4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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284 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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293 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
295 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
299 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
300 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
301 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
302 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
303 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
304 License'' in the Emacs manual.
306 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
307 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
308 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
310 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
311 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
312 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
313 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
321 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
323 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
324 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
326 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
327 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
328 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
329 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
330 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
331 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
332 License'' in the Emacs manual.
334 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
335 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
336 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
338 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
339 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
340 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
341 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
347 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
349 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
352 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
353 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
355 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
357 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
358 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
359 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
360 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
361 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
362 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
363 License'' in the Emacs manual.
365 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
366 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
367 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
369 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
370 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
371 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
372 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
381 @top The gnus Newsreader
385 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
386 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
387 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
390 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
391 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
392 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
393 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
394 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
395 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
397 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
408 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
409 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
411 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
412 being accused of plagiarism:
414 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
415 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
416 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
417 can even read news with it!
419 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
420 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
421 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
422 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
423 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
429 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
430 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
431 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
432 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
433 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
434 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
435 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
436 * Various:: General purpose settings.
437 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
438 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
439 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
440 * Key Index:: Key Index.
442 Other related manuals
444 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
445 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
446 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
447 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
450 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
454 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
455 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
456 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
457 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
458 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
459 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
460 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
461 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
462 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
463 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
464 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
468 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
469 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
470 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
474 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
475 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
476 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
477 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
478 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
479 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
480 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
481 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
482 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
483 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
484 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
485 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
486 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
487 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
488 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
489 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
490 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
494 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
495 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
496 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
500 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
501 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
502 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
503 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
504 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
508 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
509 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
510 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
511 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
512 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
516 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
517 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
518 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
519 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
520 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
521 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
522 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
523 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
524 * Threading:: How threads are made.
525 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
526 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
527 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
528 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
529 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
530 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
531 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
532 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
533 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
534 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
535 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
536 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
537 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
538 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
539 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
540 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
541 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
542 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
543 or reselecting the current group.
544 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
545 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
546 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
547 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
549 Summary Buffer Format
551 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
552 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
553 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
554 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
558 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
559 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
561 Reply, Followup and Post
563 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
564 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
565 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
566 * Canceling and Superseding::
570 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
571 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
572 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
574 * Generic Marking Commands::
575 * Setting Process Marks::
579 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
580 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
581 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
585 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
586 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
588 Customizing Threading
590 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
591 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
592 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
593 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
597 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
598 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
599 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
600 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
601 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
602 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
606 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
607 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
608 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
612 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
613 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
614 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
615 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
616 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
617 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
618 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
619 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
620 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
621 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
622 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
624 Alternative Approaches
626 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
627 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
629 Various Summary Stuff
631 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
632 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
633 * Summary Generation Commands::
634 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
638 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
639 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
640 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
641 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
642 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
646 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
647 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
648 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
649 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
650 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
651 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
652 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
653 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
657 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
658 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
659 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
660 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
661 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
662 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
663 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
664 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
668 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
669 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
670 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
671 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
672 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
673 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
674 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
678 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
679 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
683 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
684 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
685 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
689 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
690 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
691 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
692 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
693 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
694 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
695 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
696 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
697 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
698 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
699 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
700 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
701 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
705 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
706 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
707 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
709 Choosing a Mail Back End
711 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
712 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
713 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
714 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
715 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
716 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
717 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
722 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
723 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
724 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
725 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
726 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
727 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
731 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
732 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
733 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
734 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
735 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
739 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
740 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
741 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
742 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
743 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
747 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
751 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
752 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
753 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
757 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
758 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
762 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
763 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
764 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
765 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
766 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
767 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
768 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
769 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
770 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
771 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
772 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
773 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
777 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
778 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
779 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
783 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
784 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
785 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
789 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
790 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
791 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
792 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
793 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
794 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
795 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
796 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
797 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
798 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
799 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
800 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
801 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
802 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
803 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
804 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
805 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
809 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
810 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
811 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
812 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
816 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
817 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
818 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
822 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
823 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
824 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
825 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
826 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
827 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
828 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
829 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
830 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
831 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
832 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
833 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
834 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
835 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
836 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
837 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
838 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
839 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
840 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
844 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
845 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
846 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
847 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
848 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
849 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
850 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
851 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
855 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
856 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
857 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
858 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
862 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
863 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
864 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
865 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
866 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
867 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
871 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
872 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
873 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
874 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
875 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
876 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
877 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
878 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
879 * Frequently Asked Questions::
883 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
884 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
885 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
886 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
887 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
888 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
889 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
890 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
891 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
895 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
896 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
897 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
898 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
899 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
903 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
904 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
905 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
906 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
910 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
911 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
912 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
913 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
914 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
915 * Group Info:: The group info format.
916 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
917 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
918 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
922 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
923 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
924 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
925 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
926 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
927 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
931 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
932 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
936 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
937 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
943 @chapter Starting gnus
948 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
949 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
952 @findex gnus-other-frame
953 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
954 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
955 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
957 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
958 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
959 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
961 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
962 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
965 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
966 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
967 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
968 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
969 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
970 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
971 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
972 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
973 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
974 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
975 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
979 @node Finding the News
980 @section Finding the News
983 @vindex gnus-select-method
985 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
986 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
987 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
988 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
991 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
992 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
995 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
998 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1001 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1004 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1005 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1006 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1008 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1010 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1011 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1012 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1013 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1014 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1015 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1017 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1018 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1019 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1020 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1022 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1023 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1024 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1025 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1026 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1027 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1028 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1029 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1030 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1033 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1035 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1036 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1037 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1038 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1039 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1040 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1042 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1044 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1045 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1046 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1047 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1048 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1049 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1052 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1053 you would typically set this variable to
1056 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1060 @node The First Time
1061 @section The First Time
1062 @cindex first time usage
1064 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1065 be subscribed by default.
1067 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1068 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1069 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1070 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1073 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1074 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1075 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1077 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1078 help you with most common problems.
1080 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1081 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1085 @node The Server is Down
1086 @section The Server is Down
1087 @cindex server errors
1089 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1090 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1091 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1093 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1094 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1095 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1096 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1097 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1098 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1099 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1101 @findex gnus-no-server
1102 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1104 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1105 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1106 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1107 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1108 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1109 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1110 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1114 @section Slave Gnusae
1117 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1118 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1119 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1120 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1122 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1123 @file{.newsrc} file.
1125 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1126 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1127 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1128 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1129 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1130 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1131 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1134 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1135 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1136 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1137 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1138 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1139 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1140 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1141 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1143 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1144 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1146 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1147 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1148 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1149 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1150 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1152 @node Fetching a Group
1153 @section Fetching a Group
1154 @cindex fetching a group
1156 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1157 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1158 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1159 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1160 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1161 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1167 @cindex subscription
1169 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1170 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1171 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1172 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1173 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1174 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1175 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1176 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1177 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1180 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1181 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1182 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1186 @node Checking New Groups
1187 @subsection Checking New Groups
1189 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1190 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1191 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1192 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1193 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1194 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1195 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1196 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1197 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1198 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1200 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1201 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1202 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1203 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1204 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1205 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1206 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1207 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1208 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1209 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1210 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1212 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1213 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1214 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1215 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1216 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1217 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1220 @node Subscription Methods
1221 @subsection Subscription Methods
1223 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1224 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1225 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1227 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1228 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1230 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1236 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1237 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1238 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1240 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1241 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1242 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1243 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1245 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1246 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1247 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1249 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1250 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1251 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1252 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1253 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1254 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1255 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1256 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1257 up. Or something like that.
1259 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1260 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1261 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1262 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1263 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1265 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1266 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1267 Kill all new groups.
1269 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1270 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1271 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1272 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1273 topic parameter that looks like
1279 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1282 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1287 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1288 A closely related variable is
1289 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1290 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1291 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1292 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1295 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1296 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1297 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1298 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1301 @node Filtering New Groups
1302 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1304 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1305 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1306 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1309 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1312 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1313 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1314 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1315 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1316 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1317 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1318 subscribing these groups.
1319 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1320 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1322 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1323 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1324 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1325 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1326 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1327 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1328 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1329 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1331 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1332 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1333 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1334 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1335 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1336 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1337 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1338 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1339 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1340 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1343 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1344 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1347 @node Changing Servers
1348 @section Changing Servers
1349 @cindex changing servers
1351 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1352 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1353 very flaky and you want to use another.
1355 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1356 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1360 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1361 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1362 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1363 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1366 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1367 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1368 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1369 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1371 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1372 @findex gnus-change-server
1373 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1374 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1375 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1376 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1377 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1379 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1380 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1381 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1382 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1383 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1385 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1386 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1387 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1388 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1389 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1390 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1392 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1393 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1394 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1395 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1397 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1398 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1399 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1400 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1401 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1402 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1403 cache for all groups).
1407 @section Startup Files
1408 @cindex startup files
1413 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1414 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1416 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1417 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1418 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1419 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1420 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1421 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1422 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1424 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1425 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1426 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1427 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1428 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1429 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1431 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1432 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1433 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1434 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1435 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1436 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1437 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1438 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1439 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1440 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1442 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1443 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1444 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1445 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1446 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1447 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1448 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1449 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1450 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1451 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1452 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1453 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1455 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1456 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1457 @vindex version-control
1458 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1459 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1460 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1461 If you want version control for this file, set
1462 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1463 @code{version-control} variable.
1465 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1466 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1467 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1468 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1469 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1470 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1471 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1472 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1473 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1474 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1477 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1478 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1480 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1481 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1484 @vindex gnus-init-file
1485 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1486 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1487 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1488 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1489 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1490 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1491 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1492 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1493 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1494 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1500 @cindex dribble file
1503 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1504 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1505 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1506 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1507 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1510 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1511 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1514 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1515 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1516 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1518 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1519 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1520 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1521 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1522 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1523 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1525 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1526 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1527 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1530 @node The Active File
1531 @section The Active File
1533 @cindex ignored groups
1535 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1536 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1537 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1539 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1540 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1541 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1542 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1543 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1544 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1545 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1548 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1549 @c if you set it to anything else.
1551 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1553 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1554 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1555 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1557 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1558 you actually subscribe to.
1560 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1561 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1562 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1563 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1565 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1566 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1567 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1568 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1569 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1570 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1572 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1573 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1574 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1577 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1578 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1579 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1580 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1581 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1582 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1584 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1585 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1587 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1588 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1590 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1591 secondary select methods.
1594 @node Startup Variables
1595 @section Startup Variables
1599 @item gnus-load-hook
1600 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1601 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1602 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1603 times you start gnus.
1605 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1606 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1607 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1609 @item gnus-startup-hook
1610 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1611 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1613 @item gnus-started-hook
1614 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1615 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1618 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1619 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1620 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1621 generating the group buffer.
1623 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1624 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1625 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1626 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1627 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1628 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1629 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1630 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1632 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1633 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1634 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1635 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1636 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1637 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1639 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1640 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1641 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1643 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1644 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1645 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1647 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1648 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1649 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1650 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1656 @chapter Group Buffer
1657 @cindex group buffer
1659 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1661 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1662 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1663 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1664 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1665 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1666 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1667 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1668 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1669 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1670 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1671 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1672 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1673 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1674 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1675 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1676 @c human rights at 9...
1679 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1680 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1681 long as gnus is active.
1685 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1686 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1687 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1688 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1689 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1690 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1691 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1692 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1698 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1699 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1700 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1701 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1702 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1703 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1704 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1705 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1706 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1707 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1708 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1709 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1710 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1711 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1712 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1713 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1714 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1718 @node Group Buffer Format
1719 @section Group Buffer Format
1722 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1723 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1724 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1728 @node Group Line Specification
1729 @subsection Group Line Specification
1730 @cindex group buffer format
1732 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1733 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1735 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1738 25: news.announce.newusers
1739 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1744 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1745 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1746 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1747 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1749 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1750 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1751 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1752 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1753 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1754 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1756 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1758 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1759 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1760 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1761 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1762 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1764 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1765 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1766 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1768 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1773 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1776 Whether the group is subscribed.
1779 Level of subscribedness.
1782 Number of unread articles.
1785 Number of dormant articles.
1788 Number of ticked articles.
1791 Number of read articles.
1794 Number of unseen articles.
1797 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1798 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1800 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1801 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1802 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1803 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1804 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1805 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1806 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1807 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1810 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1813 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1822 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1823 comment element in the group parameters.
1826 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1827 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1828 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1832 @samp{m} if moderated.
1835 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1841 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1847 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1851 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1854 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1855 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1856 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1857 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1858 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1861 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1863 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1867 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1870 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1874 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1875 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1876 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1877 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1878 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1879 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1884 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1885 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1886 group, or a bogus native group.
1889 @node Group Modeline Specification
1890 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1891 @cindex group modeline
1893 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1894 The mode line can be changed by setting
1895 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1896 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1900 The native news server.
1902 The native select method.
1906 @node Group Highlighting
1907 @subsection Group Highlighting
1908 @cindex highlighting
1909 @cindex group highlighting
1911 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1912 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1913 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1914 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1915 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1917 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1921 (cond (window-system
1922 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1923 (defface my-group-face-1
1924 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1925 (defface my-group-face-2
1926 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1927 (defface my-group-face-3
1928 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1929 (defface my-group-face-4
1930 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1931 (defface my-group-face-5
1932 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1934 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1935 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1936 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1937 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1938 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1939 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1942 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1944 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1951 The number of unread articles in the group.
1955 Whether the group is a mail group.
1957 The level of the group.
1959 The score of the group.
1961 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1963 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1964 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1966 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1967 topic being inserted.
1970 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1971 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1972 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1974 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1975 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1976 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1977 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1978 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1981 @node Group Maneuvering
1982 @section Group Maneuvering
1983 @cindex group movement
1985 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1986 expected, hopefully.
1992 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1993 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1994 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2001 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2002 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2006 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2007 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2012 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2023 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2024 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2027 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2033 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2034 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2035 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2040 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2041 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2042 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2047 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2048 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2051 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2052 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2053 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2054 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2058 @node Selecting a Group
2059 @section Selecting a Group
2060 @cindex group selection
2065 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2066 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2067 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2068 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2069 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2070 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2071 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2072 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2073 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2074 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2076 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2077 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2078 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2080 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2081 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2086 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2087 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2088 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2089 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2090 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2094 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2096 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2097 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2098 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2099 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2100 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2101 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2102 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2103 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2106 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2107 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2108 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2109 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2110 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2113 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2115 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2116 doing any processing of its contents
2117 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2118 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2119 manner will have no permanent effects.
2123 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2124 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2125 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2126 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2127 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2128 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2129 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2130 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2133 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2134 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2135 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2136 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2137 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2138 Which article this is is controlled by the
2139 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2145 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2148 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2151 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2153 @item unseen-or-unread
2154 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2155 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2159 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2163 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2164 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2166 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2167 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2168 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2169 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2173 @node Subscription Commands
2174 @section Subscription Commands
2175 @cindex subscription
2183 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2184 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2185 Toggle subscription to the current group
2186 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2192 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2193 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2194 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2195 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2201 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2202 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2203 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2209 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2210 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2213 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2214 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2215 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2216 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2217 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2223 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2224 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2228 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2229 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2232 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2233 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2234 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2235 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2236 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2237 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2238 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2239 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2240 @file{.newsrc} file.
2244 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2254 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2255 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2256 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2257 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2258 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2259 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2264 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2265 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2266 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2270 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2271 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2272 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2274 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2275 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2276 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2277 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2278 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2279 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2286 @section Group Levels
2290 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2291 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2292 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2293 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2294 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2296 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2302 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2303 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2304 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2305 prompted for a level.
2308 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2309 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2310 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2311 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2312 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2313 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2314 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2315 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2316 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2317 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2318 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2319 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2320 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2321 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2322 reasons of efficiency.
2324 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2325 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2327 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2328 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2329 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2330 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2331 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2332 groups are hidden, in a way.
2334 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2335 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2336 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2337 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2338 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2339 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2341 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2342 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2343 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2344 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2345 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2346 list of killed groups.)
2348 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2349 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2350 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2352 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2353 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2354 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2355 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2356 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2357 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2358 relevant valid ranges.
2360 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2361 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2362 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2363 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2364 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2365 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2368 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2369 one with the best level.
2371 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2372 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2373 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2376 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2377 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2378 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2379 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2382 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2383 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2384 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2385 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2387 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2388 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2389 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2390 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2391 to 5. The default is 6.
2395 @section Group Score
2400 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2401 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2402 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2405 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2406 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2407 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2408 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2409 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2410 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2411 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2412 least significant part.))
2414 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2415 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2416 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2417 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2418 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2419 action after each summary exit, you can add
2420 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2421 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2422 slow things down somewhat.
2425 @node Marking Groups
2426 @section Marking Groups
2427 @cindex marking groups
2429 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2430 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2431 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2432 bidding on those groups.
2434 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2435 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2436 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2444 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2445 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2451 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2452 Remove the mark from the current group
2453 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2458 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2462 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2463 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2467 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2468 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2472 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2473 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2474 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2477 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2479 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2480 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2481 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2482 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2483 the command to be executed.
2486 @node Foreign Groups
2487 @section Foreign Groups
2488 @cindex foreign groups
2490 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2491 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2492 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2493 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2500 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2501 @cindex making groups
2502 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2503 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2504 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2508 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2509 @cindex renaming groups
2510 Rename the current group to something else
2511 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2512 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2518 @findex gnus-group-customize
2519 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2523 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2524 @cindex renaming groups
2525 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2526 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2531 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2532 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2536 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2537 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2538 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2544 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2545 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2550 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2551 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2555 @cindex (ding) archive
2556 @cindex archive group
2557 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2558 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2559 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2560 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2561 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2562 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2563 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2567 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2569 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2570 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2571 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2572 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2576 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2578 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2579 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2580 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2584 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2585 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2587 Make a group based on some file or other
2588 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2589 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2590 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2591 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2592 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2593 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2594 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2595 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2596 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2600 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2601 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2602 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2603 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2607 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2611 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2612 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2613 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2614 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2615 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2616 @xref{Web Searches}.
