and Menus
14097 @section Highlighting and Menus
14099 @cindex highlighting
14102 @vindex gnus-visual
14103 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14104 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14105 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14108 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14109 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14112 @item group-highlight
14113 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14114 @item summary-highlight
14115 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14116 @item article-highlight
14117 Do highlights in the article buffer.
14119 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14121 Create menus in the group buffer.
14123 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14125 Create menus in the article buffer.
14127 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14129 Create menus in the server buffer.
14131 Create menus in the score buffers.
14133 Create menus in all buffers.
14136 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14137 buffers, you could say something like:
14140 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14143 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14146 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14149 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14150 in all Gnus buffers.
14152 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14155 @item gnus-mouse-face
14156 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14157 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14158 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14162 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14166 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14167 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14168 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14170 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14171 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14172 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14174 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14175 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14176 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14178 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14179 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14180 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14182 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14183 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14184 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14186 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14187 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14188 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14199 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14200 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14201 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14202 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14203 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14207 @vindex gnus-carpal
14208 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14209 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14210 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14215 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14216 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14217 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14219 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14220 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14221 Face used on buttons.
14223 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14224 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14225 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14227 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14228 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14229 Buttons in the group buffer.
14231 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14232 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14233 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14235 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14236 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14237 Buttons in the server buffer.
14239 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14240 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14241 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14244 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14245 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14246 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14254 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14255 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14256 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14257 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14258 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14260 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14261 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14262 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14264 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14265 been idle for thirty minutes:
14268 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14271 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14275 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14278 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14279 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14280 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14282 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14283 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14284 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14285 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14287 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14288 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14289 @var{idle} minutes.
14291 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14292 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14295 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14296 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14297 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14299 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14300 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14301 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14302 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14304 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14305 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14306 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14308 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14309 your @file{.gnus} file:
14311 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14313 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14316 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14317 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14318 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14319 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14320 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14321 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14322 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14323 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14324 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14325 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14326 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14328 @findex gnus-demon-init
14329 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14330 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14331 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14332 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14333 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14335 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14336 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14337 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14346 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14347 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14349 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14350 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14351 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14352 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14355 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14356 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14357 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14358 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14360 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14361 this will make spam disappear.
14363 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14366 @item gnus-use-nocem
14367 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14368 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14371 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14372 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14373 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14374 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14375 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14377 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14378 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14379 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14380 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14381 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14382 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14383 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14385 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14388 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14389 @cindex Chris Lewis
14390 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14391 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14394 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14395 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14396 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14398 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14400 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14403 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14404 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14405 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14408 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14409 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14410 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14411 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14412 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14413 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14414 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14415 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14416 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14417 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14419 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14420 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14423 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14426 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14427 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14430 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14433 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14436 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14437 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14439 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14440 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14441 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14442 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14444 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14445 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14448 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14450 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14458 This might be dangerous, though.
14460 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14461 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14462 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14463 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14465 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14466 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14467 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14468 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14469 might then see old spam.
14473 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14474 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14475 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14476 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14483 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14484 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14485 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14487 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14488 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14489 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14490 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14491 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14492 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14493 @code{undo} function.
14495 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14496 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14497 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14498 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14499 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14500 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14501 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14502 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14503 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14504 never be totally undoable.
14506 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14507 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14509 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14510 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14511 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14512 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14517 @section Moderation
14520 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14521 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14522 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14525 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14529 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14532 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14534 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14539 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14540 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14541 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14544 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14545 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14548 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14549 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14553 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14556 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14557 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14561 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14562 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14565 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14569 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14570 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14571 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14572 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14585 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14586 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14587 over your shoulder as you read news.
14590 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14591 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14592 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14593 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14594 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14599 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14601 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14610 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14611 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14612 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14613 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14614 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14615 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14616 @code{GIF} formats.
14619 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14620 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14621 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14622 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string
14623 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14625 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14626 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14627 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at
14628 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14629 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14630 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14633 @node Picon Requirements
14634 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14636 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14637 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14640 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14641 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14642 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14644 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14645 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14646 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14647 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14648 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14652 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14654 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14655 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14658 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14659 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14660 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14663 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14664 containing the Picons databases.
14666 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14669 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14674 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14682 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14683 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14684 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14685 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14686 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14691 @item gnus-picons-database
14692 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14693 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14694 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14695 subdirectories. This is only useful if
14696 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
14697 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
14699 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14700 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14701 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
14702 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
14703 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
14704 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
14705 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14707 @item gnus-picons-display-where
14708 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14709 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
14710 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
14711 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
14712 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
14713 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
14714 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
14716 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14717 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14718 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
14723 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
14724 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
14726 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
14727 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
14730 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
14731 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14733 @item gnus-article-display-picons
14734 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14735 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
14736 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
14737 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14739 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
14740 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14741 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
14742 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14746 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
14747 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
14750 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14754 @node Picon Useless Configuration
14755 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
14763 The following variables offer further control over how things are
14764 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
14765 don't need to worry about.