2618 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2619 to a particular group by using a match string like
2620 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2623 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2624 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2625 This function will delete the current group
2626 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2627 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2628 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2629 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2630 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2634 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2635 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2636 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2640 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2641 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2642 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2645 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2648 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2649 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2650 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2651 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2652 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2653 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2657 @node Group Parameters
2658 @section Group Parameters
2659 @cindex group parameters
2661 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2662 Here's an example group parameter list:
2665 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2669 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2670 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2671 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2672 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2674 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2675 is an alist of regexps and values.
2677 The following group parameters can be used:
2682 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2685 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2688 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2689 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2690 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2691 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2692 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2694 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2695 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2696 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2697 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2698 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2699 list address instead.
2701 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2705 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2708 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2711 It is totally ignored
2712 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2713 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2715 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2716 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2717 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2718 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2719 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2721 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2722 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2723 sending the message.
2725 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2726 @cindex Mail List Groups
2727 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2728 entering summary buffer.
2730 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2735 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2736 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2737 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2738 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2739 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{Mailing
2740 Lists, , Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual} for a complete
2741 treatment of available MFT support.
2743 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2744 directly uses this group parameter.
2748 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2749 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2750 of whether it has any unread articles.
2752 @item broken-reply-to
2753 @cindex broken-reply-to
2754 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2755 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2756 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2757 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2758 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2759 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2763 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2764 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2768 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2769 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2770 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2775 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2776 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2777 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2778 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2779 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2780 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2781 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2782 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2783 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2787 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2788 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2789 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2791 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2794 @cindex total-expire
2795 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2796 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2797 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2798 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2801 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2805 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2806 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2807 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2808 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2809 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2810 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2811 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2814 @cindex score file group parameter
2815 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2816 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2817 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2820 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2821 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2822 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2823 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2826 @cindex admin-address
2827 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2828 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2829 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2830 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2834 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2835 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2839 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2842 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2843 entering the group with C-u @var{integer}.
2846 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2850 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2852 Here are some examples:
2856 Display only unread articles.
2859 Display everything except expirable articles.
2861 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2862 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2866 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2867 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2868 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2869 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2870 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2874 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2875 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2876 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2880 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2881 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2882 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2886 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2887 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2888 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2890 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2892 @item ignored-charsets
2893 @cindex ignored-charset
2894 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2895 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2896 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2898 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2901 @cindex posting-style
2902 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2903 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2904 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2905 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2906 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2908 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2909 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2910 like this in the group parameters:
2915 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2916 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2921 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2922 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2926 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2927 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2928 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2929 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2930 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2934 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2935 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2936 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2937 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2939 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2940 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2941 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2942 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2945 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2946 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2950 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2953 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2954 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2955 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2956 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2957 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2958 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2959 @code{eval}ed there.
2961 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2962 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2963 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2964 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2965 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2966 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2967 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2968 parameters for the group.
2971 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2972 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2973 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2974 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2975 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2979 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2980 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2981 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2982 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2983 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2985 @vindex gnus-parameters
2986 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2987 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2991 (setq gnus-parameters
2993 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2994 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2995 (gnus-summary-line-format
2996 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3000 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3004 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3008 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3011 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3012 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3015 @node Listing Groups
3016 @section Listing Groups
3017 @cindex group listing
3019 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3027 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3028 List all groups that have unread articles
3029 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3030 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3031 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3032 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3039 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3040 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3041 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3042 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3043 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3044 unsubscribed groups).
3048 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3049 List all unread groups on a specific level
3050 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3051 with no unread articles.
3055 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3056 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3057 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3058 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3063 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3064 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3068 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3069 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3070 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3074 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3075 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3079 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3080 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3081 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3082 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3083 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3084 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3085 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3086 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3090 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3091 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3092 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3096 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3097 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3098 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3102 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3103 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3107 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3108 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3112 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3113 List groups limited within the current selection
3114 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3118 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3119 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3123 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3124 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3128 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3129 @cindex visible group parameter
3130 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3131 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3132 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3133 get the same effect.
3135 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3136 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3137 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3138 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3139 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3142 @node Sorting Groups
3143 @section Sorting Groups
3144 @cindex sorting groups
3146 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3147 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3148 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3149 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3150 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3151 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3156 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3157 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3158 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3160 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3161 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3162 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3164 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3165 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3166 Sort by group level.
3168 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3169 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3170 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3172 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3174 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3175 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3177 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3178 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3179 Sort by number of unread articles.
3181 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3182 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3183 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3185 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3186 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3187 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3192 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3193 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3197 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3198 some sorting criteria:
3202 @kindex G S a (Group)
3203 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3204 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3205 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3208 @kindex G S u (Group)
3209 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3210 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3211 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3214 @kindex G S l (Group)
3215 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3216 Sort the group buffer by group level
3217 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3220 @kindex G S v (Group)
3221 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3222 Sort the group buffer by group score
3223 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3226 @kindex G S r (Group)
3227 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3228 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3229 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3232 @kindex G S m (Group)
3233 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3234 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3235 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3238 @kindex G S n (Group)
3239 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3240 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3241 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3245 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3246 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3248 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3249 commands will sort in reverse order.
3251 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3255 @kindex G P a (Group)
3256 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3257 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3258 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3261 @kindex G P u (Group)
3262 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3263 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3264 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3267 @kindex G P l (Group)
3268 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3269 Sort the groups by group level
3270 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3273 @kindex G P v (Group)
3274 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3275 Sort the groups by group score
3276 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3279 @kindex G P r (Group)
3280 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3281 Sort the groups by group rank
3282 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3285 @kindex G P m (Group)
3286 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3287 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3288 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3291 @kindex G P n (Group)
3292 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3293 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3294 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3297 @kindex G P s (Group)
3298 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3299 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3303 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3307 @node Group Maintenance
3308 @section Group Maintenance
3309 @cindex bogus groups
3314 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3315 Find bogus groups and delete them
3316 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3320 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3321 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3322 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3323 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3324 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3328 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3329 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3330 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3331 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3332 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3333 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3336 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3337 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3338 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3339 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3344 @node Browse Foreign Server
3345 @section Browse Foreign Server
3346 @cindex foreign servers
3347 @cindex browsing servers
3352 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3353 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3354 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3355 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3358 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3359 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3360 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3361 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3363 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3368 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3369 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3373 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3374 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3377 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3378 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3379 Enter the current group and display the first article
3380 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3383 @kindex RET (Browse)
3384 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3385 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3389 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3390 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3391 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3397 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3398 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3402 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3403 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3407 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3408 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3409 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3414 @section Exiting gnus
3415 @cindex exiting gnus
3417 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3422 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3423 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3424 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3425 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3429 @findex gnus-group-exit
3430 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3431 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3435 @findex gnus-group-quit
3436 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3437 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3440 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3441 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3442 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3443 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3444 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3445 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3451 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3452 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3453 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3459 @section Group Topics
3462 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3463 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3464 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3465 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3466 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3467 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3471 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3472 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3483 2: alt.religion.emacs
3486 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3488 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3489 13: comp.sources.unix
3492 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3494 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3495 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3496 is a toggling command.)
3498 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3499 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3500 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3501 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3504 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3505 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3506 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3509 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3513 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3514 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3515 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3516 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3517 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3521 @node Topic Commands
3522 @subsection Topic Commands
3523 @cindex topic commands
3525 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3526 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3527 definitions slightly.
3529 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3530 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3531 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3532 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3533 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3534 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3536 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3543 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3544 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3545 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3549 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3551 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3552 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3553 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3554 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3557 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3558 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3559 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3560 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3564 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3565 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3566 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3567 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3573 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3574 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3575 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3579 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3580 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3581 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3584 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3585 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3586 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3587 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3588 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3590 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3591 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3595 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3596 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3603 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3605 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3606 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3607 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3608 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3609 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3610 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3614 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3620 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3621 Move the current group to some other topic
3622 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3623 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3627 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3628 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3632 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3633 Copy the current group to some other topic
3634 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3635 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3639 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3640 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3641 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3645 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3646 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3647 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3651 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3652 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3653 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3654 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3655 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3656 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3657 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3660 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3661 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3665 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3666 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3667 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3671 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3672 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3673 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3677 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3678 Toggle hiding empty topics
3679 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3683 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3684 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3685 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3686 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3689 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3690 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3691 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3692 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3693 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3696 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3697 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3698 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3699 expiry process (if any)
3700 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3704 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3705 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3708 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3709 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3710 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3714 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3715 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3716 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3719 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3720 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3721 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3724 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3725 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3726 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3730 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3731 @cindex group parameters
3732 @cindex topic parameters
3734 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3735 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3740 @node Topic Variables
3741 @subsection Topic Variables
3742 @cindex topic variables
3744 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3745 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3747 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3748 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3749 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3762 Number of groups in the topic.
3764 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3766 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3769 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3770 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3771 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3774 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3775 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3777 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3778 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3779 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3783 @subsection Topic Sorting
3784 @cindex topic sorting
3786 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3792 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3794 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3795 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3798 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3799 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3800 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3801 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3804 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3805 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3806 Sort the current topic by group level
3807 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3810 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3811 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3812 Sort the current topic by group score
3813 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3816 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3817 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3818 Sort the current topic by group rank
3819 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3822 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3823 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3824 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3825 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3828 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3829 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3830 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3831 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3835 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3836 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3837 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3838 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3842 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3843 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3847 @node Topic Topology
3848 @subsection Topic Topology
3849 @cindex topic topology
3852 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3858 2: alt.religion.emacs
3861 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3863 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3864 13: comp.sources.unix
3867 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3868 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3869 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3874 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3875 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3879 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3880 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3881 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3882 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3883 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3884 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3886 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3887 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3888 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3891 @node Topic Parameters
3892 @subsection Topic Parameters
3893 @cindex topic parameters
3895 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3896 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3897 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3899 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3904 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3905 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3906 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3909 @item subscribe-level
3910 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3911 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3912 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3916 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3917 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3918 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3919 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3925 2: alt.religion.emacs
3929 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3931 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3932 13: comp.sources.unix
3936 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3937 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3938 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3939 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3940 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3941 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3943 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3944 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3945 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3946 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3947 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3949 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3950 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3951 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3952 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3953 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3954 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3955 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3956 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3959 @node Misc Group Stuff
3960 @section Misc Group Stuff
3963 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3964 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3965 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3966 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3967 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3974 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3975 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3976 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3980 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3981 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3982 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3983 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3984 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3985 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3986 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3990 @findex gnus-group-mail
3991 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3992 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3993 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3994 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3998 @findex gnus-group-news
3999 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4000 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4001 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4003 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4004 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4005 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4006 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4007 for this to work though.
4011 Variables for the group buffer:
4015 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4016 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4017 is called after the group buffer has been
4020 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4021 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4022 is called after the group buffer is
4023 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4026 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4027 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4028 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4029 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4031 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4032 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4033 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4034 whether they are empty or not.
4036 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4037 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4038 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4039 non-ASCII group names.
4043 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4044 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4047 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4048 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4049 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4050 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4051 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4052 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4057 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4058 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4063 @node Scanning New Messages
4064 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4065 @cindex new messages
4066 @cindex scanning new news
4072 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4073 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4074 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4075 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4076 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4077 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4082 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4083 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4084 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4085 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4086 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4087 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4088 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4090 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4091 @cindex activating groups
4093 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4094 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4099 @findex gnus-group-restart
4100 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4101 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4102 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4106 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4107 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4109 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4110 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4114 @node Group Information
4115 @subsection Group Information
4116 @cindex group information
4117 @cindex information on groups
4124 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4125 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4128 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4129 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4130 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4131 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4132 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4133 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4134 for fetching the file.
4136 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4137 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4141 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4142 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4144 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4145 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4148 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4149 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4150 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4154 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4155 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4156 @cindex control message
4157 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4158 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4159 group if given a prefix argument.
4161 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4162 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4163 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4164 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4166 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4167 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4168 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4172 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4174 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4175 @cindex describing groups
4176 @cindex group description
4177 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4178 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4179 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4183 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4184 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4185 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4192 @findex gnus-version
4193 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4197 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4198 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4201 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4204 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4205 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4209 @node Group Timestamp
4210 @subsection Group Timestamp
4212 @cindex group timestamps
4214 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4215 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4216 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4219 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4222 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4224 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4225 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4228 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4229 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4232 This will result in lines looking like:
4235 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4236 0: custom 19961002T012713
4239 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4240 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4244 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4245 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4248 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4249 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4253 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4254 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4255 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4256 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4258 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4264 @subsection File Commands
4265 @cindex file commands
4271 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4272 @vindex gnus-init-file
4273 @cindex reading init file
4274 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4275 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4279 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4280 @cindex saving .newsrc
4281 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4282 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4283 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4286 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4287 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4288 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4293 @node Sieve Commands
4294 @subsection Sieve Commands
4295 @cindex group sieve commands
4297 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4298 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4299 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4300 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4301 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4303 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4304 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4305 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4306 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4307 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4308 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4309 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4310 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4311 regenerate the Sieve script.
4313 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4314 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4315 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4316 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4317 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4318 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4319 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4320 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4321 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4322 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4325 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4326 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4331 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4337 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4338 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4339 @cindex generating sieve script
4340 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4341 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4345 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4346 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4347 @cindex updating sieve script
4348 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4349 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4350 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4355 @node Summary Buffer
4356 @chapter Summary Buffer
4357 @cindex summary buffer
4359 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4360 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4362 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4363 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4365 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4368 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4369 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4370 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4371 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4372 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4373 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4374 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4375 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4376 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4377 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4378 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4379 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4380 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4381 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4382 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4383 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4384 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4385 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4386 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4387 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4388 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4389 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4390 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4391 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4392 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4393 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4394 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4395 or reselecting the current group.
4396 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4397 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4398 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4399 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4403 @node Summary Buffer Format
4404 @section Summary Buffer Format
4405 @cindex summary buffer format
4409 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4410 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4411 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4417 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4418 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4419 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4420 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4423 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4424 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4425 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4426 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4427 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4428 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4429 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4430 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4431 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4432 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4433 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4434 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4435 other function instead:
4438 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4439 'mail-extract-address-components)
4442 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4443 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4444 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4445 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4448 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4449 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4451 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4452 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4453 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4454 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4455 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4457 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4458 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4459 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4460 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4461 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4462 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4464 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4466 The following format specification characters and extended format
4467 specification(s) are understood:
4473 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4474 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4476 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4477 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4478 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4480 Full @code{From} header.
4482 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4484 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4487 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4488 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4489 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4490 may be more thorough.
4492 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4495 Number of lines in the article.
4497 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4498 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4500 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4501 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4503 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4505 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4506 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4519 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4520 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4521 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4524 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4525 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4526 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4527 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4529 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4530 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4531 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4532 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4534 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4535 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4536 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4538 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4539 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4540 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4542 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4543 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4544 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4546 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4547 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4548 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4553 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4554 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4556 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4557 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4559 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4560 for adopted articles.
4562 One space for each thread level.
4564 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4566 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4569 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4570 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4571 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4574 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4576 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4577 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4578 default level. If the difference between
4579 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4580 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4588 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4590 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4596 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4597 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4599 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4600 article has any children.
4606 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4607 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4609 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4610 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4611 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4612 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4613 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4614 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4617 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4618 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4619 There can only be one such area.
4621 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4622 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4623 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4624 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4625 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4626 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4628 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4629 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4631 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4634 @node To From Newsgroups
4635 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4639 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4640 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4641 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4642 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4643 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4647 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4648 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4649 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4653 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4654 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4657 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4658 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4661 @findex gnus-extra-header
4662 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4663 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4664 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4667 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4671 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4672 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4673 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4674 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4675 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4676 headers are used instead.
4680 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4681 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4682 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
4683 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4684 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4685 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4688 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4689 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4690 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4691 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4693 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4697 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4699 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4700 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4701 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4702 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4706 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4709 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4710 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4713 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4714 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4715 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4721 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4722 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4725 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4726 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4728 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4729 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4730 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4731 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4733 Here are the elements you can play with:
4739 Unprefixed group name.
4741 Current article number.
4743 Current article score.
4747 Number of unread articles in this group.
4749 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4752 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4753 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4754 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4755 and no unselected ones.
4757 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4758 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4760 Subject of the current article.
4762 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4764 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4766 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4768 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4770 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4772 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4776 @node Summary Highlighting
4777 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4781 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4782 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4783 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4784 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4785 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4787 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4788 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4789 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4790 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4792 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4793 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4794 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4795 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4797 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4798 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4799 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4800 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4801 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4802 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4805 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4806 ((> score default) . bold))
4808 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4809 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4813 @node Summary Maneuvering
4814 @section Summary Maneuvering
4815 @cindex summary movement
4817 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4818 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4820 None of these commands select articles.
4825 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4826 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4827 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4828 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4829 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4833 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4834 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4835 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4836 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4837 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4840 @kindex G g (Summary)
4841 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4842 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4843 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4846 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4847 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4848 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4849 to the group buffer.
4851 Variables related to summary movement:
4855 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4856 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4857 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4858 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4859 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4860 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4861 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4862 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4863 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4864 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4865 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4866 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4867 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4868 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4870 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4871 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4872 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4873 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4874 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4875 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4876 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4878 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4880 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4881 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4882 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4883 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4884 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4886 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4887 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4888 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4889 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4890 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4891 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4892 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4893 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4896 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4897 the given number of lines from the top.
4902 @node Choosing Articles
4903 @section Choosing Articles
4904 @cindex selecting articles
4907 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4908 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4912 @node Choosing Commands
4913 @subsection Choosing Commands
4915 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4916 and they all select and display an article.
4918 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4919 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4923 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4924 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4925 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4926 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4928 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4929 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4930 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @pxref{Paging the Article}.
4935 @kindex G n (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4937 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4938 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4943 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4944 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4945 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4950 @kindex G N (Summary)
4951 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4952 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4957 @kindex G P (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4959 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4962 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4963 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4964 Go to the next article with the same subject
4965 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4968 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4969 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4970 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4971 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4975 @kindex G f (Summary)
4977 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4978 Go to the first unread article
4979 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4983 @kindex G b (Summary)
4985 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4986 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4987 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4988 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4993 @kindex G l (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4995 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4998 @kindex G o (Summary)
4999 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5001 @cindex article history
5002 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5003 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5004 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5005 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5006 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5007 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5012 @kindex G j (Summary)
5013 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5014 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5015 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5020 @node Choosing Variables
5021 @subsection Choosing Variables
5023 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5026 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5027 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5028 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5029 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5030 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5031 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5033 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5034 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5035 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5036 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5037 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5038 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5040 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5041 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5042 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5043 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5044 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5045 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5046 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5047 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5048 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5049 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5050 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5051 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5052 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5053 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5058 @node Paging the Article
5059 @section Scrolling the Article
5060 @cindex article scrolling
5065 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5067 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5068 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5069 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5071 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5072 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5073 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5074 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5075 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5076 what is considered uninteresting with
5077 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5078 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5081 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5082 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5083 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5086 @kindex RET (Summary)
5087 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5088 Scroll the current article one line forward
5089 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5092 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5093 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5094 Scroll the current article one line backward
5095 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5099 @kindex A g (Summary)
5101 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5102 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5103 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5104 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5105 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5106 the way it came from the server.
5108 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5109 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5110 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5113 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5118 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5123 @kindex A < (Summary)
5124 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5125 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5126 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5131 @kindex A > (Summary)
5132 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5133 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5137 @kindex A s (Summary)
5139 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5140 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5141 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5145 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5146 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5151 @node Reply Followup and Post
5152 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5155 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5156 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5157 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5158 * Canceling and Superseding::
5162 @node Summary Mail Commands
5163 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5165 @cindex composing mail
5167 Commands for composing a mail message:
5173 @kindex S r (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5176 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5177 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5178 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5179 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5184 @kindex S R (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5186 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5187 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5188 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5189 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5192 @kindex S w (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5194 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5195 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5196 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5197 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5200 @kindex S W (Summary)
5201 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5202 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5203 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5204 the process/prefix convention.
5207 @kindex S v (Summary)
5208 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5209 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5210 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5211 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5212 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5213 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5216 @kindex S V (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5218 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5219 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5220 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5223 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5224 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5225 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5226 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5227 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5228 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5229 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5230 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5233 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5235 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5236 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5237 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5241 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5242 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5243 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5244 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5245 Forward the current article to some other person
5246 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5247 headers of the forwarded article.
5252 @kindex S m (Summary)
5253 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5254 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5255 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5256 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5257 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5262 @kindex S i (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5264 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5265 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5266 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5268 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5269 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5270 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5271 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5272 for this to work though.
5275 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5276 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5277 @cindex bouncing mail
5278 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5279 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5280 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5281 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5282 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5283 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5284 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5285 very well fail, though.
5288 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5289 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5290 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5291 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5292 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5293 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5294 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5295 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5296 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5297 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5299 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5300 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5301 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5302 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5303 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5305 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5306 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5309 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5311 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5312 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5313 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5316 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5318 @cindex crossposting
5319 @cindex excessive crossposting
5320 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5321 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5323 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5324 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5325 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5326 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5327 command understands the process/prefix convention
5328 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5332 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5333 Manual}, for more information.
5336 @node Summary Post Commands
5337 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5339 @cindex composing news
5341 Commands for posting a news article:
5347 @kindex S p (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5349 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5350 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5351 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5352 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5357 @kindex S f (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5359 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5360 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5364 @kindex S F (Summary)
5366 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5367 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5368 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5369 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5370 process/prefix convention.
5373 @kindex S n (Summary)
5374 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5375 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5376 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5379 @kindex S N (Summary)
5380 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5381 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5382 message through mail and include the original message
5383 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5384 the process/prefix convention.
5387 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5389 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5391 headers of the forwarded article.
5394 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5395 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5397 @cindex making digests
5398 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5399 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5400 process/prefix convention.
5403 @kindex S u (Summary)
5404 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5405 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5406 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5407 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5410 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5411 Manual}, for more information.
5414 @node Summary Message Commands
5415 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5419 @kindex S y (Summary)
5420 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5421 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5422 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5423 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5424 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5429 @node Canceling and Superseding
5430 @subsection Canceling Articles
5431 @cindex canceling articles
5432 @cindex superseding articles
5434 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5435 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5437 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5439 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5441 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5442 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5443 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5444 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5445 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5446 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5448 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5449 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5452 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5453 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5454 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5456 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5457 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5458 your original article.
5460 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5462 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5463 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5464 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5467 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5468 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5469 have posted almost the same article twice.
5471 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5472 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5473 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5474 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5475 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5476 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5477 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5478 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5479 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5480 canceled/superseded.
5482 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5484 @node Delayed Articles
5485 @section Delayed Articles
5486 @cindex delayed sending
5487 @cindex send delayed
5489 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5490 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5491 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5492 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5495 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5498 @findex gnus-delay-article
5499 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5500 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5501 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5502 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5506 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5507 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5508 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5509 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5512 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5513 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5514 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5517 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5518 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5519 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5520 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5521 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5522 that means a time tomorrow.
5525 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5526 couple of variables:
5529 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5530 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5531 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5532 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5534 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5535 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5536 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5537 formats described above.
5539 @item gnus-delay-group
5540 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5541 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5542 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5543 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5545 @item gnus-delay-header
5546 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5547 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5548 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5549 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5552 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5553 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5554 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5555 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5556 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5558 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5559 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5560 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5561 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5562 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5563 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5564 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5567 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5568 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5570 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5571 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5572 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5573 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5574 argument is ignored.
5576 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5577 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5578 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5582 @node Marking Articles
5583 @section Marking Articles
5584 @cindex article marking
5585 @cindex article ticking
5588 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5590 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5591 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5592 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5594 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5597 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5598 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5599 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5603 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5607 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5608 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5609 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5613 @node Unread Articles
5614 @subsection Unread Articles
5616 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5621 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5622 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5624 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5625 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5626 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5627 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5628 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5629 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5630 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5633 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5634 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5636 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5637 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5638 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5639 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5643 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5644 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5646 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5651 @subsection Read Articles
5652 @cindex expirable mark
5654 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5659 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5660 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5661 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5664 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5665 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5668 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5669 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5670 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5673 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5674 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5677 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5678 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5681 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5682 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5685 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5686 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5689 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5690 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5693 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5694 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5697 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5698 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5702 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5703 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5704 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5708 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5709 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5711 One more special mark, though:
5715 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5716 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5718 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5719 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5720 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5721 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5727 @subsection Other Marks
5728 @cindex process mark
5731 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5737 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5738 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5739 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5740 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5741 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5744 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5745 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5746 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5747 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5750 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5751 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5752 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5755 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5756 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5757 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5760 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5761 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5762 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5763 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5766 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5767 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5768 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5769 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5770 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5771 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5774 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5775 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5776 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5777 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5780 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5781 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5782 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5783 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5784 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5788 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5789 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5790 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5791 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5792 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5793 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5796 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5797 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5798 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5799 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5800 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5801 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5805 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5806 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5807 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5808 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5809 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5812 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5813 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5814 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5815 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5816 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5817 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5821 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5822 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5823 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5825 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5826 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5827 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5831 @subsection Setting Marks
5832 @cindex setting marks
5834 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5839 @kindex M c (Summary)
5840 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5842 @cindex mark as unread
5843 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5844 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5850 @kindex M t (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5852 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5853 @xref{Article Caching}.
5858 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5860 Mark the current article as dormant
5861 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5865 @kindex M d (Summary)
5867 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5868 Mark the current article as read
5869 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5873 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5874 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5875 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5880 @kindex M k (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5882 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5883 and then select the next unread article
5884 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5888 @kindex M K (Summary)
5889 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5890 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5891 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5892 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5895 @kindex M C (Summary)
5896 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5897 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5898 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5901 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5902 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5903 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5904 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5907 @kindex M H (Summary)
5908 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5909 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5910 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5913 @kindex M h (Summary)
5914 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5915 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5916 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5919 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5921 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5922 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5925 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5927 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5928 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5932 @kindex M e (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5935 Mark the current article as expirable
5936 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5939 @kindex M b (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5941 Set a bookmark in the current article
5942 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5945 @kindex M B (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5947 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5948 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5951 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5953 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5954 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5957 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5959 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5960 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5963 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5965 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5966 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5967 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5970 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5971 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5972 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5973 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5974 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5975 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5976 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5977 The default is @code{t}.
5980 @node Generic Marking Commands
5981 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5983 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5984 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5985 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5986 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5987 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5990 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5991 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5994 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5995 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5996 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5997 to list in this manual.
5999 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6000 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6001 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6002 article, you could say something like:
6005 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6006 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6007 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6013 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6014 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6018 @node Setting Process Marks
6019 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6020 @cindex setting process marks
6022 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6023 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6024 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6025 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6026 commands into the cache. For more information,
6027 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6034 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6036 Mark the current article with the process mark
6037 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6038 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6042 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6043 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6044 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6048 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6049 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6050 Remove the process mark from all articles
6051 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6054 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6055 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6056 Invert the list of process marked articles
6057 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6060 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6061 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6062 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6063 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6066 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6067 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6068 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6069 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6072 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6074 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6078 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6079 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6082 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6083 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6084 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6085 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6088 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6089 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6090 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6091 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6094 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6096 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6097 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6100 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6102 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6105 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6106 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6107 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6108 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6111 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6112 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6113 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6116 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6118 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6119 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6122 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6124 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6128 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6130 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6131 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6134 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6136 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6137 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6141 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6142 set process marks based on article body contents.
6149 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6150 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6151 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6154 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6155 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6156 additional articles.
6162 @kindex / / (Summary)
6163 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6164 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6165 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6169 @kindex / a (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6171 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6172 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6176 @kindex / x (Summary)
6177 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6178 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6179 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6180 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6185 @kindex / u (Summary)
6187 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6188 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6189 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6190 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6191 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6194 @kindex / m (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6196 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6197 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6200 @kindex / t (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6202 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6203 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6204 articles younger than that number of days.
6207 @kindex / n (Summary)
6208 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6209 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6210 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6211 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6214 @kindex / w (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6216 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6217 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6221 @kindex / . (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6223 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6224 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6227 @kindex / v (Summary)
6228 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6229 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6230 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6233 @kindex / p (Summary)
6234 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6235 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6236 group parameter predicate
6237 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6238 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6242 @kindex M S (Summary)
6243 @kindex / E (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6245 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6249 @kindex / D (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6251 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6252 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6255 @kindex / * (Summary)
6256 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6257 Include all cached articles in the limit
6258 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6261 @kindex / d (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6263 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6267 @kindex / M (Summary)
6268 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6269 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6272 @kindex / T (Summary)
6273 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6274 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6277 @kindex / c (Summary)
6278 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6279 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6283 @kindex / C (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6285 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6287 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6290 @kindex / N (Summary)
6291 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6292 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6293 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6296 @kindex / o (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6298 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6299 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6307 @cindex article threading
6309 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6310 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6311 hierarchical fashion.
6313 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6314 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6315 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6316 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6317 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6318 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6319 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6321 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6325 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6328 A tree-like article structure.
6331 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6334 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6335 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6336 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6337 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6338 called loose threads.
6340 @item thread gathering
6341 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6343 @item sparse threads
6344 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6345 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6351 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6352 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6356 @node Customizing Threading
6357 @subsection Customizing Threading
6358 @cindex customizing threading
6361 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6362 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6363 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6364 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6369 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6372 @cindex loose threads
6375 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6376 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6377 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6378 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6379 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6380 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6382 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6383 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6384 There are four possible values:
6388 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6389 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6390 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6391 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6392 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6397 @cindex adopting articles
6402 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6403 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6404 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6405 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6408 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6409 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6410 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6411 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6412 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6413 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6414 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6415 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6416 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6417 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6420 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6421 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6422 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6426 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6427 display them after one another.
6430 Don't gather loose threads.
6433 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6434 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6435 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6436 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6437 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6438 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6439 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6440 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6441 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6442 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6443 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6445 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6446 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6447 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6450 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6451 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6452 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6453 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6454 simplification is used.
6456 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6457 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6458 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6459 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6461 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6463 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6469 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6470 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6471 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6472 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6477 (mapconcat 'identity
6478 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6480 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6483 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6486 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6487 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6488 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6489 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6490 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6491 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6493 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6496 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6497 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6498 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6500 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6501 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6504 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6505 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6506 Remove excessive whitespace.
6508 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6509 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6510 Remove all whitespace.
6513 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6516 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6517 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6518 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6519 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6520 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6521 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6522 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6523 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6525 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6526 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6527 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6528 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6529 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6530 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6531 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6532 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6533 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6537 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6538 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6539 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6540 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6542 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6543 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6544 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6547 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6551 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6552 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6558 @node Filling In Threads
6559 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6562 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6563 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6564 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6565 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6566 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6567 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6568 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6569 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6570 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6571 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6572 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6573 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6576 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6577 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6578 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6580 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6581 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6582 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6583 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6584 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6585 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6586 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6587 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6588 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6589 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6590 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6591 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6592 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6593 @code{nil} by default.
6595 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6596 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6597 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6598 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6599 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6600 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6601 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6603 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6604 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6605 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6610 @node More Threading
6611 @subsubsection More Threading
6614 @item gnus-show-threads
6615 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6616 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6617 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6618 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6619 slower and more awkward.
6621 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6622 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6623 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6626 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6627 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6628 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6633 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6634 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6635 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6638 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6639 unread, but you get my drift.)
6642 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6643 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6644 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6645 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6646 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6647 threads are expunged.
6649 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6650 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6651 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6654 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6655 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6656 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6657 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6658 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6659 result in a new thread.
6661 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6662 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6663 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6666 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6667 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6668 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6669 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6670 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6671 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6672 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6673 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6674 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6675 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6676 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6681 @node Low-Level Threading
6682 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6686 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6687 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6688 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6689 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6690 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6691 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6693 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6694 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6695 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6696 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6697 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6698 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6699 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6700 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6701 meaningful. Here's one example:
6704 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6706 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6707 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6709 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6711 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6718 @node Thread Commands
6719 @subsection Thread Commands
6720 @cindex thread commands
6726 @kindex T k (Summary)
6727 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6728 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6729 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6730 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6731 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6736 @kindex T l (Summary)
6737 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6738 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6739 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6740 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6743 @kindex T i (Summary)
6744 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6745 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6746 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6749 @kindex T # (Summary)
6750 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6751 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6752 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6755 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6756 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6757 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6758 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6761 @kindex T T (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6763 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6766 @kindex T s (Summary)
6767 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6768 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6769 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6772 @kindex T h (Summary)
6773 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6774 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6777 @kindex T S (Summary)
6778 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6779 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6782 @kindex T H (Summary)
6783 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6784 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6787 @kindex T t (Summary)
6788 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6789 Re-thread the current article's thread
6790 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6791 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6794 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6795 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6796 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6797 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6801 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6802 understand the numeric prefix.
6807 @kindex T n (Summary)
6809 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6811 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6813 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6816 @kindex T p (Summary)
6818 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6820 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6821 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6822 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6825 @kindex T d (Summary)
6826 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6827 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6830 @kindex T u (Summary)
6831 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6832 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6835 @kindex T o (Summary)
6836 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6837 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6840 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6841 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6842 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6843 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6844 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6845 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6846 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6847 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6848 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6849 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6850 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6851 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6855 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6856 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6859 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6860 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6861 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6862 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6863 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6864 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6865 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6866 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6867 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6868 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6869 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6870 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6872 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6873 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6875 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6876 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6877 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6878 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6879 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6881 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6882 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6883 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6885 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6886 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6887 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6888 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6889 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6890 ascending article order.
6892 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6893 by number, you could do something like:
6896 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6897 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6898 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6899 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6902 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6903 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6904 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6905 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6906 which the articles arrived.
6908 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6912 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6914 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6915 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6918 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6919 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6920 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6921 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6924 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6925 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6926 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6927 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6928 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6929 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6930 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6931 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6932 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6933 variable. It is very similar to the
6934 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6935 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6936 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6937 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6938 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6939 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6940 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6942 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6946 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6947 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6948 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6953 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6954 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6955 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6956 @cindex article pre-fetch
6959 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6960 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6961 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6962 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6963 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6965 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6966 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6968 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6969 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6970 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6971 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6972 connection is blocked.
6974 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6975 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6976 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6977 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6979 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6980 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6981 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6982 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6985 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
6988 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6989 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6990 happen automatically.
6992 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6993 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6994 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6995 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6996 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6997 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6998 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7000 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7001 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7002 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7003 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7004 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7005 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7006 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7007 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7008 article data structure as the only parameter.
7010 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7011 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7014 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7015 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7016 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7017 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7020 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7023 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7024 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7025 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7027 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7028 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7029 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7030 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7034 Remove articles when they are read.