14769 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
14770 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
14771 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14772 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
14774 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
14775 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
14776 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
14777 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
14779 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
14780 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
14781 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14782 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
14783 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
14785 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14786 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14787 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
14788 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
14789 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
14790 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
14791 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
14793 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14794 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14795 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
14796 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
14798 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14799 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14800 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
14801 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
14802 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
14803 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
14804 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
14806 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14807 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14808 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
14809 Defaults to @code{nil}.
14811 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
14812 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
14813 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
14814 Defaults to @code{t}.
14816 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14817 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14818 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
14819 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
14821 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14822 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14823 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
14824 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
14826 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14827 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14828 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
14829 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
14830 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
14831 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
14832 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
14833 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
14844 @subsection Smileys
14849 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
14854 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
14855 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
14857 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
14858 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14861 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
14864 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
14865 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
14866 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
14867 text and maps that to file names.
14869 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
14870 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
14871 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
14872 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
14873 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
14874 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
14876 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
14877 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
14879 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
14880 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
14881 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
14883 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
14884 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
14888 @item smiley-data-directory
14889 @vindex smiley-data-directory
14890 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
14892 @item smiley-flesh-color
14893 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
14894 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
14896 @item smiley-features-color
14897 @vindex smiley-features-color
14898 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14900 @item smiley-tongue-color
14901 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
14902 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
14904 @item smiley-circle-color
14905 @vindex smiley-circle-color
14906 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14908 @item smiley-mouse-face
14909 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
14910 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
14916 @subsection Toolbar
14926 @item gnus-use-toolbar
14927 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
14928 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
14929 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
14930 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
14932 @item gnus-group-toolbar
14933 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
14934 The toolbar in the group buffer.
14936 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
14937 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
14938 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
14940 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14941 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14942 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
14948 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
14951 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14952 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14953 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
14954 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
14955 unusual directory structure.
14957 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14958 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14959 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
14960 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
14962 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14963 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14964 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
14965 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
14966 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
14967 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
14969 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14970 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14971 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
14985 @node Fuzzy Matching
14986 @section Fuzzy Matching
14987 @cindex fuzzy matching
14989 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
14990 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
14992 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
14993 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
14994 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
14996 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
14997 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
14998 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
14999 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15000 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15003 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15004 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15008 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15010 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15011 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15012 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15013 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15014 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15015 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15016 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15017 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15020 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15021 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15022 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15023 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15024 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15025 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15029 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15030 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15032 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15033 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15034 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15035 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15036 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15037 part of the mail address.)
15040 (setq message-default-news-headers
15041 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15044 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15045 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15050 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15051 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15052 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15058 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15059 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15060 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15061 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15063 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15064 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15065 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15066 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15067 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15068 your fancy split rule in this way:
15073 (to "larsi" "misc")
15077 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15078 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15079 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15080 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15081 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15083 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15084 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15085 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15086 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15087 cosmic balance somewhat.
15089 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15090 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15091 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15092 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15095 @node Various Various
15096 @section Various Various
15102 @item gnus-home-directory
15103 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15104 defaults to @file{~/}.
15106 @item gnus-directory
15107 @vindex gnus-directory
15108 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15109 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15110 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15112 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15113 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15114 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15115 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15117 @item gnus-default-directory
15118 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15119 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15120 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15121 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15122 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15123 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15124 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15127 @vindex gnus-verbose
15128 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15129 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15130 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15131 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15132 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15134 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15135 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15136 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15137 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15139 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15140 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15141 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15142 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15143 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15144 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15145 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15146 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15147 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15148 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15150 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15151 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15152 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15153 read when doing the operation described above.
15155 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15156 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15158 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15159 @cindex characters in file names
15160 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15161 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15162 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15165 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15169 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15170 Windows (phooey) systems.
15172 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15173 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15174 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15175 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15176 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15178 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15179 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15180 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15181 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15182 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15184 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15185 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15186 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15195 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15196 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15198 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15200 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15206 Not because of victories @*
15209 but for the common sunshine,@*
15211 the largess of the spring.
15215 but for the day's work done@*
15216 as well as I was able;@*
15217 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15218 but at the common table.@*
15223 @chapter Appendices
15226 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15227 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15228 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15229 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15230 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15231 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15232 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15240 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15241 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15243 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15244 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15245 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15246 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15247 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15249 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15250 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15251 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15252 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15253 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15254 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15256 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15257 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15258 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15259 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15261 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15262 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15263 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15265 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15266 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15268 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15269 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
15271 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15272 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15273 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15274 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15275 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15279 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15280 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15281 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15282 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15283 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15284 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15285 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15292 What's the point of Gnus?
15294 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15295 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15296 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15297 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15298 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15299 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15300 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15301 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15302 keep track of millions of people who post?
15304 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15305 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15306 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15307 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15308 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15309 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15310 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15311 every one of you to explore and invent.
15313 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15314 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15317 @node Compatibility
15318 @subsection Compatibility
15320 @cindex compatibility
15321 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15322 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15323 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15328 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15332 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15335 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15338 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15339 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15340 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15341 important variables have their values copied into their global
15342 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15343 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15345 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15346 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15347 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15348 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15349 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15353 @cindex highlighting
15354 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15355 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15356 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15357 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15358 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15359 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15362 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15363 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15364 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15365 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15367 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15368 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15369 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15370 to stop doing it the old way.