7037 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7040 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7042 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7043 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7044 @c from the next group.
7047 @node Article Caching
7048 @section Article Caching
7049 @cindex article caching
7052 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7053 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7054 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7055 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7056 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7058 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7060 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7061 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7062 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7063 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7064 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7065 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7066 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7067 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7069 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7070 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7071 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7072 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7073 as dormant, and don't worry.
7075 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7077 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7078 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7079 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7080 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7081 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7082 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7083 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7084 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7085 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7086 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7088 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7089 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7090 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7091 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7092 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7093 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7094 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7095 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7096 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7097 not then be downloaded by this command.
7099 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7100 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7101 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7102 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7103 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7104 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7106 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7107 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7108 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7109 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7110 variables, the group is not cached.
7112 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7113 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7114 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7115 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7116 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7117 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7118 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7119 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7120 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7123 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7124 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7125 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7126 where, isn't that cool?
7128 @node Persistent Articles
7129 @section Persistent Articles
7130 @cindex persistent articles
7132 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7133 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7134 useful in my opinion.
7136 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7137 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7138 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7139 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7140 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7141 the expiry going on at the news server.
7143 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7144 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7145 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7151 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7152 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7155 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7156 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7157 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7158 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7162 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7164 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7165 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7166 interested in persistent articles:
7169 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7173 @node Article Backlog
7174 @section Article Backlog
7176 @cindex article backlog
7178 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7179 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7180 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7181 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7182 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7183 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7184 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7185 increase memory usage some.
7187 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7188 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7189 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7190 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7191 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7192 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7193 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7195 The default value is 20.
7198 @node Saving Articles
7199 @section Saving Articles
7200 @cindex saving articles
7202 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7203 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7204 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7205 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7206 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7208 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7209 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7210 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7212 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7213 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7214 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7216 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7217 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7218 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7219 deleted before saving.
7225 @kindex O o (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7228 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7229 Save the current article using the default article saver
7230 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7233 @kindex O m (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7235 Save the current article in mail format
7236 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7239 @kindex O r (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7241 Save the current article in rmail format
7242 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7245 @kindex O f (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7247 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7248 Save the current article in plain file format
7249 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7252 @kindex O F (Summary)
7253 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7254 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7255 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7258 @kindex O b (Summary)
7259 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7260 Save the current article body in plain file format
7261 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7264 @kindex O h (Summary)
7265 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7266 Save the current article in mh folder format
7267 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7270 @kindex O v (Summary)
7271 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7272 Save the current article in a VM folder
7273 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7277 @kindex O p (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7280 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7281 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7282 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7283 complete headers in the piped output.
7286 @kindex O P (Summary)
7287 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7288 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7289 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7290 external program Muttprint (see
7291 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7292 options to use is controlled by the variable
7293 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7297 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7298 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7299 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7300 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7301 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7302 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7303 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7304 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7305 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7306 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7307 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7308 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7312 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7313 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7314 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7315 functions below, or you can create your own.
7319 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7320 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7321 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7322 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7323 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7324 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7325 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7327 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7328 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7329 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7330 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7331 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7332 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7334 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7335 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7336 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7337 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7338 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7339 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7340 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7342 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7343 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7344 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7345 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7346 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7347 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7349 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7350 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7351 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7352 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7353 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7355 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7356 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7357 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7358 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7359 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7362 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7363 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7364 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7365 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7366 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7368 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7369 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7370 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7371 reader to use this setting.
7374 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7375 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7376 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7377 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7380 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7381 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7382 available functions that generate names:
7386 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7387 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7388 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7390 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7391 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7392 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7394 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7395 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7396 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7398 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7399 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7400 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7402 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7403 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7404 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7407 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7408 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7409 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7410 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7411 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7415 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7416 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7417 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7418 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7421 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7422 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7423 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7424 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7425 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7426 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7427 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7428 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7429 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7431 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7432 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7433 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7434 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7436 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7437 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7438 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7441 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7442 lots of mail groups called things like
7443 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7444 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7445 following will do just that:
7448 (defun my-save-name (group)
7449 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7450 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7452 (setq gnus-split-methods
7453 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7458 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7459 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7460 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7461 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7462 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7463 all the files in the top level directory
7464 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7465 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7466 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7467 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7469 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7470 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7471 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7472 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7473 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7476 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7480 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7481 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7482 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7485 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7486 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7487 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7488 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7491 @node Decoding Articles
7492 @section Decoding Articles
7493 @cindex decoding articles
7495 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7496 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7499 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7500 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7501 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7502 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7503 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7504 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7508 @cindex article series
7509 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7510 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7511 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7512 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7513 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7515 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7516 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7517 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7519 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7520 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7521 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7523 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7524 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7525 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7528 @node Uuencoded Articles
7529 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7531 @cindex uuencoded articles
7536 @kindex X u (Summary)
7537 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7538 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7539 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7542 @kindex X U (Summary)
7543 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7544 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7545 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7548 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7549 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7550 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7553 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7554 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7555 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7556 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7560 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7561 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7562 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7563 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7564 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7566 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7567 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7568 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7569 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7572 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7573 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7574 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7575 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7576 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7577 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7581 @node Shell Archives
7582 @subsection Shell Archives
7584 @cindex shell archives
7585 @cindex shared articles
7587 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7588 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7589 some commands to deal with these:
7594 @kindex X s (Summary)
7595 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7596 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7599 @kindex X S (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7601 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7604 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7606 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7609 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7610 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7611 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7612 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7616 @node PostScript Files
7617 @subsection PostScript Files
7623 @kindex X p (Summary)
7624 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7625 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7628 @kindex X P (Summary)
7629 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7630 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7631 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7634 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7635 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7636 View the current PostScript series
7637 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7640 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7641 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7642 View and save the current PostScript series
7643 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7648 @subsection Other Files
7652 @kindex X o (Summary)
7653 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7654 Save the current series
7655 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7658 @kindex X b (Summary)
7659 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7660 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7661 doesn't really work yet.
7665 @node Decoding Variables
7666 @subsection Decoding Variables
7668 Adjective, not verb.
7671 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7672 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7673 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7677 @node Rule Variables
7678 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7679 @cindex rule variables
7681 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7682 variables are of the form
7685 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7692 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7693 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7695 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7696 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7699 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7700 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7703 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7704 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7705 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7706 user and default view rules.
7708 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7709 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7710 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7715 @node Other Decode Variables
7716 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7719 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7721 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7722 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7723 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7724 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7725 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7729 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7730 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7733 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7734 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7735 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7738 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7739 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7740 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7741 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7742 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7745 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7746 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7747 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7749 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7750 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7751 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7752 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7753 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7756 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7757 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7758 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7760 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7761 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7762 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7763 looking for files to display.
7765 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7766 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7767 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7770 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7771 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7772 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7775 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7776 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7777 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7780 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7781 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7782 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7785 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7786 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7787 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7788 decoded articles as unread.
7790 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7791 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7792 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7793 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7795 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7796 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7797 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7799 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7800 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7802 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7803 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7804 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7805 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7807 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7808 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7809 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7810 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7811 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7812 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7813 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7814 simply dropped them.
7819 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7820 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7824 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7825 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7826 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7827 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7828 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7829 for you when you post the article.
7831 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7832 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7833 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7834 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7836 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7837 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7838 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7839 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7840 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7841 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7842 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7844 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7845 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7846 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7847 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7848 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7849 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7850 Default is @code{t}.
7856 @subsection Viewing Files
7857 @cindex viewing files
7858 @cindex pseudo-articles
7860 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7861 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7862 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7863 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7864 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7865 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7866 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7868 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7869 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7870 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7871 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7873 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7874 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7875 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7877 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7878 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7879 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7880 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7881 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7883 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7884 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7885 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7886 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7887 a list of parameters to that command.
7889 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7890 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7891 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7893 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7894 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7895 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7898 @node Article Treatment
7899 @section Article Treatment
7901 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7902 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7903 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7904 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7905 these articles easier.
7908 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7909 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7910 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7911 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7912 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7913 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7914 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
7915 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7916 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7917 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7918 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7922 @node Article Highlighting
7923 @subsection Article Highlighting
7924 @cindex highlighting
7926 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7927 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7932 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7933 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7934 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7935 Do much highlighting of the current article
7936 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7937 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7940 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7941 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7942 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7943 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7944 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7945 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7946 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7947 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7948 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7949 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7950 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7951 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7954 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7955 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7956 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7958 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7961 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7963 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7964 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7965 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7967 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7968 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7969 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7971 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7972 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7973 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7974 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7975 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7976 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7978 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7979 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7980 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7982 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7983 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7984 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7986 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7987 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7988 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7989 that it's a citation.
7991 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7992 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7993 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7995 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7996 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7997 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7999 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8000 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8001 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8002 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8008 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8009 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8010 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8011 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8012 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8013 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8014 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8015 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8020 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8023 @node Article Fontisizing
8024 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8026 @cindex article emphasis
8028 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8029 @kindex W e (Summary)
8030 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8031 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8032 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8033 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8035 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8036 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8037 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8038 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8039 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8040 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8041 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8042 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8046 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8047 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8048 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8057 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8058 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8059 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8060 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8061 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8062 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8063 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8064 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8065 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8066 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8067 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8068 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8069 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8071 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8072 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8073 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8077 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8080 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8082 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8083 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8084 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8085 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8087 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8090 @node Article Hiding
8091 @subsection Article Hiding
8092 @cindex article hiding
8094 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8095 too much cruft in most articles.
8100 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8101 @findex gnus-article-hide
8102 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8103 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8104 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8107 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8108 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8109 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8113 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8115 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8116 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8119 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8121 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8125 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8126 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8127 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8128 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8129 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8130 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8131 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8132 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8136 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8137 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8138 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8139 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8144 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8145 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8146 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8147 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8150 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8151 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8152 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8153 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8156 @cindex stripping advertisements
8157 @cindex advertisements
8158 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8159 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8160 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8161 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8162 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8163 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8164 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8165 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8166 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8167 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8170 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8171 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8172 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8176 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8177 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8178 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8179 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8180 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8181 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8182 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8183 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8184 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8185 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8186 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8189 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8195 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8197 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8198 customizing the hiding:
8202 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8203 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8204 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8205 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8206 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8207 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8208 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8213 Starting point of the hidden text.
8215 Ending point of the hidden text.
8217 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8219 Number of lines of hidden text.
8222 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8223 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8224 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8225 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8226 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8231 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8232 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8234 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8235 following two variables:
8238 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8239 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8240 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8241 50), hide the cited text.
8243 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8244 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8245 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8250 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8251 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8252 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8253 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8254 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8255 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8259 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8260 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8261 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8263 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8264 citation customization.
8266 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8270 @node Article Washing
8271 @subsection Article Washing
8273 @cindex article washing
8275 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8276 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8278 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8279 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8282 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8283 articles by default.
8288 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8289 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8293 Force redisplaying of the current article
8294 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8295 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8296 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8297 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8300 @kindex W l (Summary)
8301 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8302 Remove page breaks from the current article
8303 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8307 @kindex W r (Summary)
8308 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8309 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8310 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8311 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8312 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8313 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8315 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8316 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8317 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8318 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8321 @kindex W m (Summary)
8322 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8323 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8327 @kindex W t (Summary)
8329 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8330 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8331 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8334 @kindex W v (Summary)
8335 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8336 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8337 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8340 @kindex W m (Summary)
8341 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8342 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8343 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8346 @kindex W o (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8348 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8351 @kindex W d (Summary)
8352 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8353 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8355 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8357 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8358 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8359 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8360 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8363 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8364 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8365 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8366 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8369 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8370 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8371 @cindex Outlook Express
8372 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8373 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8374 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8377 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8379 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8380 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8381 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8382 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8383 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8384 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8385 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8386 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8389 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8390 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8391 Repair a broken attribution line.
8392 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8395 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8397 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8398 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8401 @kindex W w (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8403 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8405 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8409 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8410 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8411 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8414 @kindex W C (Summary)
8415 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8416 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8417 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8420 @kindex W c (Summary)
8421 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8422 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8423 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8424 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8425 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8428 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8429 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8430 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8431 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8432 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8433 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8434 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8436 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8439 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8440 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8441 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8442 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8443 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8446 @kindex W u (Summary)
8447 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8448 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8449 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8450 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8451 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8454 @kindex W h (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8456 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8457 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8458 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8460 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8462 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8463 The default is to use the function specified by
8464 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8465 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8466 @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8467 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8475 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8479 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8482 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8485 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8490 @kindex W b (Summary)
8491 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8492 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8493 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8496 @kindex W B (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8498 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8499 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8502 @kindex W p (Summary)
8503 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8504 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8505 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8506 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8507 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8508 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8509 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8512 @kindex W s (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8514 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8515 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8518 @kindex W a (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8520 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8521 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8524 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8525 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8526 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8527 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8530 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8532 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8533 lines with a single empty line.
8534 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8537 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8538 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8539 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8540 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8543 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8544 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8545 Do all the three commands above
8546 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8549 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8550 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8551 Remove all blank lines
8552 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8555 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8556 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8557 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8558 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8561 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8562 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8563 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8564 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8568 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8571 @node Article Header
8572 @subsection Article Header
8574 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8579 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8580 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8581 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8584 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8585 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8586 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8587 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8590 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8591 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8592 Fold all the message headers
8593 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8597 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8598 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8599 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8604 @node Article Buttons
8605 @subsection Article Buttons
8608 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8609 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8610 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8611 button on these references.
8613 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8614 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8615 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8616 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8617 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8621 @item gnus-button-alist
8622 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8623 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8626 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8632 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8633 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8634 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8635 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8636 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8639 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8640 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8641 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8644 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8645 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8646 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8647 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8648 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8650 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8653 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8656 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8657 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8661 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8664 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8667 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8668 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8669 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8670 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8671 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8674 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8677 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8679 @subsubheading Related variables and functions
8681 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8682 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8684 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8686 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8687 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8688 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8689 default values of the variables above.
8691 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8693 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8694 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8695 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8696 argument with a string naming the man page.
8698 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8700 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8701 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8702 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8704 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8705 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8706 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8707 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8708 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8709 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8710 a mail address, respectivly. If this variable is set to the symbol
8711 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8712 function will be called with the string as it's only argument. The
8713 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8714 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8715 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8717 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8718 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8719 Function that guesses whether it's argument is a message ID or a mail
8720 address. Returns @code{mid} it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if it's a
8721 mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the string is
8724 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8725 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8726 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8727 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8729 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8731 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8732 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8733 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8734 argument, the string naming the URL.
8737 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8738 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8739 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8743 @item gnus-article-button-face
8744 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8745 Face used on buttons.
8747 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8748 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8749 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8753 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8756 @node Article Button Levels
8757 @subsection Article button levels
8758 @cindex button levels
8759 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8760 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8761 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8762 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8763 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8764 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8765 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8766 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8769 ;; increase `gnus-button-*-level' in some groups:
8770 (setq gnus-parameters
8771 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8772 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8773 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8778 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8779 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8780 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8781 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8782 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8783 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8785 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8786 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8787 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8788 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8789 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8790 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8791 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8792 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8793 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8794 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8795 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8796 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8797 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8799 @item gnus-button-man-level
8800 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8801 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8802 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8804 @item gnus-button-message-level
8805 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8806 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8807 Related variables and functions include
8808 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8809 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8810 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8811 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8813 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8814 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8815 Controls the display of references to TeX or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8816 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8817 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8818 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8819 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8825 @subsection Article Date
8827 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8828 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8829 when the article was sent.
8834 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8835 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8836 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8837 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8840 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8841 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8843 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8844 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8847 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8848 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8849 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8852 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8853 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8854 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8855 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8858 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8859 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8860 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8861 @findex format-time-string
8862 Display the date using a user-defined format
8863 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8864 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8865 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8866 for a list of possible format specs.
8869 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8870 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8871 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8872 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8873 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8874 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8877 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8880 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8881 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8882 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8885 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8886 into wonderful absurdities.
8888 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8891 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8894 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8895 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8899 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8900 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8901 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8902 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8903 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8904 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8905 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8909 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8910 preferred format automatically.
8913 @node Article Display
8914 @subsection Article Display
8919 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8920 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8922 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8923 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8925 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8926 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8928 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8929 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8931 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8936 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8937 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8938 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8939 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8942 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8944 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8945 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8948 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8950 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8953 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8954 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8955 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8958 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8959 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8960 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8961 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8964 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8965 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8966 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8967 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8970 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8971 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8972 Remove all images from the article buffer
8973 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8979 @node Article Signature
8980 @subsection Article Signature
8982 @cindex article signature
8984 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8985 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8986 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8987 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8988 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8989 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8990 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8991 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8992 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8995 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8996 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8997 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8998 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8999 ; line of dashes. Shame!
9000 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
9001 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
9002 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
9005 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9008 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9009 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9010 signature when displaying articles.
9014 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9017 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9020 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9021 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9023 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9024 in question is not a signature.
9027 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9028 listed above. Here's an example:
9031 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9032 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9035 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9036 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9037 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9038 signature after all.
9041 @node Article Miscellania
9042 @subsection Article Miscellania
9046 @kindex A t (Summary)
9047 @findex gnus-article-babel
9048 Translate the article from one language to another
9049 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9055 @section MIME Commands
9056 @cindex MIME decoding
9058 @cindex viewing attachments
9060 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9061 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
9067 @kindex K v (Summary)
9068 View the @sc{mime} part.
9071 @kindex K o (Summary)
9072 Save the @sc{mime} part.
9075 @kindex K c (Summary)
9076 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
9079 @kindex K e (Summary)
9080 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
9083 @kindex K i (Summary)
9084 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
9087 @kindex K | (Summary)
9088 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
9091 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9096 @kindex K b (Summary)
9097 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9098 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9102 @kindex K m (Summary)
9103 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9104 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9105 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9106 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9107 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9110 @kindex X m (Summary)
9111 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9112 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
9113 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9114 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9117 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9118 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9119 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9120 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9123 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9124 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9125 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9126 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9129 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9130 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9131 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9132 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9134 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9135 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9136 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9137 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9138 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9139 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9142 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9143 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9144 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
9145 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9152 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9153 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9154 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9155 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9158 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9161 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9165 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9166 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9167 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9168 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9169 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9170 default is @code{nil}.
9172 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9173 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9174 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9175 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9176 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9177 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9178 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9180 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9181 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9182 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9183 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9184 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9185 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9186 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9187 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9189 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9190 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9191 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9192 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9193 displayed. This variable overrides
9194 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9195 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9198 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9199 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9200 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9202 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9203 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9204 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9205 value is @code{nil}.
9207 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9208 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9209 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9210 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9211 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9212 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9213 save all jpegs into some directory).
9215 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9218 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9219 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9221 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9222 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9223 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9224 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9225 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9228 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9229 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9230 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9232 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9233 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9234 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9235 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9237 Ready-made functions include@*
9238 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9239 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9240 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9241 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9242 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9243 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9244 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9245 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9246 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9247 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9248 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9249 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9251 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9252 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9254 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9255 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9256 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9259 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9260 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9261 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9262 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9266 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9275 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9276 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9277 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9278 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9279 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9280 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9281 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9283 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9284 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9285 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9286 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9288 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9289 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9290 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9291 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9292 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9293 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9294 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9295 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9296 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9298 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9299 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9300 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9301 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9302 quoted-printable header encoding.
9304 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9305 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9306 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9310 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9313 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9314 means encode all charsets),
9316 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9317 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9318 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9325 @cindex coding system aliases
9326 @cindex preferred charset
9328 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9330 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9331 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9334 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9335 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9338 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9339 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9341 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9344 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9347 This will almost do the right thing.
9349 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9353 (codepage-setup 1251)
9354 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9358 @node Article Commands
9359 @section Article Commands
9366 @kindex A P (Summary)
9367 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9368 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9369 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9370 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9371 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9372 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9377 @node Summary Sorting
9378 @section Summary Sorting
9379 @cindex summary sorting
9381 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9382 can't really see why you'd want that.
9387 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9388 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9389 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9392 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9393 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9394 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9397 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9398 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9399 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9402 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9403 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9404 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9407 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9408 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9409 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9412 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9413 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9414 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9417 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9418 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9419 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9422 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9423 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9424 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9427 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9428 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9429 Sort using the default sorting method
9430 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9433 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9434 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9435 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9436 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9437 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9441 @node Finding the Parent
9442 @section Finding the Parent
9443 @cindex parent articles
9444 @cindex referring articles
9449 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9450 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9451 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9452 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9453 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9454 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9455 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9456 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9457 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9459 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9460 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9461 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9462 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9463 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9467 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9468 @kindex A R (Summary)
9469 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9470 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9473 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9474 @kindex A T (Summary)
9475 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9476 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9477 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9478 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9479 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9480 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9481 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9483 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9484 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9485 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9486 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9487 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9488 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9491 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9492 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9494 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9495 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9496 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9497 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9498 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9499 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9500 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9503 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9504 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9505 by giving this command a prefix.
9507 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9508 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9509 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9510 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9511 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9512 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9515 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9516 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9517 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9520 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9521 then ask Google if that fails:
9524 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9526 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9529 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9530 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9531 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9532 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9533 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9534 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9535 support this at all.
9538 @node Alternative Approaches
9539 @section Alternative Approaches
9541 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9542 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9545 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9546 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9551 @subsection Pick and Read
9552 @cindex pick and read
9554 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9555 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9556 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9557 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9559 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9560 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9561 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9562 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9563 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9564 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9566 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9571 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9572 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9573 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9574 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9575 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9576 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9577 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9578 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9581 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9582 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9583 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9584 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9588 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9589 Unpick the thread or article
9590 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9591 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9592 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9593 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9594 the thread or article at that line.
9598 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9599 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9600 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9601 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9602 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9603 will still be visible when you are reading.
9607 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9608 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9609 which is mapped to the same function
9610 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9612 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9615 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9618 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9619 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9621 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9622 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9623 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9625 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9626 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9627 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9628 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9629 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9630 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9631 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9635 @subsection Binary Groups
9636 @cindex binary groups
9638 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9639 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9640 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9641 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9642 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9643 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9644 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9647 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9648 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9649 command, when you have turned on this mode
9650 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9652 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9653 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9657 @section Tree Display
9660 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9661 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9662 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9663 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9666 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9669 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9670 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9671 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9673 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9674 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9675 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9676 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9677 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9679 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9680 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9681 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9682 default is @code{modeline}.
9684 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9685 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9686 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9687 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9688 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9689 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9690 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9696 The name of the poster.
9698 The @code{From} header.
9700 The number of the article.
9702 The opening bracket.
9704 The closing bracket.
9709 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9711 Variables related to the display are:
9714 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9715 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9716 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9717 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9718 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9719 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9721 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9722 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9723 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9724 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9728 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9729 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9730 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9731 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9732 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9733 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9734 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9735 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9736 other windows displayed next to it.
9738 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9742 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9743 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9746 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9747 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9748 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9749 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9750 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9751 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9752 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9756 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9759 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9769 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9773 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9774 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9776 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9778 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9783 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9784 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9785 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9788 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9789 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9790 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9791 (gnus-add-configuration
9795 (summary 0.75 point)
9800 @xref{Window Layout}.
9803 @node Mail Group Commands
9804 @section Mail Group Commands
9805 @cindex mail group commands
9807 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9808 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9810 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9811 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9816 @kindex B e (Summary)
9817 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9818 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9819 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9820 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9821 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9824 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9825 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9826 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9827 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9828 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9829 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9832 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9833 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9834 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9835 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9836 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9837 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9840 @kindex B m (Summary)
9842 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9843 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9844 Move the article from one mail group to another
9845 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9846 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9849 @kindex B c (Summary)
9851 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9852 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9853 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9854 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9855 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9858 @kindex B B (Summary)
9859 @cindex crosspost mail
9860 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9861 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9862 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9863 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9864 be properly updated.
9867 @kindex B i (Summary)
9868 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9869 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9870 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9871 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9874 @kindex B I (Summary)
9875 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9876 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9877 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9878 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9881 @kindex B r (Summary)
9882 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9883 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9884 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9885 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9886 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9887 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9888 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9889 (which is the default).
9893 @kindex B w (Summary)
9895 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9896 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9897 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9898 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9899 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9900 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9901 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9904 @kindex B q (Summary)
9905 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9906 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9907 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9908 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9911 @kindex B t (Summary)
9912 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9913 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9914 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9917 @kindex B p (Summary)
9918 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9919 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9920 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9921 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9922 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9923 article from your news server (or rather, from
9924 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9925 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9926 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9927 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9928 just not have arrived yet.
9931 @kindex K E (Summary)
9932 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9933 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9934 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9935 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9936 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9940 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9941 @cindex moving articles
9942 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9943 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9944 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9945 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9946 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9947 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9948 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9951 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9952 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9953 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9954 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9958 @node Various Summary Stuff
9959 @section Various Summary Stuff
9962 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9963 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9964 * Summary Generation Commands::
9965 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9969 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9970 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9971 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9972 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9973 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9974 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9976 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9977 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9978 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9980 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9981 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9982 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9983 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9984 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9985 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9988 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9989 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9990 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9991 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9992 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9994 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9995 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9996 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9999 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10000 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10001 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10002 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10003 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10004 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10005 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10006 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10007 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10008 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10010 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10011 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10012 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10013 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10014 list of articles to be selected.
10016 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10017 the list in one particular group:
10020 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10021 (if (string= group "some.group")
10022 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10026 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10027 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10028 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10029 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10030 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
10031 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10032 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10033 buffers. For example:
10036 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10037 '(message-use-followup-to
10038 (gnus-visible-headers .
10039 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10045 @node Summary Group Information
10046 @subsection Summary Group Information
10051 @kindex H f (Summary)
10052 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10053 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10054 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
10055 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
10056 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
10057 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
10058 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
10059 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
10060 be used for fetching the file.
10063 @kindex H d (Summary)
10064 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10065 Give a brief description of the current group
10066 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10067 rereading the description from the server.
10070 @kindex H h (Summary)
10071 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10072 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10073 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10076 @kindex H i (Summary)
10077 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10078 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10082 @node Searching for Articles
10083 @subsection Searching for Articles
10088 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10089 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10090 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10091 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10094 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10095 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10096 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10097 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10100 @kindex & (Summary)
10101 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10102 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10103 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10104 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10105 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10106 search backward instead.
10108 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
10109 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10112 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10113 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10114 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10115 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10118 @node Summary Generation Commands
10119 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10124 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10125 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10126 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10129 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10130 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10131 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10132 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10135 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10136 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10137 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10138 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10143 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10144 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10150 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10151 @kindex A D (Summary)
10152 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10153 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10154 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10155 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10156 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10157 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10158 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10159 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10163 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10164 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10165 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10166 several documents into one biiig group
10167 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10168 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10169 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10170 command understands the process/prefix convention
10171 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10174 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10175 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10176 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10177 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10178 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10179 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10182 @kindex = (Summary)
10183 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10184 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10185 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10188 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10189 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10190 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10191 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10194 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10195 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10196 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10197 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10202 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10203 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10204 @cindex summary exit
10205 @cindex exiting groups
10207 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10208 group and return you to the group buffer.
10214 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10215 @kindex q (Summary)
10216 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10217 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10218 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10219 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10220 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10221 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10222 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10223 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10224 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10225 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10226 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10227 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10231 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10232 @kindex Q (Summary)
10233 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10234 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10235 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10239 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10240 @kindex c (Summary)
10241 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10242 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10243 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10244 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10247 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10248 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10249 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10250 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10253 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10254 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10255 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10256 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10259 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10260 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10261 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10262 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10263 all articles, both read and unread.
10267 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10268 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10269 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10270 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10271 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10272 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10273 articles, both read and unread.
10276 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10277 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10278 Exit the group and go to the next group
10279 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10282 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10283 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10284 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10285 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10288 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10289 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10290 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10291 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10292 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10293 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10296 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10297 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10298 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10299 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10301 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10302 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10303 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10304 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10305 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10306 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10307 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10308 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10309 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10310 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10311 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10312 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10314 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10316 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10317 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10318 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10319 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10320 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10321 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10322 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10323 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10324 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10327 @node Crosspost Handling
10328 @section Crosspost Handling
10332 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10333 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10334 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10335 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10336 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10337 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10340 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10341 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10342 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10343 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10344 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10346 @cindex cross-posting
10349 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10350 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10351 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10352 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10353 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10354 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10355 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10356 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10357 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10358 the cross reference mechanism.
10360 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10361 @cindex overview.fmt
10362 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10363 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10364 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10365 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10366 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10367 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10370 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10371 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10372 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10377 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10380 @node Duplicate Suppression
10381 @section Duplicate Suppression
10383 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10384 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10385 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10386 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10391 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10392 is evil and not very common.
10395 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10396 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10399 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10400 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10403 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10406 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10407 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10409 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10410 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10411 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10412 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10413 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10414 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10415 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10418 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10419 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10420 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10421 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10422 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10423 saw the article in.
10426 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10427 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10428 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10430 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10431 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10432 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10433 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10434 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10435 session are suppressed.
10437 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10438 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10439 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10440 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10442 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10443 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10444 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10445 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10448 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10449 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10450 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10451 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10452 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10453 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10454 to you to figure out, I think.
10459 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10460 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10461 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10465 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10466 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10467 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10468 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10471 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10472 or newer is recommended.
10476 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10477 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10480 @item mm-verify-option
10481 @vindex mm-verify-option
10482 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10483 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10484 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10486 @item mm-decrypt-option
10487 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10488 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10489 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10490 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10493 @vindex mml1991-use
10494 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10495 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10496 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10499 @vindex mml2015-use
10500 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10501 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10502 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10506 @cindex snarfing keys
10507 @cindex importing PGP keys
10508 @cindex PGP key ring import
10509 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10510 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10511 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10512 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10513 through the usual MIME infrastructure. You can use a
10514 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10515 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10516 Privacy Guard when you click on the MIME button (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10519 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10522 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10523 @var{mailcap-mime-data}.
10526 @section Mailing List
10528 @kindex A M (summary)
10529 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10530 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10531 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10532 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10535 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10540 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10541 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10542 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10545 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10546 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10547 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10550 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10551 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10552 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10556 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10557 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10558 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10561 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10562 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10563 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10566 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10567 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10568 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10573 @node Article Buffer
10574 @chapter Article Buffer
10575 @cindex article buffer
10577 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10578 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10579 tell gnus otherwise.
10582 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10583 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10584 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10585 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10586 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10590 @node Hiding Headers
10591 @section Hiding Headers
10592 @cindex hiding headers
10593 @cindex deleting headers
10595 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10596 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10598 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10599 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10600 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10601 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10602 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10603 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10604 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10605 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10606 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10608 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10612 @item gnus-visible-headers
10613 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10614 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10615 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10616 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10618 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10619 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10622 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10625 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10628 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10629 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10630 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10631 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10632 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10633 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10635 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10636 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10639 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10642 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10645 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10646 variable will have no effect.
10650 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10651 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10652 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10653 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10654 the headers are to be displayed.
10656 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10657 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10660 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10663 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10664 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10666 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10667 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10668 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10669 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10670 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10671 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10672 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10675 These conditions are:
10678 Remove all empty headers.
10680 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10681 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10683 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10684 @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter is
10687 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10690 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10691 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10693 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10694 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10696 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10697 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10699 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10702 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10704 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10707 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10710 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10711 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10714 This is also the default value for this variable.
10718 @section Using MIME
10721 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10722 while people stand around yawning.
10724 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10725 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10727 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10728 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10729 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10731 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10732 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10733 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10734 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10735 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10736 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10737 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10738 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10739 not existed yet, sorry).
10741 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10742 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10743 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10744 These can't be avoided.
10746 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10747 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10748 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10749 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10750 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10751 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10752 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10753 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10754 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10757 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10759 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10760 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10761 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10762 buffer when there are nobody else.
10764 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10767 @node Customizing Articles
10768 @section Customizing Articles
10769 @cindex article customization
10771 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10772 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10773 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10774 called automatically when you select the articles.
10776 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10777 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10778 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10779 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10781 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10782 for sensible values.
10786 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10789 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10792 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10795 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10798 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10802 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10803 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10804 regexps in the list.
10807 A list where the first element is not a string:
10809 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10810 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10811 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10815 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10819 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10824 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10825 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10826 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10827 considered to contain just a single part.
10829 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10830 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10831 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10832 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10833 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10834 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10835 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10837 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10838 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10839 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10840 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10843 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10844 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10846 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10848 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10849 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10850 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10851 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10852 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10853 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10854 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10855 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10856 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10857 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10858 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10860 @xref{Article Washing}.
10862 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10863 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10864 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10865 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10866 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10867 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10868 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10870 @xref{Article Date}.
10872 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10873 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10874 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10878 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10880 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10882 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10883 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10884 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10888 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10892 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10893 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10894 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10895 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10896 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10897 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10898 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10899 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10900 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
10901 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
10903 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10905 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10906 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10907 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10909 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10911 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10912 @item gnus-treat-translate
10913 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10915 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10916 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10917 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10918 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10920 @xref{Article Header}.
10925 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10926 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10927 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10928 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10929 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10933 @node Article Keymap
10934 @section Article Keymap
10936 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10937 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10938 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10939 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10942 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10947 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10948 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10949 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10950 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
10953 @kindex DEL (Article)
10954 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10955 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10956 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
10959 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10960 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10961 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10962 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10963 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10966 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10967 @findex gnus-article-mail
10968 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10969 given a prefix, include the mail.
10972 @kindex s (Article)
10973 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10974 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10975 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10978 @kindex ? (Article)
10979 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10980 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10981 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10984 @kindex TAB (Article)
10985 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10986 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10987 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10990 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10991 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10992 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10995 @kindex R (Article)
10996 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10997 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10998 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10999 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11003 @kindex F (Article)
11004 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11005 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11006 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11007 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11015 @section Misc Article
11019 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11020 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11021 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11022 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11025 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11026 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11028 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
11029 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11031 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11032 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11033 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11034 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11035 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11036 the contents of the article buffer.
11038 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11039 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11040 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11042 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11043 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11044 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11045 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11047 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11048 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11049 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11050 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11052 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11053 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11054 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11055 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11056 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11062 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11063 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11064 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11069 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11072 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11075 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11076 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11077 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11080 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11083 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11086 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11091 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
11095 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11097 @item gnus-break-pages
11098 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11099 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11100 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11101 paging will not be done.
11103 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11104 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11105 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11109 @cindex internationalized domain names
11110 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11111 @item gnus-use-idna
11112 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11113 internationalized domain names inside @sc{From:}, @sc{To:} and
11114 @sc{Cc:} headers. This requires GNU Libidn
11115 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}, and this variable is only
11116 enabled if you have installed it.
11121 @node Composing Messages
11122 @chapter Composing Messages
11123 @cindex composing messages
11126 @cindex sending mail
11131 @cindex using s/mime
11132 @cindex using smime
11134 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11135 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11136 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11137 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11138 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11139 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11142 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11143 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11144 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11145 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11146 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11147 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11148 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11149 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11152 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11153 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11159 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11162 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11163 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11164 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11165 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11166 @code{nil} include all headers.