15372 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15374 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15376 @cindex reporting bugs
15378 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15379 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15380 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15382 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
15383 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
15384 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
15385 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
15390 @subsection Conformity
15392 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15393 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15400 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15404 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15406 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15407 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15408 We do have some breaches to this one.
15413 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
15414 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15417 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15418 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15419 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15420 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15421 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15426 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15427 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15432 @subsection Emacsen
15438 Gnus should work on :
15443 Emacs 19.32 and up.
15446 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
15449 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
15453 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15454 reliably, at least.
15456 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15457 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15458 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15463 @subsection Contributors
15464 @cindex contributors
15466 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15467 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15468 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15469 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15470 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15471 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15472 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15473 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15474 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15475 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15477 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15483 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15486 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15487 well as numerous other things).
15490 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15493 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15496 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15497 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15500 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15503 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15504 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15507 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15510 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15513 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15516 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15519 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15520 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15523 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15526 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15529 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15532 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15536 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15539 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15542 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15545 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15546 well as autoconf support.
15550 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15551 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15553 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15562 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15566 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15587 Massimo Campostrini,
15592 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15598 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15601 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15605 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15610 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15612 Michelangelo Grigni,
15615 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15617 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
15619 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15624 François Felix Ingrand,
15625 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15627 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15635 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15636 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15637 Thor Kristoffersen,
15639 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15656 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15657 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15664 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15668 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15670 John McClary Prevost,
15675 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
15680 Christian von Roques,
15682 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
15688 Philippe Schnoebelen,
15689 Randal L. Schwartz,
15716 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
15718 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
15720 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
15721 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
15722 (550kB and counting).
15724 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
15727 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
15728 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
15732 @subsection New Features
15733 @cindex new features
15736 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
15737 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
15738 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
15739 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6.11.
15742 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
15743 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
15744 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
15748 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
15750 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
15755 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
15756 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
15759 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
15760 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
15763 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
15766 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
15767 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
15768 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15771 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
15772 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
15773 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
15774 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15777 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
15778 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15781 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
15782 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
15783 (@pxref{The Active File}).
15786 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
15787 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
15790 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
15791 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
15792 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15795 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
15796 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
15797 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
15800 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
15801 the @file{.emacs} file.
15804 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
15805 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15808 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
15809 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
15812 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
15813 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15816 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
15817 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
15820 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
15821 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15824 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
15827 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
15828 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
15831 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
15832 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
15835 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
15836 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
15839 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
15842 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
15843 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15846 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
15850 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
15854 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
15855 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
15858 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
15864 @node September Gnus
15865 @subsubsection September Gnus
15869 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
15873 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
15878 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
15879 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
15883 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
15884 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
15888 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
15892 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
15893 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
15896 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
15900 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15903 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
15906 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
15909 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
15913 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
15914 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
15917 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
15921 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
15925 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
15929 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
15933 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
15936 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
15937 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
15940 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
15944 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
15945 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
15948 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
15951 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
15952 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
15953 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15956 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
15960 The Gnus cache is much faster.
15963 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
15967 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
15968 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15971 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
15972 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
15975 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
15976 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15979 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
15980 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
15981 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
15984 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
15985 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
15988 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
15991 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
15994 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15995 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
15999 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16002 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16005 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16006 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16009 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16013 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16016 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16021 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16024 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16028 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16031 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16035 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16038 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16041 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16042 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16045 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16046 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16050 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16051 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16054 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16058 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16059 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16062 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16065 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16069 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16073 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16074 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16077 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16081 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16082 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16085 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16086 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16089 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16093 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16096 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16097 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16101 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16104 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16110 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16112 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16116 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16123 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16126 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16127 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16130 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16131 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16135 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16136 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16139 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16142 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16143 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16146 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16150 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16151 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16155 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16156 Server Internals}).
16159 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16163 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16166 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16167 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16170 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16171 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16172 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16175 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16176 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16179 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16180 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16183 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16187 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16188 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16191 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16192 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16195 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16199 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16202 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16206 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16207 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16210 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16211 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16214 A new command for reading collections of documents
16215 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16216 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16219 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16223 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16224 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16227 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16228 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16229 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16232 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16233 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16237 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16241 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16245 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16250 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16254 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16258 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16259 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16262 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16265 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16272 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16274 New features in Gnus 5.6.11:
16279 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16280 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16281 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16284 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16285 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16286 group, which is created automatically.
16289 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16293 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16296 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16297 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16300 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16304 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16307 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16308 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16311 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16314 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16315 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16318 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16319 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16322 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16323 control over simplification.
16326 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16329 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16333 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16336 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16339 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16340 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16341 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16344 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16345 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16348 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16352 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16353 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16356 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16357 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16360 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16364 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16367 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16370 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16371 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16374 A new function for citing in Message has been
16375 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16378 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16381 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16385 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16386 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16389 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16390 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16393 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16396 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16401 @node Newest Features
16402 @subsection Newest Features
16405 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16408 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16410 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16411 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16414 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16419 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16422 Really do unbinhexing.
16425 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16426 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16429 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16432 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16435 facep is not declared.