11168 @item gnus-add-to-list
11169 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11170 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11171 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11173 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11174 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11175 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11176 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11177 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11178 confirmation is should be asked for.
11180 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11181 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11183 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11184 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11185 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11186 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11187 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11192 @node Posting Server
11193 @section Posting Server
11195 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11196 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11198 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11200 It can be quite complicated.
11202 @vindex gnus-post-method
11203 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11204 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11205 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11206 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11207 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11208 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11209 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11210 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11211 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11214 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11217 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11218 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11219 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11220 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11222 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11223 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11225 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11226 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11229 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11230 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11232 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11233 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11234 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11235 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11236 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11237 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11238 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11239 package correctly. An example:
11242 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11243 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11244 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11245 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11246 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11249 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11250 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11251 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11253 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11254 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11255 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11257 @node Mail and Post
11258 @section Mail and Post
11260 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11264 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11265 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11266 @cindex mailing lists
11268 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11269 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11270 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11271 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11272 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11273 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11274 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11275 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11276 still a pain, though.
11278 @item gnus-user-agent
11279 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11282 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11283 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11284 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11285 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11286 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11287 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11288 use a valid format, see RFC 2616."
11292 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11293 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11294 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11297 @findex ispell-message
11299 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11302 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11303 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11306 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11310 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11311 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11313 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11316 Modify to suit your needs.
11319 @node Archived Messages
11320 @section Archived Messages
11321 @cindex archived messages
11322 @cindex sent messages
11324 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11325 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11326 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11327 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11330 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11331 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11334 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11335 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11336 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11339 (nnfolder "archive"
11340 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11341 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11342 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11343 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11346 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11347 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11348 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11349 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11352 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11353 '(nnfolder "archive"
11354 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11355 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11356 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11359 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11361 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11362 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11363 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11365 This variable can be used to do the following:
11370 Messages will be saved in that group.
11372 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11373 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11374 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11375 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11376 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11377 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11378 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11379 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11383 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11385 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11386 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11389 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11394 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11396 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11399 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11401 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11404 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11406 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11407 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11408 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11409 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11412 More complex stuff:
11414 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11415 '((if (message-news-p)
11420 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11421 messages in one file per month:
11424 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11425 '((if (message-news-p)
11427 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11430 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11431 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11433 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11434 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11435 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11436 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11437 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11438 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11439 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11440 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11441 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11442 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11444 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11445 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11446 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11447 this will disable archiving.
11450 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11451 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11452 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11453 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11454 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11457 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11458 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11459 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11462 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11463 but the latter is the preferred method.
11465 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11466 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11467 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11469 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11470 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11471 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11472 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11473 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11474 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11475 changed in the future.
11480 @node Posting Styles
11481 @section Posting Styles
11482 @cindex posting styles
11485 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11487 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11488 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11489 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11492 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11493 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11494 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11495 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11496 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11501 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11502 (organization "What me?"))
11504 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11505 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11506 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11509 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11510 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11511 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11512 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11513 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11514 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11515 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11516 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11518 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11519 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11520 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11521 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11522 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11523 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11524 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11525 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11526 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11527 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11528 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11529 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11530 said to @dfn{match}.
11532 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11533 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11534 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11535 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11536 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11537 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11538 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11539 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11540 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11541 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11544 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11545 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11546 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11547 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11548 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11549 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11550 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11551 references chars lines xref extra.
11553 @vindex message-reply-headers
11555 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11556 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11557 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11559 @findex message-mail-p
11560 @findex message-news-p
11562 So here's a new example:
11565 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11567 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11569 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11570 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11572 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11573 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11574 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11575 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11576 (signature my-news-signature))
11577 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11578 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11579 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11580 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11581 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11582 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11583 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11584 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11585 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11586 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11588 (From (save-excursion
11589 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11590 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11592 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11595 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11596 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11597 if you fill many roles.
11599 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11600 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11601 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11602 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11603 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11604 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11605 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11606 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11611 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11613 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11615 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11616 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11619 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11622 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11623 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11630 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11631 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11632 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11633 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11634 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11636 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11637 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11638 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11639 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11640 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11644 @vindex nndraft-directory
11645 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11646 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11647 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11648 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11649 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11650 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11652 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11653 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11654 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11655 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11656 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11657 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11658 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11659 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11660 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11662 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11663 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11664 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11665 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11666 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11667 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11668 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11669 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11670 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11671 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11672 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11673 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11674 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11675 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11677 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11678 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11679 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11681 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11682 @kindex D e (Draft)
11683 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11684 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11685 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11687 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11690 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11691 @kindex D s (Draft)
11692 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11693 @kindex D S (Draft)
11694 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11695 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11696 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11697 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11698 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11701 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11702 @kindex D t (Draft)
11703 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11704 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11705 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11708 @node Rejected Articles
11709 @section Rejected Articles
11710 @cindex rejected articles
11712 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11713 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11714 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11715 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11717 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11718 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11719 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11720 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11721 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11723 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11724 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11725 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11727 @node Signing and encrypting
11728 @section Signing and encrypting
11730 @cindex using s/mime
11731 @cindex using smime
11733 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11734 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11735 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11736 (@pxref{Security}).
11738 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11739 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11740 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11741 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11742 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11743 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11744 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11745 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11746 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11747 automatically encrypted messages.
11749 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11750 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11751 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11756 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11757 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11759 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11762 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11763 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11765 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11768 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11769 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11771 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11774 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11775 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11777 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11780 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11781 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11783 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11786 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11787 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11789 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11792 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11793 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11794 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11798 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11800 @node Select Methods
11801 @chapter Select Methods
11802 @cindex foreign groups
11803 @cindex select methods
11805 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11806 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11807 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11808 personal mail group.
11810 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11811 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11812 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11813 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11814 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11815 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11817 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11818 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11820 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11823 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11824 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11825 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11826 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11827 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11829 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11832 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11833 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11834 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11835 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11836 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11837 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11838 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11839 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11843 @node Server Buffer
11844 @section Server Buffer
11846 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11847 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11848 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11849 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11850 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11851 back end represents a virtual server.
11853 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11854 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11855 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11856 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11858 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11859 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11860 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11861 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11862 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11863 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11864 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11866 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11867 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11870 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11871 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11872 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11873 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11874 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11875 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11876 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11879 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11880 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11883 @node Server Buffer Format
11884 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11885 @cindex server buffer format
11887 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11888 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11889 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11890 variable, with some simple extensions:
11895 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11898 The name of this server.
11901 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11904 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11907 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11908 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11909 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11910 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11920 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11923 @node Server Commands
11924 @subsection Server Commands
11925 @cindex server commands
11931 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11932 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11936 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11937 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11940 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11941 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11942 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11946 @findex gnus-server-exit
11947 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11951 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11952 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11956 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11957 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11961 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11962 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11966 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11967 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11971 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11972 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11973 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11978 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11979 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11980 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11981 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11986 @node Example Methods
11987 @subsection Example Methods
11989 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11992 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11995 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12001 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12002 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12005 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12006 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12008 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12009 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12013 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12016 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12017 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12019 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12020 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12021 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12025 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12028 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12031 Here's the method for a public spool:
12035 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12036 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12042 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
12043 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12044 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
12045 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12046 should probably look something like this:
12050 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12051 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12052 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12053 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12056 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12057 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12058 configuration to the example above:
12061 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12064 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12066 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12067 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12068 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12072 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12073 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12074 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12075 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12078 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12079 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12080 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12081 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12084 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12085 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12087 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12088 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12090 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12091 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
12092 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12094 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
12096 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
12097 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12098 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12099 will contain the following:
12109 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
12110 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
12111 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12114 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12115 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12116 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12119 @node Server Variables
12120 @subsection Server Variables
12122 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12123 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12124 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12125 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12126 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12128 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12129 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12130 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12131 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12132 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12133 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12134 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12135 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12136 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12140 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12141 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12142 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12146 @node Servers and Methods
12147 @subsection Servers and Methods
12149 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12150 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12151 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12152 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12156 @node Unavailable Servers
12157 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12159 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12160 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12161 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12162 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12163 actually the case or not.
12165 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12166 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12167 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12168 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12169 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12170 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12171 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12172 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12174 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12175 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12177 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12178 with the following commands:
12184 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12185 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12186 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12190 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12191 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12192 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12196 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12197 Mark the current server as unreachable
12198 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12201 @kindex M-o (Server)
12202 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12203 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12204 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12207 @kindex M-c (Server)
12208 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12209 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12210 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12214 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12215 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12216 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12220 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12221 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12227 @section Getting News
12228 @cindex reading news
12229 @cindex news back ends
12231 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12232 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12233 or it can read from a local spool.
12236 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12237 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12245 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12246 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12247 server as the, uhm, address.
12249 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12250 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12251 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12252 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12254 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12255 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12256 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12258 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12263 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12264 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12265 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12267 @cindex authentification
12268 @cindex nntp authentification
12269 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12270 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12271 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12272 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12273 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12274 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12275 present in this hook.
12277 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12278 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12279 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12280 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12281 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12282 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12283 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12284 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12285 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12286 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12287 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12288 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12292 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12295 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12297 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12298 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12299 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12300 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12301 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12302 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12303 @samp{force} is explained below.
12307 Here's an example file:
12310 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12311 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12314 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12315 have to be first, for instance.
12317 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12318 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12319 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12320 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12321 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12322 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12323 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12325 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12326 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12332 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12333 previously mentioned.
12335 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12337 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12338 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12339 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12340 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12341 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12344 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12345 '(("innd" (ding))))
12348 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12350 The default value is
12353 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12354 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12355 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12358 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12359 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12361 @item nntp-maximum-request
12362 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12363 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12364 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12365 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12366 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12367 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12368 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12370 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12371 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12372 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12373 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12374 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12375 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12376 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12377 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12378 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12379 no timeouts are done.
12381 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12382 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12383 @c @cindex PPP connections
12384 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12385 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12386 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12387 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12388 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12389 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12390 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12391 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12392 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12393 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12395 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12396 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12397 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12398 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12399 @c described above.
12401 @item nntp-server-hook
12402 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12403 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12406 @item nntp-buggy-select
12407 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12408 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12410 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12411 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12412 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12413 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12416 @item nntp-xover-commands
12417 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12420 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12421 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12425 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12426 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12427 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12428 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12429 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12430 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12431 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12432 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12433 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12434 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12435 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12437 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12438 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12439 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12441 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12442 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12443 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12444 server closes connection.
12446 @item nntp-record-commands
12447 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12448 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12449 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12450 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12451 that doesn't seem to work.
12453 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12454 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12455 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12456 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12457 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12458 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12459 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12460 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12462 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12463 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12464 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12465 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12466 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12467 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12468 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12471 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12474 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12475 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12477 @item nntp-read-timeout
12478 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12479 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12480 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12481 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12482 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12485 @item nntp-list-options
12486 @vindex nntp-list-options
12487 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12488 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12489 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12490 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12491 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12495 (setq gnus-select-method
12496 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12497 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12500 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12501 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12502 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12503 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12504 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12505 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12506 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12509 (setq gnus-select-method
12510 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12511 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12514 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12515 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12516 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12517 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12518 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12519 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12520 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12523 (setq gnus-select-method
12524 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12525 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12530 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12531 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12532 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12536 @node Direct Functions
12537 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12538 @cindex direct connection functions
12540 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12541 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12542 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12543 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12546 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12547 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12548 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12551 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12552 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12553 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12554 this you must have GNUTLS installed (see
12555 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}). You then define a server
12559 ;; "nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12560 ;; however, gnutls-cli -p doesn't like named ports.
12562 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12563 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12564 (nntp-port-number )
12565 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12568 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12569 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12570 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12571 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12572 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12573 define a server as follows:
12576 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12577 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports.
12579 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12580 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12581 (nntp-port-number 563)
12582 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12585 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12586 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12587 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12588 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12589 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12590 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12591 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12592 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12596 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12597 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12598 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12601 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12602 session, which is not a good idea.
12606 @node Indirect Functions
12607 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12608 @cindex indirect connection functions
12610 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12611 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12612 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12613 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12614 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12615 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12618 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12619 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12620 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12621 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12622 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12624 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12627 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12628 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12629 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12630 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12632 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12633 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12634 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12635 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12636 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12637 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12638 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12639 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12643 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12644 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12645 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12646 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12648 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12651 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12652 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12653 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12656 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12657 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12658 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12659 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12661 @item nntp-via-user-password
12662 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12663 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12665 @item nntp-via-envuser
12666 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12667 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12668 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12669 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12671 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12672 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12673 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12674 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12681 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12686 @item nntp-via-user-name
12687 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12688 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12690 @item nntp-via-address
12691 @vindex nntp-via-address
12692 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12697 @node Common Variables
12698 @subsubsection Common Variables
12700 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12701 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12706 @item nntp-pre-command
12707 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12708 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12709 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12710 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12711 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12714 @vindex nntp-address
12715 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12717 @item nntp-port-number
12718 @vindex nntp-port-number
12719 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is
12720 @samp{nntp}. If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{tls}/@sc{ssl}, you may
12721 want to use integer ports rather than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563}
12722 instead of @samp{snews} or @samp{nntps}), because external TLS/SSL
12723 tools may not work with named ports.
12725 @item nntp-end-of-line
12726 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12727 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12728 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12729 using a non native connection function.
12731 @item nntp-telnet-command
12732 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12733 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12734 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12735 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12737 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12738 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12739 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12746 @subsection News Spool
12750 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12751 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12752 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12755 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12756 anything else) as the address.
12758 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12759 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12760 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12761 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12765 @item nnspool-inews-program
12766 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12767 Program used to post an article.
12769 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12770 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12771 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12773 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12774 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12775 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12776 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12778 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12779 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12780 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12781 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12783 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12784 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12785 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12787 @item nnspool-active-file
12788 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12789 The name of the active file.
12791 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12792 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12793 The name of the group descriptions file.
12795 @item nnspool-history-file
12796 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12797 The name of the news history file.
12799 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12800 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12801 The name of the active date file.
12803 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12804 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12805 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12808 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12809 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12811 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12812 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12813 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12819 @section Getting Mail
12820 @cindex reading mail
12823 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12827 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12828 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12829 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12830 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12831 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12832 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12833 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12834 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12835 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12836 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12837 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12838 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12839 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12843 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12844 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12846 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12847 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12848 of a culture shock.
12850 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12851 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12853 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12854 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12855 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12856 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12858 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12860 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12861 deleted? How awful!
12863 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12864 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12865 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12866 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12869 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12870 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12871 they want to treat a message.
12873 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12874 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12875 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12876 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12877 archived somewhere else.
12879 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12880 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12881 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12882 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12883 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12885 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12886 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12887 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12889 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12890 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12893 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12894 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12895 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12896 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12897 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12899 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12900 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12901 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12902 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12903 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12904 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12908 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12909 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12911 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12912 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12913 and things will happen automatically.
12915 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12916 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12919 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12922 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12923 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12924 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12925 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12926 like any other group.
12928 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12931 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12932 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12933 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12937 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12938 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12939 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12942 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12943 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12944 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12947 @node Splitting Mail
12948 @subsection Splitting Mail
12949 @cindex splitting mail
12950 @cindex mail splitting
12952 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12953 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12954 to be split into groups.
12957 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12958 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12959 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12960 ("mail.other" "")))
12963 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12964 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12965 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12966 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12967 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12968 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12969 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12972 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12975 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12976 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12977 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12978 mail belongs in that group.
12980 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12981 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12982 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12983 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12984 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12985 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12987 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12988 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12989 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12990 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12991 thinks should carry this mail message.
12993 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12994 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12995 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12996 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12998 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12999 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13000 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13001 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13002 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13004 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13007 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13008 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13009 links. If that's the case for you, set
13010 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13011 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13013 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13014 @kindex nnmail-split-history
13015 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13016 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13017 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13018 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13021 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13022 Header lines longer than the value of
13023 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13026 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13027 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13028 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
13029 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
13030 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
13031 can be turned off completely by binding
13032 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
13033 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13035 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13036 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
13037 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
13038 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
13039 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13040 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
13041 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
13044 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13045 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13046 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13047 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13048 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13049 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13050 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13051 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13052 month's rent money.
13056 @subsection Mail Sources
13058 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
13059 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
13063 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13064 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13065 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13069 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13070 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13072 @cindex mail server
13075 @cindex mail source
13077 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13078 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13083 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13086 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13087 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13088 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13091 The following mail source types are available:
13095 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13101 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
13102 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13103 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13107 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13110 An example file mail source:
13113 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13116 Or using the default file name:
13122 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
13123 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
13124 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
13127 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13131 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13134 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13138 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13141 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13143 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13146 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13150 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13151 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
13152 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
13153 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
13154 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
13155 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
13156 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13157 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
13158 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
13159 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13161 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13162 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13163 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
13164 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13170 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13174 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13178 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13179 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13180 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13181 predicate are considered.
13185 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13189 An example directory mail source:
13192 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13197 Get mail from a POP server.
13203 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13204 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13207 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13208 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13209 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13210 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13211 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13214 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13218 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13222 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13223 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13226 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13229 The valid format specifier characters are:
13233 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13234 included in this string.
13237 The name of the server.
13240 The port number of the server.
13243 The user name to use.
13246 The password to use.
13249 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13250 corresponding keywords.
13253 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13254 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13257 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13258 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13261 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13262 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13265 @item :authentication
13266 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13267 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13271 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13272 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13273 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13274 programs and libraries:
13278 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13279 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13280 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13282 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13283 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13288 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13289 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13293 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13294 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13296 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13297 default user name, and default fetcher:
13303 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13306 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13307 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13310 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13313 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13317 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13318 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13319 contains exactly one mail.