16438 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16439 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16442 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16447 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16448 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16449 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16450 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16451 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16452 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16453 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16458 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16461 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16464 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16466 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16467 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16469 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16471 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16473 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16474 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16476 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16478 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16479 be marked as unread.
16481 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
16483 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16485 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16486 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16488 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
16490 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16492 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16493 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16495 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16496 articles aren't displayed.
16498 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16500 implement gnus-score-thread
16502 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16503 make the mail groups killed.
16505 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16507 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16508 and articles have to be removed.
16510 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16513 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16515 finding short score file names takes forever.
16517 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16519 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16521 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16523 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16525 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16527 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16529 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16530 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16534 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16536 really unbinhex binhex files.
16538 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16539 bar and the Gnus bar.
16542 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16543 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16544 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16545 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16546 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16547 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16552 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16556 postponed commands.
16558 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16560 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16563 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16564 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
16566 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16567 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16569 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16571 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16572 for backends that support that.
16574 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16576 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16577 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16579 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16580 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16582 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16584 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16586 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16588 server mode command: close/open all connections
16590 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16591 has been changed before using it.
16593 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16595 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16597 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16599 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16601 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16602 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16604 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16605 contain groups that match a regexp.
16607 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16610 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16613 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16614 from subject lines.
16616 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16618 nntp-ping-before-connect
16620 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16622 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16623 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16625 message annotations.
16627 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16629 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16630 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16632 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16637 support qmail maildir spools
16639 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16641 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16643 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16645 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16646 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16648 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16650 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16652 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16653 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16655 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16656 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16658 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16660 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16662 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16663 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16665 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16667 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16669 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16670 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16673 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16675 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
16677 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
16678 `C-c C-c' when posting.
16680 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
16683 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
16684 should be marker as expirable.
16686 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
16688 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
16689 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
16691 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
16692 Also consult Date headers.
16694 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
16696 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
16698 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
16699 Message-ID, delete the "original".
16701 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
16702 into a See-Also header.
16704 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
16706 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
16708 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
16709 should be listed as such and not as "K".
16711 generate font names dynamically.
16713 score file mode auto-alist.
16715 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
16716 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
16718 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
16719 absolutely all headers there is.
16721 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
16722 and pipe them to the process.
16724 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
16725 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
16726 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
16728 function for starting to edit a file to put into
16729 the current mail group.
16731 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
16733 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
16734 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
16736 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
16737 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
16739 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
16741 when replying to several process-marked articles,
16742 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
16744 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
16745 groups it has been mailed to.
16747 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
16749 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
16751 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
16753 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
16754 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
16756 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
16757 newlines) should be ignored.
16759 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
16760 groups in subtopics as well.
16762 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
16764 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
16767 add edit and forward secondary marks.
16769 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
16771 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
16773 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
16775 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
16777 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
16779 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
16780 or the formatted article.
16782 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
16784 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
16785 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
16787 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
16789 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
16791 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
16793 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
16794 even unread articles.
16796 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
16798 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
16800 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
16802 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
16804 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16806 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
16809 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
16810 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
16812 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
16813 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
16815 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
16817 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
16819 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
16820 from a particular server? Hm.
16822 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
16823 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
16825 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
16827 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
16828 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
16830 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
16831 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
16833 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
16834 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
16835 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
16838 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
16839 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
16841 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
16843 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
16845 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
16847 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
16850 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
16853 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
16854 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
16856 command to show and edit group scores
16858 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
16861 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
16863 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
16865 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
16866 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
16869 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
16870 that are of that length.
16872 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
16874 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
16876 asynchronous posting under nntp.
16878 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
16880 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
16882 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
16884 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
16885 a score lower than this number.
16887 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
16889 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
16891 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
16892 so that each copy can be edited separately.
16894 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
16896 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
16897 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
16899 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
16902 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
16903 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
16904 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
16905 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
16907 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
16910 command to remove all topic stuff.
16912 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
16913 and splitting the resulting digests.
16915 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
16917 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
16919 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
16920 matches an alist -- before saving.
16922 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
16924 variable to activate each group before entering them
16925 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
16927 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
16928 starting Gnus first if necessary.
16930 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
16931 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
16933 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
16935 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
16936 of several groups at once.
16938 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
16939 matches some regexp(s).
16941 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
16943 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
16945 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
16947 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
16949 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
16951 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
16953 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
16955 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
16956 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
16957 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
16958 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
16960 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
16961 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
16963 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
16965 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
16966 recently cited text.
16968 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
16970 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
16973 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
16974 server and just read the articles in the server
16976 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
16977 value of nnoo variables.
16979 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
16981 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
16982 listed in each group info.
16984 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
16987 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
16988 should only be applied to some groups.
16990 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
16991 mail-copies-to: never.
16993 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
16994 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
16996 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
16998 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17001 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17004 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17006 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17009 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17013 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17015 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17016 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17017 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17018 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17019 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17021 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at
17022 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17029 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17030 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17032 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17033 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17035 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17036 "Return the date the group was last read."
17037 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17042 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17043 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17044 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17045 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17049 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17050 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17052 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17055 They could be used like this:
17059 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17060 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17061 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17063 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17065 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17068 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17071 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17072 affect the summary line format.