13325 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13326 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13329 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13330 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13332 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13333 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13334 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13337 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13338 from locking problems).
13342 Two example maildir mail sources:
13345 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13346 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13350 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13355 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13356 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13357 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13358 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13361 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, TLS/SSL and STARTTLS support you
13362 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13368 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13369 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13372 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13373 @samp{993} for TLS/SSL connections.
13376 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13380 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13384 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13385 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13386 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13387 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13389 @item :authentication
13390 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13391 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13392 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13393 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13396 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13397 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13398 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13404 The valid format specifier characters are:
13408 The name of the server.
13411 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13414 The port number of the server.
13417 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13418 corresponding keywords.
13421 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13422 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13425 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13426 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13427 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13428 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13429 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13430 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13433 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13434 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13435 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13436 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13439 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13440 after finishing the fetch.
13444 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13447 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13449 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13453 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13454 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13455 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13457 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13458 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13460 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13466 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13467 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13470 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13474 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13478 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13479 folder after finishing the fetch.
13483 An example webmail source:
13486 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13488 :password "secret")
13493 @item Common Keywords
13494 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13500 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13501 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13505 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13510 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13511 useful when you use local mail and news.
13516 @subsubsection Function Interface
13518 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13519 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13520 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13521 consider the following mail-source setting:
13524 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13525 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13528 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13529 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13530 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13531 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13532 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13534 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13537 @node Mail Source Customization
13538 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13540 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13541 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13545 @item mail-source-crash-box
13546 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13547 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13548 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13550 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13551 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13552 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13553 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13554 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13555 (This will only happen, when reveiving new mail). You may also set
13556 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13557 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13559 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13560 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13561 If @code{non-nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13562 files. This variable only applies when
13563 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13565 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13566 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13567 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13569 @item mail-source-directory
13570 @vindex mail-source-directory
13571 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13572 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13573 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13576 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13577 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13578 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13579 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13580 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13581 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13583 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13584 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13585 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13587 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13588 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13589 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13590 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13595 @node Fetching Mail
13596 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13598 @vindex mail-sources
13599 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13600 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13601 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13602 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13604 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13605 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13608 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13609 mail server, you'd say something like:
13614 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13615 :password "secret")))
13618 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13622 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13623 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13626 :password "secret")))
13630 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13631 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13632 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13633 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13634 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13635 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13639 @node Mail Back End Variables
13640 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13642 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13646 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13647 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13648 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13649 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13651 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13652 @item nnmail-split-hook
13653 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13654 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13655 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13656 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13657 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13658 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13659 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13660 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13661 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13664 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13665 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13666 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13667 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13668 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13669 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13670 starting to handle the new mail) and
13671 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13672 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13673 default file modes the new mail files get:
13676 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13677 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13679 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13680 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13683 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13684 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13685 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13686 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13687 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13688 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13689 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13691 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13692 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13693 @findex delete-file
13694 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13696 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13697 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13698 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13699 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13700 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13702 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13703 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13704 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13705 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13706 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13708 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13709 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13710 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13715 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13716 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13717 @cindex mail splitting
13718 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13720 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13721 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13722 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13723 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13724 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13725 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13727 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13730 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13731 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13732 ;; from real errors.
13733 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13735 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13736 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13737 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13738 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13739 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13740 ;; Other mailing lists...
13741 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13742 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13743 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13744 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13745 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13746 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13747 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13748 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13750 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13751 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13755 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13756 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13757 the five possible split syntaxes:
13762 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13763 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13767 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13768 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13769 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13770 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13771 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13772 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13773 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13774 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13777 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13778 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13779 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13780 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13783 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13784 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13787 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13788 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13791 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13792 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13793 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13794 function should return a @var{split}.
13797 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13798 body of the messages:
13801 (defun split-on-body ()
13803 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13804 (goto-char (point-min))
13805 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13809 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13810 when the @code{:} function is run.
13813 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13814 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13815 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13816 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13819 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13823 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13824 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13825 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13826 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13827 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13829 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13830 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13831 are expanded as specified by the variable
13832 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13833 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13836 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13837 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13838 when all this splitting is performed.
13840 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13841 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13842 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13845 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13848 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13849 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13851 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13852 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13853 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13854 groupings 1 through 9.
13856 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13857 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13858 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13859 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13860 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13861 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13862 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13863 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13864 it once per thread.
13866 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13867 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13868 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13871 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13872 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13874 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13875 ;; other splits go here
13879 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13880 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13881 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13882 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13883 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13884 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13885 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13886 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13887 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13888 unless the group name matches the regexp
13889 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13890 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13891 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13892 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13893 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13894 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13895 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13896 messages goes into the new group.
13898 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13899 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13900 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13901 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13902 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13906 @node Group Mail Splitting
13907 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13908 @cindex mail splitting
13909 @cindex group mail splitting
13911 @findex gnus-group-split
13912 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13913 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13914 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13915 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13916 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13917 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13918 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13919 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13921 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13922 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13923 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13924 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13926 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13927 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13928 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13929 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13930 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13931 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13932 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13934 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13935 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13936 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13937 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13938 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13939 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13940 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13942 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13943 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13944 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13945 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13946 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13947 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13948 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13949 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13950 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13951 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13952 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13953 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13954 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13956 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13961 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13962 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13964 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13965 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13966 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13967 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13969 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13972 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13973 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13974 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13977 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13978 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13979 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13983 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13984 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13985 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13989 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13992 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13993 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13994 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13995 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13996 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13997 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13998 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13999 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14000 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14002 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14003 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14004 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14005 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14006 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14007 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14008 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14009 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14010 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14012 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14013 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14014 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14015 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14016 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14017 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14020 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
14023 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14024 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14025 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14026 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14027 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14030 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14031 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14032 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14033 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14035 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14036 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14037 @cindex incorporating old mail
14038 @cindex import old mail
14040 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14041 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14042 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14045 Doing so can be quite easy.
14047 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14048 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14049 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14050 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14051 your @code{nnml} groups.
14057 Go to the group buffer.
14060 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14061 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14064 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14067 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14068 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14071 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14072 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14075 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14076 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14077 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14078 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14079 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14081 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14082 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14083 using the new mail back end.
14086 @node Expiring Mail
14087 @subsection Expiring Mail
14088 @cindex article expiry
14090 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14091 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14092 different approach to mail reading.
14094 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14095 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14096 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14097 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14098 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14099 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14102 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14103 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
14104 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14105 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14106 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14107 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14108 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14109 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14110 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14112 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14113 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
14114 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14115 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
14116 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14117 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14118 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14121 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14122 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14123 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14124 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14125 into its own group.)
14127 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14128 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14129 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14130 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14131 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14132 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14133 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
14134 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14137 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14138 Groups that match the regular expression
14139 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14140 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14141 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14143 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14144 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14145 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14146 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14147 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14149 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14151 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14152 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14153 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14156 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14157 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14158 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14159 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14160 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14162 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14163 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14166 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14167 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14170 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14171 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14173 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14174 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14175 don't really mix very well.
14177 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14178 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14179 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14180 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14183 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14184 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14185 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14186 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14189 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14191 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14193 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14195 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14197 ((string= group "important")
14203 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14204 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14206 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14207 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14208 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14211 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14212 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14214 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14215 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14216 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14217 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14218 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14219 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14220 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14221 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14222 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14223 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14224 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14225 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
14226 name or @code{delete}.
14228 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14230 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14233 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14234 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14235 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14236 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14237 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14240 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14241 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14242 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14243 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14244 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14247 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14248 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14249 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14250 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14251 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14252 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14254 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14255 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14256 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14257 easier for procmail users.
14259 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14260 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14261 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14262 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14263 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14264 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14265 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14266 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14267 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14268 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14269 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14270 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14271 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14274 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14276 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14277 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14278 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14279 auto-expire turned on.
14283 @subsection Washing Mail
14284 @cindex mail washing
14285 @cindex list server brain damage
14286 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14288 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14289 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14290 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14291 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14292 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14293 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14295 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14296 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14297 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14300 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14301 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14302 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14303 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14306 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14307 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14308 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14309 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14310 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14313 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14314 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14315 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14316 Emacs running on MS machines.
14320 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14321 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14322 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14323 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14326 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14327 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14328 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14329 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14331 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14332 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14333 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14334 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14335 into a feature by documenting it.)
14337 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14338 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14339 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14340 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14341 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14342 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14343 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14346 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14347 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14350 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14351 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14354 This can also be done non-destructively with
14355 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14357 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14358 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14359 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14361 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14362 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14364 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14365 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14366 @code{References} headers.
14370 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14371 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14372 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14376 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14377 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14378 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14385 @subsection Duplicates
14387 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14388 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14389 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14390 @cindex duplicate mails
14391 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14392 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14393 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14394 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14395 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14396 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14397 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14398 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14399 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14400 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14401 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14402 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14403 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14405 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14406 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14407 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14408 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14410 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14413 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14414 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14418 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14419 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14420 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14421 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14422 (any mail "mail.misc")
14429 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14430 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14435 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14436 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14437 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14438 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14439 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14442 @node Not Reading Mail
14443 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14445 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14446 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14447 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14449 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14450 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14451 mail, which should help.
14453 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14454 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14455 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14456 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14457 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14458 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14459 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14460 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14461 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14462 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14463 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14465 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14466 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14470 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14471 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14473 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14474 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14475 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14477 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14478 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14479 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14483 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14484 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14485 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14486 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14487 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14488 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14489 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14493 @node Unix Mail Box
14494 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14496 @cindex unix mail box
14498 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14499 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14500 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14501 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14502 which group it belongs in.
14504 Virtual server settings:
14507 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14508 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14509 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14512 @item nnmbox-active-file
14513 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14514 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14515 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14517 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14518 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14519 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14520 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14525 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14529 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14530 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14531 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14532 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14533 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14535 Virtual server settings:
14538 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14539 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14540 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14542 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14543 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14544 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14545 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14547 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14548 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14549 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14555 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14557 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14559 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14560 format. It should be used with some caution.
14562 @vindex nnml-directory
14563 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14564 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14565 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14566 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14568 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14571 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14572 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14573 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14574 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14575 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14576 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14577 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14578 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14580 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14581 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14582 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14583 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14585 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14587 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14588 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14589 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14590 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14591 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14592 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14593 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14594 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14597 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14598 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14599 them next time it starts.
14601 Virtual server settings:
14604 @item nnml-directory
14605 @vindex nnml-directory
14606 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14607 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14610 @item nnml-active-file
14611 @vindex nnml-active-file
14612 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14613 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14615 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14616 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14617 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14618 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14620 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14621 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14622 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14625 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14626 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14627 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14628 default is @code{nil}.
14630 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14631 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14632 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14634 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14635 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14636 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14638 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14639 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14640 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14641 default is @code{nil}.
14643 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14644 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14645 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14647 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14648 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14649 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14654 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14655 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14656 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14657 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14658 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14659 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14660 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14665 @subsubsection MH Spool
14667 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14669 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14670 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14671 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14672 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14674 Virtual server settings:
14677 @item nnmh-directory
14678 @vindex nnmh-directory
14679 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14680 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14683 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14684 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14685 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14689 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14690 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14691 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14692 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14693 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14694 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14695 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14700 @subsubsection Maildir
14704 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14705 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14706 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14707 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14708 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14711 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14712 reading, without needing locks. With other backends, you would have
14713 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14714 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14715 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14716 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14719 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14720 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14721 data in the filesystem.
14723 nnmaildir stores article marks and NOV data in each maildir. So you
14724 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14727 Virtual server settings:
14731 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14732 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14733 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14734 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14735 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14736 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14737 starting with `.' are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14738 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14739 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14742 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14743 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14744 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14745 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14746 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14747 don't worry - a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14748 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14749 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14750 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14751 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14753 @item target-prefix
14754 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14755 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14756 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14759 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14760 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14761 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14762 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14763 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14764 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14765 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14766 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14767 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14769 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14770 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14771 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14772 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14773 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14775 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14776 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14777 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14778 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14779 @code{force} argument.
14781 @item directory-files
14782 This should be a function with the same interface as
14783 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14784 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14785 parameter is optional; the default is
14786 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14787 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14788 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14789 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14790 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14791 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14794 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14795 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14796 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14797 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14798 value is @code{nil}.
14800 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14801 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14802 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14803 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14804 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14807 @subsubsection Group parameters
14809 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14810 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14811 behavior for other mail backends: articles are deleted after one week,
14812 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14813 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14814 duplicate the behavior you already have with another backend.
14816 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14817 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14818 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14819 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14820 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14821 backends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14822 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14823 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14824 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14828 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14829 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14830 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14831 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14832 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overridable by
14833 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14834 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14835 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14836 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14837 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14838 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14839 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14842 If this is set to a string (a full Gnus group name, like
14843 @code{"backend+server.address.string:group.name"}), and if it is not
14844 the name of the same group that the parameter belongs to, then
14845 articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry before
14846 being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14847 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14848 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
14849 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
14850 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
14851 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
14852 article. So that form can refer to
14853 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
14854 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
14855 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
14856 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
14859 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14860 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14861 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14862 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14863 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14864 directory of another maildir - e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14865 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14866 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14867 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14868 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14869 extra copies of the articles.
14871 @item directory-files
14872 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
14873 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
14874 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
14875 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
14877 @item distrust-Lines:
14878 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
14879 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
14880 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
14883 A list of mark symbols, such as
14884 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
14885 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
14886 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
14887 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
14888 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14889 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14892 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
14893 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
14894 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
14895 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
14896 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
14897 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14898 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14900 @item nov-cache-size
14901 An integer specifying the size of the NOV memory cache. To speed
14902 things up, nnmaildir keeps NOV data in memory for a limited number of
14903 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
14904 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
14905 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened - i.e.,
14906 when you first start Gnus, typically. The NOV cache is never resized
14907 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
14908 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
14909 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
14910 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
14913 @subsubsection Article identification
14914 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
14915 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
14916 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
14917 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
14918 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
14919 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
14920 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
14921 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
14922 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
14923 request the article in the summary buffer.
14925 @subsubsection NOV data
14926 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its NOV data (used to
14927 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
14928 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
14929 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
14930 need for it - an article's NOV data is updated automatically when the
14931 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
14932 nnmaildir to regenerate the NOV data for a single article simply by
14933 deleting the corresponding NOV file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
14934 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
14935 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
14937 @subsubsection Article marks
14938 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
14939 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
14940 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
14941 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
14942 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
14943 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
14944 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
14945 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
14947 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
14948 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
14949 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
14950 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
14951 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
14952 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
14953 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
14954 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
14955 changes, and might undo them.
14959 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14961 @cindex mbox folders
14962 @cindex mail folders
14964 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14965 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14966 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14969 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14971 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14972 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14973 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14974 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14975 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14976 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14977 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14978 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14979 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14980 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14982 Virtual server settings:
14985 @item nnfolder-directory
14986 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14987 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14988 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14991 @item nnfolder-active-file
14992 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14993 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14995 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14996 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14997 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14998 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15000 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15001 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15002 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
15005 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15006 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15007 @cindex backup files
15008 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15009 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
15010 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
15011 your @file{.emacs} file:
15014 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15015 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15017 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15020 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15021 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15022 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15023 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15024 extract some information from it before removing it.
15026 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15027 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15028 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
15029 default is @code{nil}.
15031 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15032 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15033 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15035 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15036 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15037 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
15038 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15040 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15041 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15042 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15043 default is @code{nil}.
15045 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15046 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15047 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15049 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15050 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15051 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
15052 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15057 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15058 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15059 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15060 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15061 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15062 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15065 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15066 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15068 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15069 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15070 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15071 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15072 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15074 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15075 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15076 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15077 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
15078 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15079 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15080 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15081 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15084 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15085 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15086 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15087 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15092 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15093 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15094 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15095 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15096 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15097 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15098 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15099 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15100 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15101 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15102 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15103 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15104 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15109 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15110 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15111 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15112 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15113 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15114 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15115 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15116 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15117 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
15118 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15119 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15120 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15121 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
15122 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15124 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15125 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15130 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15131 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15132 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15133 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15134 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15135 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15136 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15137 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15138 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15139 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15140 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15141 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15142 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15143 provided by the active file and overviews.
15145 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15146 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15147 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15148 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15149 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15152 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15153 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15158 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15159 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15160 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
15161 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15162 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15163 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15164 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15168 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15169 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15170 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15171 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15172 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15173 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15174 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15175 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15176 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15178 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15179 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15180 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15181 friendly mail back end all over.
15185 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15186 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15189 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15190 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15191 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15192 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15193 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15194 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15195 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
15196 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
15199 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15200 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15201 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
15202 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15203 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15204 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15205 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15206 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15207 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15208 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15209 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15211 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15212 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15213 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15214 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15215 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15218 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15219 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15220 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15221 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15222 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15223 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15224 removed in the future.
15226 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15227 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15228 on your file system.
15230 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15231 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15236 @node Browsing the Web
15237 @section Browsing the Web
15239 @cindex browsing the web
15243 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15244 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15245 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15246 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15247 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15248 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15249 even know what a news group is.
15251 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15252 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15253 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15254 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15255 you mad in the end.
15257 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15260 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15261 interfaces to these sources.
15265 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15266 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15267 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15268 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15269 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15270 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15273 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15275 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15276 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
15277 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15278 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15279 though, you should be ok.
15281 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15282 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15283 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15284 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15285 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15287 @node Archiving Mail
15288 @subsection Archiving Mail
15289 @cindex archiving mail
15290 @cindex backup of mail
15292 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15293 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15294 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15295 marks is fairly simple.