17076 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17078 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17079 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17081 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17084 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17086 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17088 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17090 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17092 - For other files, just find them normally.
17094 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17095 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17098 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17099 tell him what you are doing.
17102 Currently, I get prompted:
17106 decend into sci.something ?
17110 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17111 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17112 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17113 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17116 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17117 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17118 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17119 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17122 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17123 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17129 more than n blank lines
17131 more than m identical lines
17132 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17134 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17138 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17139 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17140 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17141 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17144 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17145 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17146 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17147 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17150 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17153 soup - bowl of soup
17154 score below - dim light bulb
17155 score over - bright light bulb
17158 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17163 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17164 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17165 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17166 if (articles-selected)
17167 start-reading-selected-articles;
17168 junk-unread-articles;
17173 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17174 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17175 select-thread-under-cursor;
17177 select-article-under-cursor;
17181 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17182 if (more-pages-in-article)
17184 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17191 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17192 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17193 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17196 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17197 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17198 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17199 the wildcard expression).
17202 It would be nice if it also handled
17204 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17206 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17211 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17212 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17213 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17214 article versions) variable.
17216 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17218 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17219 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17223 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17226 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17227 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17228 (message-sent-hook).
17230 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17233 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17237 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17238 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17241 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17242 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17243 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17246 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17247 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17251 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17254 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17258 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17259 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17262 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17263 value of the signature file.
17266 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17267 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17270 (setq message-tab-alist
17271 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17272 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17274 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17278 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17281 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17284 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17287 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17288 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17291 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17294 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17295 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17296 do more gathering by subject.
17299 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17300 article numerical order.
17303 (gnus-thread-total-score
17304 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17308 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17311 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17312 in the summary buffer.
17315 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17316 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17319 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17320 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17321 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17322 and/or newsgroup name.
17325 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17328 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17331 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17334 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17335 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17336 will automatically get the process mark.
17339 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17340 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17341 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17344 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17348 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17349 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17352 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17353 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17357 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17358 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17361 be able to post via DejaNews.
17364 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17367 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
17368 allow them to be displayed separately.
17371 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17372 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17375 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17376 articles that match a certain From header.
17379 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17380 saving living summary buffers.
17383 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17384 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17387 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17388 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17391 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17392 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17395 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17396 (goto-char (point-min))
17397 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17398 (replace-match "`" t t))
17399 (goto-char (point-min))
17400 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17401 (replace-match "'" t t))
17402 (goto-char (point-min))
17403 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17404 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17405 (goto-char (point-min))
17406 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17407 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17412 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17414 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17415 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17416 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17417 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17421 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17424 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17425 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17428 gnus-cacheable-groups
17432 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17433 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17434 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17436 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17437 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17439 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17440 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17445 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17446 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17449 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17450 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
17452 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17454 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17455 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17458 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17459 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17462 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17466 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17467 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17470 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17473 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17476 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17479 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17483 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17489 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17492 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17496 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17497 X characters in the body.
17500 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17503 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17506 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17509 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17512 command to display all dormant articles.
17515 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17518 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17519 to something someone else has said.
17522 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17523 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17526 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17527 the displayed version.
17530 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17534 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17537 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17538 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17539 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17543 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17544 in the head or body.
17547 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17550 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17553 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17554 in a special, unique buffer.
17557 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17560 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17561 is less than a certain number of days old.
17564 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
17567 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
17570 Solve the halting problem.
17579 @section The Manual
17583 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17584 either @code{texi2dvi}
17586 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17587 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17589 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17591 The following conventions have been used:
17596 This is a @samp{string}
17599 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17602 This is a @file{file}
17605 This is a @code{symbol}
17609 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17613 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17616 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17619 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17622 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17623 ever get them confused.
17627 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17628 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17629 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17630 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17631 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17632 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17633 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
17641 @section Terminology
17643 @cindex terminology
17648 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
17649 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
17650 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
17651 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
17652 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
17656 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
17657 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
17658 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
17659 not posting, and replying is not following up.
17663 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
17667 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
17672 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
17673 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
17674 is all done by the backends.
17678 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
17679 default, way of getting news.
17683 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
17684 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
17689 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
17690 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
17694 A message that has been posted as news.
17697 @cindex mail message
17698 A message that has been mailed.
17702 A mail message or news article
17706 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
17711 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
17716 A line from the head of an article.
17720 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
17721 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
17725 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
17726 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
17727 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
17728 normal @sc{head} format.
17732 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
17733 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
17734 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
17735 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
17736 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
17737 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
17739 @item killed groups
17740 @cindex killed groups
17741 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
17742 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
17744 @item zombie groups
17745 @cindex zombie groups
17746 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
17749 @cindex active file
17750 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
17751 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
17752 is rather large, as you might surmise.
17755 @cindex bogus groups
17756 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
17757 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
17758 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
17761 @cindex activating groups
17762 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
17763 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
17764 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
17768 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
17770 @item select method
17771 @cindex select method
17772 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
17775 @item virtual server
17776 @cindex virtual server
17777 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
17778 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
17779 whole is a virtual server.
17783 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
17784 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
17787 @item ephemeral groups
17788 @cindex ephemeral groups
17789 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
17790 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
17791 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
17794 @cindex solid groups
17795 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
17796 group buffer are solid groups.
17798 @item sparse articles
17799 @cindex sparse articles
17800 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
17801 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
17805 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
17806 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
17810 @cindex thread root
17811 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
17812 articles in the thread.
17816 An article that has responses.
17820 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
17824 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
17825 specified by RFC1153.
17831 @node Customization
17832 @section Customization
17833 @cindex general customization
17835 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
17836 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
17837 for some quite common situations.
17840 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
17841 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
17842 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
17843 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
17847 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
17848 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
17850 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
17851 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
17852 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
17856 @item gnus-read-active-file
17857 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
17858 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
17859 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
17860 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
17861 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
17863 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
17864 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
17865 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
17866 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
17870 @node Slow Terminal Connection
17871 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
17873 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
17874 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
17875 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
17879 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
17880 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
17881 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
17882 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
17883 horizontal and vertical recentering.
17885 @item gnus-visible-headers
17886 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
17887 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
17888 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
17889 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
17891 @item gnus-article-display-hook
17892 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
17894 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
17895 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
17896 gnus-article-hide-citation))
17899 @item gnus-use-full-window
17900 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
17901 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
17902 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
17903 want to read them anyway.
17905 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
17906 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
17909 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
17910 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
17911 lines, which might save some time.
17915 @node Little Disk Space
17916 @subsection Little Disk Space
17919 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
17920 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
17924 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
17925 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
17926 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
17927 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17930 @item gnus-save-killed-list
17931 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
17932 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
17933 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
17934 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
17940 @subsection Slow Machine
17941 @cindex slow machine
17943 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
17944 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
17946 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
17947 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
17949 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
17950 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
17951 summary buffer faster.
17953 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
17954 processing a bit faster.
17958 @node Troubleshooting
17959 @section Troubleshooting
17960 @cindex troubleshooting
17962 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
17970 Make sure your computer is switched on.
17973 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
17974 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
17978 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
17979 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
17980 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
17981 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
17984 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
17988 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
17989 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
17990 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
17991 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
17992 something like that.
17995 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
17998 @cindex reporting bugs
18000 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18002 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18003 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18004 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18005 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18007 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18008 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18009 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18010 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18013 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18014 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18015 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18016 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18017 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18018 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18020 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18021 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18022 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18025 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18026 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18028 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18029 @cindex ding mailing list
18030 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18031 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18035 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
18036 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
18038 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18039 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18040 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18041 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18044 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18045 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18046 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18047 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18048 and general methods of operation.
18051 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18052 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18053 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18054 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18055 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18056 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18057 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18058 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18059 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18063 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18064 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18065 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18066 @cindex utility functions
18068 @cindex internal variables
18070 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18071 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18072 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18076 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18077 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18078 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18080 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18081 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18082 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18084 @item gnus-group-real-name
18085 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18086 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18089 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18090 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18091 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18092 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18094 @item gnus-get-info
18095 @findex gnus-get-info
18096 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18098 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18099 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18100 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18103 @item gnus-continuum-version
18104 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18105 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18106 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18109 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18110 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18111 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18113 @item gnus-news-group-p
18114 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18115 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18117 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18118 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18119 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18121 @item gnus-server-to-method
18122 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18123 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18125 @item gnus-server-equal
18126 @findex gnus-server-equal
18127 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18129 @item gnus-group-native-p
18130 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18131 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18133 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18134 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18135 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18137 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18138 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18139 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18141 @item group-group-find-parameter
18142 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18143 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18144 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18146 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18147 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18148 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18150 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18151 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18152 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18154 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18155 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18156 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18157 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18160 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18164 @item gnus-read-method
18165 @findex gnus-read-method
18166 Prompts the user for a select method.
18171 @node Backend Interface
18172 @subsection Backend Interface
18174 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18175 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18176 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18177 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18178 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18179 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18181 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18182 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18183 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18184 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18185 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18186 been opened, the function should fail.
18188 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18189 name. Take this example:
18193 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18194 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18197 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18198 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18200 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18201 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18202 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18204 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18205 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18206 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18208 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18209 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18210 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18211 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18212 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18213 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18216 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18217 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18218 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18219 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18222 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18225 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18228 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18229 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18230 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18231 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18232 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18233 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18237 @node Required Backend Functions
18238 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18242 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18244 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18245 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18246 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18247 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18249 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18250 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18251 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18252 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18254 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18255 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18256 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18257 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18258 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18259 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18260 number, do maximum fetches.
18262 Here's an example HEAD:
18265 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18266 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18267 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18268 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18269 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18270 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18271 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18273 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18274 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18275 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18279 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18280 these in the data buffer.
18282 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18286 head = error / valid-head
18287 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18288 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18289 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18290 header = <text> eol
18293 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18294 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18298 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18299 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18300 field = <text except TAB>
18303 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18307 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18309 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18310 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18312 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18313 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18314 server. In fact, it should do so.
18316 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18317 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18320 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18322 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18323 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18326 There should be no data returned.
18329 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18331 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18332 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18333 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18334 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18336 There should be no data returned.
18339 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18341 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18342 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18343 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18344 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18346 There should be no data returned.
18349 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18351 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18353 There should be no data returned.
18356 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18358 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18359 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18360 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18361 it would be nice if that were possible.
18363 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18364 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18365 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18366 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18367 into its article buffer.
18369 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18370 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18371 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18372 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18373 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18374 on successful article retrieval.
18377 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18379 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18380 making @var{group} the current group.
18382 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18385 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18388 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18391 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18392 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18393 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18394 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18395 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18396 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18397 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18398 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18401 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18402 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18403 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18407 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18409 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18410 a no-op on most backends.
18412 There should be no data returned.
18415 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18417 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18420 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18423 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18424 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18427 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18428 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18431 active-file = *active-line
18432 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18434 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18437 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18438 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18439 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18442 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18444 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18445 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18446 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18447 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18448 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18449 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18451 There should be no result data from this function.
18456 @node Optional Backend Functions
18457 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18461 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18463 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18464 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18465 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18467 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18468 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18469 former is in the same format as the data from
18470 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18471 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18474 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18478 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18480 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18481 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18482 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18483 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18484 should return the (altered) group info.
18486 There should be no result data from this function.
18489 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18491 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18492 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18493 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18494 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18495 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18496 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18497 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18498 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18500 There should be no result data from this function.
18503 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18505 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18506 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18507 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18508 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18509 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18511 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18512 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18513 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18516 There should be no result data from this function.
18519 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18521 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18522 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18523 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18524 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18525 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18526 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18527 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18529 There should be no result data from this function.
18532 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18534 The result data from this function should be a description of
18538 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18540 description = <text>
18543 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18545 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18546 groups available on the server.
18549 description-buffer = *description-line
18553 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18555 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18556 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18557 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18560 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18562 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18564 There should be no return data.
18567 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18569 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18570 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18571 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18572 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18573 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18576 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18579 There should be no result data returned.
18582 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18585 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18586 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18588 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18589 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18590 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18591 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18592 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18593 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18595 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18596 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18599 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18600 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18602 There should be no data returned.
18605 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18607 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18608 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18609 this function in short order.
18611 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18612 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18614 There should be no data returned.
18617 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18619 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18620 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18622 There should be no data returned.
18625 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
18627 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
18628 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
18629 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
18631 There should be no data returned.
18634 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
18636 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
18637 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
18639 There should be no data returned.
18644 @node Error Messaging
18645 @subsubsection Error Messaging
18647 @findex nnheader-report
18648 @findex nnheader-get-report
18649 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
18650 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
18651 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
18652 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
18653 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
18654 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
18657 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
18659 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
18662 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
18663 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
18664 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
18665 takes one argument---the server symbol.
18667 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
18668 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
18669 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
18672 @node Writing New Backends
18673 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
18675 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
18676 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
18677 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
18678 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
18679 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
18682 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
18683 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
18684 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
18686 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
18687 package called @code{nnoo}.
18689 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
18690 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
18696 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
18697 parameters. For instance:
18700 (nnoo-declare nndir
18704 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
18705 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
18708 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
18709 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
18710 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
18712 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
18713 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
18714 a function in those backends.
18717 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18718 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18719 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18722 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
18723 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
18724 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
18726 @item nnoo-define-basics
18727 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
18731 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18735 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
18736 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
18737 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
18739 @item nnoo-map-functions
18740 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
18741 functions from the parent backends.
18744 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18745 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18746 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
18749 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
18750 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
18751 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
18752 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
18755 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
18756 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
18757 haven't already been defined.
18763 nnmh-request-newgroups)
18767 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
18768 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
18769 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
18774 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
18777 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
18778 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
18782 (require 'nnheader)
18786 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
18788 (nnoo-declare nndir
18791 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18792 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18793 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18795 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
18796 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
18799 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
18800 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
18801 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
18803 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
18804 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
18806 ;;; Interface functions.
18808 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18810 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
18811 (setq nndir-directory
18812 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
18814 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
18815 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
18816 (push `(nndir-current-group
18817 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18819 (push `(nndir-top-directory
18820 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18822 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
18824 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18825 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18826 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18827 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
18828 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
18832 nnmh-status-message
18834 nnmh-request-newgroups))
18840 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18841 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18843 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
18844 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
18845 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
18846 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
18848 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
18849 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
18854 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
18857 The abilities can be:
18861 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
18863 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
18865 This backend supports both mail and news.
18867 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
18870 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
18871 articles and groups.
18873 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
18874 true for almost all backends.
18875 @item prompt-address
18876 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
18877 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
18878 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
18882 @node Mail-like Backends
18883 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
18885 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
18886 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
18887 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
18888 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
18891 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
18892 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
18893 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
18896 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
18897 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
18900 This function takes four parameters.
18904 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
18907 @item exit-function
18908 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
18910 @item temp-directory
18911 Where the temporary files should be stored.
18914 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
18915 performed for one group only.
18918 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
18919 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
18920 find the article number assigned to this article.
18922 The function also uses the following variables:
18923 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
18924 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
18925 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
18926 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
18930 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
18931 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
18935 @node Score File Syntax
18936 @subsection Score File Syntax
18938 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
18939 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
18940 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
18942 Here's a typical score file:
18946 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
18953 BNF definition of a score file:
18956 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
18957 element = rule / atom
18958 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
18959 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
18960 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
18961 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
18963 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
18964 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
18965 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
18966 date-header = "date"
18967 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18968 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
18969 score = "nil" / <integer>
18970 date = "nil" / <natural number>
18971 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
18972 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
18973 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
18974 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
18975 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18976 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
18977 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
18978 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
18979 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
18980 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
18981 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
18982 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
18983 exclude-files / read-only / touched
18984 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
18985 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
18986 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
18987 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
18988 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
18989 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
18990 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
18991 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
18992 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
18993 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
18994 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
18995 eval = "eval" space <form>
18996 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
18999 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19002 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19003 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19004 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19005 one looong line, then that's ok.
19007 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19008 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19012 @subsection Headers
19014 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19015 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19016 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19017 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19019 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19020 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19021 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19022 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19023 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19024 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19025 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19027 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19028 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19029 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
19030 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19031 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19033 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
19040 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19041 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19043 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19044 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19045 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19046 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19048 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19052 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19055 is transformed into
19058 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19061 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19062 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19065 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19068 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19069 is slightly tricky:
19072 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19078 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19081 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19087 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19094 and is equal to the previous range.
19096 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19097 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19098 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19102 range = simple-range / normal-range
19103 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19104 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19105 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19106 number *[ " " contents ]
19109 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19110 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19111 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19112 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19113 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19118 @subsection Group Info
19120 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19121 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19122 describes the group.
19124 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19125 second is a more complex one:
19128 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19130 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19131 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19133 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19136 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19137 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19138 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19139 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19140 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19141 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19142 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19143 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19144 this section is about.
19146 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19147 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19148 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19150 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19153 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19154 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19155 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19156 group = quote <string> quote
19157 ralevel = rank / level
19158 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19159 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19160 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19162 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19163 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19164 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19165 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19168 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19169 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19172 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19173 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19176 @item gnus-info-group
19177 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19178 @findex gnus-info-group
19179 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19180 Get/set the group name.
19182 @item gnus-info-rank
19183 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19184 @findex gnus-info-rank
19185 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19186 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19188 @item gnus-info-level
19189 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19190 @findex gnus-info-level
19191 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19192 Get/set the group level.
19194 @item gnus-info-score
19195 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19196 @findex gnus-info-score
19197 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19198 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19200 @item gnus-info-read
19201 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19202 @findex gnus-info-read
19203 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19204 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19206 @item gnus-info-marks
19207 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19208 @findex gnus-info-marks
19209 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19210 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19212 @item gnus-info-method
19213 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19214 @findex gnus-info-method
19215 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19216 Get/set the group select method.
19218 @item gnus-info-params
19219 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19220 @findex gnus-info-params
19221 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19222 Get/set the group parameters.
19225 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19226 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19228 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19229 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19230 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19231 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19234 @node Extended Interactive
19235 @subsection Extended Interactive
19236 @cindex interactive
19237 @findex gnus-interactive
19239 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19240 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19241 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19244 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19245 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19250 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19251 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19252 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19253 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19254 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19255 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19256 @code{interactive}.
19258 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19263 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19264 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19268 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19269 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19270 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19273 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19277 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19281 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19287 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19288 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19292 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19293 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19294 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19296 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19297 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19298 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19299 Gnus, that's very useful.
19301 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19302 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19303 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19304 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19305 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19306 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19307 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19308 following function:
19311 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19315 (,function ,@@args))
19319 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19320 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19321 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19324 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19325 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19326 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19328 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19329 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19330 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19333 @node Various File Formats
19334 @subsection Various File Formats
19337 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19338 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19342 @node Active File Format
19343 @subsubsection Active File Format
19345 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19346 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19349 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19352 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19353 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19354 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19355 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19356 no.general 1000 900 y
19359 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19362 active = *group-line
19363 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19364 group = <non-white-space string>
19366 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19367 low-number = <positive integer>
19368 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19371 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19372 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19375 @node Newsgroups File Format
19376 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19378 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19379 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19380 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19383 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19384 Here's the definition:
19388 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19389 group = <non-white-space string>
19391 description = <string>
19396 @node Emacs for Heathens
19397 @section Emacs for Heathens
19399 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19400 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19401 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19402 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19403 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19404 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19405 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19409 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19410 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19415 @subsection Keystrokes
19419 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19422 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19425 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19426 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19427 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19428 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19429 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19430 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19432 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19433 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19434 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19435 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19436 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19437 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19438 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19440 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19441 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19442 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19443 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19444 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19445 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19446 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19448 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19449 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19450 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19451 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19452 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19458 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19460 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19461 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19462 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19463 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19465 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19466 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19467 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19468 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19469 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19470 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19471 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19474 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19475 write the following:
19478 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19481 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19482 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19483 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19486 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19487 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19488 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19489 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19490 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19492 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19493 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19494 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19498 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19502 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19505 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19506 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19509 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19512 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19513 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19516 @include gnus-faq.texi