15297 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15298 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15301 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15302 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15303 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15304 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15305 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15306 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15307 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15308 before you restore the data.
15310 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15311 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15312 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15313 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15314 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15315 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15316 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15317 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15318 is unnecessary in that case.
15321 @subsection Web Searches
15326 @cindex Usenet searches
15327 @cindex searching the Usenet
15329 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15330 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15331 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15332 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15333 searches without having to use a browser.
15335 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15336 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15337 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15338 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15339 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15341 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15342 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15343 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15344 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15345 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15346 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15347 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15348 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15349 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15350 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15353 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15354 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15355 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15356 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15357 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15358 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15360 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15361 to use @code{nnweb}.
15363 Virtual server variables:
15368 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15369 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15370 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15373 @vindex nnweb-search
15374 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15376 @item nnweb-max-hits
15377 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15378 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15381 @item nnweb-type-definition
15382 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15383 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15384 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15389 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15393 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15396 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15399 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15403 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15410 @subsection Slashdot
15414 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
15415 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15416 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15418 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15419 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15422 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15423 '((nnslashdot "")))
15426 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15427 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15428 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15429 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15430 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15433 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15434 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15436 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15437 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
15438 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15439 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15440 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
15441 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15444 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15447 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15448 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15449 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15450 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15451 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15452 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15453 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15455 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15456 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15457 The login name to use when posting.
15459 @item nnslashdot-password
15460 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15461 The password to use when posting.
15463 @item nnslashdot-directory
15464 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15465 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15466 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15468 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15469 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15470 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15471 news articles and comments. The default is
15472 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15474 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15475 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15476 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15478 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15480 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15481 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15482 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15484 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15486 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15487 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15488 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15490 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15491 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15492 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15493 updated. The default is 0.
15500 @subsection Ultimate
15502 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15504 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
15505 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15506 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15507 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15509 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15510 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15511 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15512 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15513 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15514 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15515 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15517 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15520 @item nnultimate-directory
15521 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15522 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15523 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15528 @subsection Web Archive
15530 @cindex Web Archive
15532 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15533 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15534 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15535 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15538 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15539 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15540 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15541 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15542 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15543 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15544 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15545 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15547 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15550 @item nnwarchive-directory
15551 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15552 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15553 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15555 @item nnwarchive-login
15556 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15557 The account name on the web server.
15559 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15560 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15561 The password for your account on the web server.
15569 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15570 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15571 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15574 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15575 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15578 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15581 @item nnrss-directory
15582 @vindex nnrss-directory
15583 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15584 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15588 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15589 the summary buffer.
15592 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15593 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15595 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15597 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15598 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15601 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15604 (require 'browse-url)
15606 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15608 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15611 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15612 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15615 (browse-url (cdr url))
15616 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15617 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15619 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15620 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15621 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15622 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15625 @node Customizing w3
15626 @subsection Customizing w3
15632 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15633 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15634 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15636 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15637 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15638 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15641 (eval-after-load "w3"
15643 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15644 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15645 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15646 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15648 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15651 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15652 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15661 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15662 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15663 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15664 specify the network address of the server.
15666 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15667 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15668 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15669 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15670 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15672 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15673 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15674 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15675 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15677 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15678 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15679 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15680 usage explained in this section.
15682 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15683 might look something like the following. (Note that for TLS/SSL, you
15684 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15687 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15688 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15689 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15691 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15692 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15693 ; a UW server running on localhost
15695 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15696 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15697 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15698 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15699 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15700 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15701 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15702 (nnimap-stream network))
15703 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15705 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15706 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15707 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15710 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15711 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15712 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15713 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15715 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15720 @item nnimap-address
15721 @vindex nnimap-address
15723 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15724 server name if not specified.
15726 @item nnimap-server-port
15727 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15728 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for TLS/SSL.
15730 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15733 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15734 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15737 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15738 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15739 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15740 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15741 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15742 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15743 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15745 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15746 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15747 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15750 Example server specification:
15753 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15754 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15755 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15758 @item nnimap-stream
15759 @vindex nnimap-stream
15760 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15761 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15762 of TLS/SSL. (@sc{imap} over TLS/SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15763 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15765 Example server specification:
15768 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15769 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15772 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15776 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15777 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15779 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15781 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15782 TLS/SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15785 @dfn{tls:} Connect through TLS. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15786 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15788 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15789 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15791 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15793 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15796 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15797 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15798 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15799 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15800 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15801 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15802 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15803 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15804 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15807 For TLS connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
15808 needed. It is available from
15809 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
15811 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
15812 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
15813 authenticated IMAP stream in a subshell. They are tried sequentially
15814 until a connection is made, or the list has been exhausted. By
15815 default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
15816 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
15817 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
15820 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15821 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15822 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15823 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15824 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15825 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15826 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15829 @vindex imap-shell-program
15830 @vindex imap-shell-host
15831 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15832 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15834 @item nnimap-authenticator
15835 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15837 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15838 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15840 Example server specification:
15843 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15844 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15847 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15851 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15852 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
15854 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15857 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15858 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15860 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15862 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15864 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15867 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15869 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15870 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15871 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15872 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15873 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15874 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15877 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15878 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15879 running in circles yet?
15881 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15882 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15885 The possible options are:
15890 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15893 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15894 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15895 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15896 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15898 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15903 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15904 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15906 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15907 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15908 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15909 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15910 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15913 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15914 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15917 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15918 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15919 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15920 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15923 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15924 as ticked for other users.
15926 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15928 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15930 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15931 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15932 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15933 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15935 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15936 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15937 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15938 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15940 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15941 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15943 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15944 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15945 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15951 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15952 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15953 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15954 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
15955 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15960 @node Splitting in IMAP
15961 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15962 @cindex splitting imap mail
15964 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15965 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15966 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15967 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15968 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15972 Here are the variables of interest:
15976 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15977 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15979 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15981 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15982 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15984 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15986 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15987 @cindex splitting, inbox
15989 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15991 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15992 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15996 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15997 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16000 No nnmail equivalent.
16002 @item nnimap-split-rule
16003 @cindex Splitting, rules
16004 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16006 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16009 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16010 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
16011 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16012 Neither did I, we need examples.
16015 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16017 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16018 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16019 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16022 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16023 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16024 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16026 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
16027 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16031 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16034 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16035 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16037 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16038 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16039 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
16040 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16042 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16043 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16044 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16045 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16046 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16047 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16049 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16050 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16051 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16053 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16054 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16055 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16057 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16059 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16060 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16061 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16064 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16065 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16066 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
16067 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16068 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16069 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
16072 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16073 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16074 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16075 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16076 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16077 group/function elements.
16079 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16081 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16083 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16085 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16086 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16088 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
16089 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16090 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16093 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16094 @cindex splitting, fancy
16095 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16096 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16098 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16099 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16100 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16102 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16103 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16104 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16105 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16110 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16111 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16114 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16116 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16117 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16118 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16120 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
16121 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
16122 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
16123 analyses the body to split the article.
16127 @node Expiring in IMAP
16128 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16129 @cindex expiring imap mail
16131 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16132 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16133 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
16134 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16135 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16136 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16139 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
16140 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16141 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16142 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16143 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16144 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16145 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16146 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16150 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16151 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16153 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16154 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16156 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16158 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16159 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16160 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
16161 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16165 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16166 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16167 @cindex editing imap acls
16168 @cindex Access Control Lists
16169 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
16171 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16173 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
16174 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16175 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16178 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16179 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
16180 editing window with detailed instructions.
16182 Some possible uses:
16186 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16187 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16188 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16190 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16191 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16192 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
16196 @node Expunging mailboxes
16197 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16201 @cindex Manual expunging
16203 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16205 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16206 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16207 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16209 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16212 @node A note on namespaces
16213 @subsection A note on namespaces
16214 @cindex IMAP namespace
16217 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
16218 following text in the RFC:
16221 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16223 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16224 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16225 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16226 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16228 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16229 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16230 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16231 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16232 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16233 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16236 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
16237 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
16238 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16240 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
16241 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
16242 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
16243 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
16244 the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
16245 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
16246 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
16247 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
16249 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16250 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16251 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16253 @node Other Sources
16254 @section Other Sources
16256 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16257 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16261 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16262 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16263 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16264 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16265 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16269 @node Directory Groups
16270 @subsection Directory Groups
16272 @cindex directory groups
16274 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16275 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16278 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16279 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16280 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16281 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16283 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16284 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16285 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16286 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16287 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16289 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
16291 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16292 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16293 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16294 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16297 @node Anything Groups
16298 @subsection Anything Groups
16301 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16302 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16303 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16306 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16307 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16308 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16309 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16310 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16311 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16312 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16313 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16314 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16315 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16318 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16319 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16320 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16321 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16323 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16324 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16325 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16326 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16328 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16329 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16330 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16331 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16332 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16333 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16334 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16335 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16340 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16341 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16342 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16343 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16345 @item nneething-exclude-files
16346 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16347 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16348 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16350 @item nneething-include-files
16351 @vindex nneething-include-files
16352 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16353 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16355 @item nneething-map-file
16356 @vindex nneething-map-file
16357 Name of the map files.
16361 @node Document Groups
16362 @subsection Document Groups
16364 @cindex documentation group
16367 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16368 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16375 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
16380 The standard Unix mbox file.
16382 @cindex MMDF mail box
16384 The MMDF mail box format.
16387 Several news articles appended into a file.
16390 @cindex rnews batch files
16391 The rnews batch transport format.
16392 @cindex forwarded messages
16395 Forwarded articles.
16398 Netscape mail boxes.
16401 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
16403 @item standard-digest
16404 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16407 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
16409 @item lanl-gov-announce
16410 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16412 @item rfc822-forward
16413 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16416 The Outlook mail box.
16419 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16422 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16425 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16428 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16434 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16437 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16443 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16444 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16445 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16448 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16449 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16450 group. And that's it.
16452 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16453 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16454 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16455 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16456 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16457 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16458 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16459 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16460 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16461 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16463 Virtual server variables:
16466 @item nndoc-article-type
16467 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16468 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16469 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16470 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16471 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16472 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16474 @item nndoc-post-type
16475 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16476 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16477 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16482 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16486 @node Document Server Internals
16487 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16489 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16490 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16491 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16492 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16494 First, here's an example document type definition:
16498 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16499 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16502 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16503 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16504 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16505 types can be defined with very few settings:
16508 @item first-article
16509 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16510 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16513 @item article-begin
16514 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16515 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16517 @item head-begin-function
16518 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16521 @item nndoc-head-begin
16522 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16525 @item nndoc-head-end
16526 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16527 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16529 @item body-begin-function
16530 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16534 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16537 @item body-end-function
16538 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16542 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16545 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16546 regexp will be totally ignored.
16550 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16551 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16552 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16553 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16554 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16557 @item prepare-body-function
16558 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16559 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16560 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16562 @item article-transform-function
16563 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16564 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16565 body of the article.
16567 @item generate-head-function
16568 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16569 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16570 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16571 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16575 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16580 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16581 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16582 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16583 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16584 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16585 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16586 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16587 (subtype digest guess))
16590 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16591 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16592 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16593 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16594 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16596 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16597 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16598 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16599 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16600 The alist is traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is
16601 called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is
16602 called to see whether a document is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on.
16603 These type predicates should return @code{nil} if the document is not
16604 of the correct type; @code{t} if it is of the correct type; and a
16605 number if the document might be of the correct type. A high number
16606 means high probability; a low number means low probability with
16607 @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16615 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16616 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16617 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16619 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16620 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16621 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16624 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16625 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16626 that interested in doing things properly.
16628 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16629 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16632 First some terminology:
16637 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16638 get news and/or mail from.
16641 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16642 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16645 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16649 @item message packets
16650 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16651 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16652 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16654 @item response packets
16655 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16656 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16657 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16667 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16668 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16669 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16670 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16673 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16676 You put the packet in your home directory.
16679 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16680 the native or secondary server.
16683 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16684 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16687 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16691 You transfer this packet to the server.
16694 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16697 You then repeat until you die.
16701 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16702 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16705 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16706 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16707 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16711 @node SOUP Commands
16712 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16714 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16718 @kindex G s b (Group)
16719 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16720 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16721 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16722 process/prefix convention.
16725 @kindex G s w (Group)
16726 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16727 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16730 @kindex G s s (Group)
16731 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16732 Send all replies from the replies packet
16733 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16736 @kindex G s p (Group)
16737 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16738 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16741 @kindex G s r (Group)
16742 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16743 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16746 @kindex O s (Summary)
16747 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16748 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16749 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16750 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16755 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16760 @item gnus-soup-directory
16761 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16762 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16763 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16765 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16766 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16767 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16768 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16770 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16771 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16772 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16773 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16775 @item gnus-soup-packer
16776 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16777 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16778 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16780 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16781 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16782 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16783 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16785 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16786 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16787 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16789 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16790 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16791 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16792 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16798 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16801 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16802 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16803 you can read them at leisure.
16805 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16809 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16810 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16811 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16812 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16814 @item nnsoup-directory
16815 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16816 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16817 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16819 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16820 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16821 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16822 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16824 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16825 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16826 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16827 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16828 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16830 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16831 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16832 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16833 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16835 @item nnsoup-active-file
16836 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16837 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16838 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16839 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16840 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16842 @item nnsoup-packer
16843 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16844 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16845 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16847 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16848 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16849 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16850 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16852 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16853 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16854 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16857 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16858 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16859 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16862 @item nnsoup-always-save
16863 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16864 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16870 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16872 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16873 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16874 more for that to happen.
16876 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16877 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16878 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16881 In specific, this is what it does:
16884 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16885 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16888 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16889 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16890 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16893 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16894 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16895 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16898 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16899 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16900 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16902 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16908 @item nngateway-address
16909 @vindex nngateway-address
16910 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16912 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16913 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16914 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16915 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16916 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16917 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16918 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16921 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16922 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16923 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16926 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16929 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16932 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16935 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16937 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16940 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16941 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16942 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16944 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16946 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16947 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16948 @code{nngateway-address}.
16953 (setq gnus-post-method
16955 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16956 (nngateway-header-transformation
16957 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16965 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16968 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16973 @node Combined Groups
16974 @section Combined Groups
16976 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16980 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16981 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16985 @node Virtual Groups
16986 @subsection Virtual Groups
16988 @cindex virtual groups
16989 @cindex merging groups
16991 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16994 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16995 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16996 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16998 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16999 regexp to match component groups.
17001 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17002 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17003 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17004 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17005 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17006 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17007 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17008 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17010 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17011 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17014 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17017 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17018 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17020 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17021 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17022 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17023 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17026 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17029 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17030 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17031 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17033 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17034 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17035 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17036 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17037 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17039 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17040 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17041 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17043 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17044 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17045 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17046 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17047 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17048 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17049 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17050 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17051 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17052 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17053 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17055 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17056 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17057 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17058 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17059 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17060 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17061 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17063 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17064 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17066 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17067 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17071 @node Kibozed Groups
17072 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17076 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
17077 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
17078 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
17079 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17081 @kindex G k (Group)
17082 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17085 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17086 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17087 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
17088 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17090 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
17091 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
17092 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17094 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17095 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17096 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17097 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
17098 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
17099 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
17100 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
17101 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17103 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17104 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17105 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17106 Stranger things have happened.
17108 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17109 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17111 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17112 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17113 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
17114 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
17115 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
17116 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
17118 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17119 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
17122 @node Gnus Unplugged
17123 @section Gnus Unplugged
17128 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
17130 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17131 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17132 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17133 read news. Believe it or not.
17135 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17136 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17137 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17138 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17139 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17141 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17142 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17143 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17144 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17145 reading news on a machine.
17147 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17148 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17150 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17153 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17154 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17155 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17156 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17157 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17158 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17159 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
17160 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17161 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17162 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17163 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17164 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17169 @subsection Agent Basics
17171 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17173 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17174 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17175 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17176 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17178 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17179 connected to the net continuously.
17181 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17182 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17184 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17189 @findex gnus-unplugged
17190 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17191 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17192 already fetched while in this mode.
17195 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17196 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17197 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17198 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
17199 Source Specifiers}).
17202 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
17203 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
17204 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
17205 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
17206 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
17209 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17210 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17211 then you read the news offline.
17214 And then you go to step 2.
17217 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17223 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17224 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17225 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17226 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17227 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17228 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17229 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17230 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17234 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17235 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17236 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17237 is probably best to start with a category @xref{Agent Categories}.
17239 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17240 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17241 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17242 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17243 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17244 your policy, you can use grou parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17248 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17252 @node Agent Categories
17253 @subsection Agent Categories
17255 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17256 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17257 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17258 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17259 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17260 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17261 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17263 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17264 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17265 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17266 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17267 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17269 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17270 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17271 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17272 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17273 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17276 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17277 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17278 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17279 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17280 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17281 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17285 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17286 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17287 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17291 @node Category Syntax
17292 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17294 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17295 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17296 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17300 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17301 The name of the category.
17303 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17304 The list of groups that are in this category.
17306 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17307 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17308 are eligible for downloading; and
17310 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17311 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17312 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17313 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17315 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17316 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17317 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17318 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17319 only groups that should not be expired.
17321 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17322 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17323 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17325 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17326 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17328 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17329 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17331 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17332 an integer that overrides the value of
17333 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17335 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17336 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17339 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17342 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17343 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17344 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17347 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17348 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17349 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17350 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17352 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17353 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17354 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17356 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17357 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17358 operators sprinkled in between.
17360 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17362 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17363 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17369 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17370 short (for some value of ``short'').
17372 Here's a more complex predicate:
17381 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17382 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17385 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17386 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17387 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17389 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17390 you want to do, you can write your own.
17392 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17393 bound to the value determined by calling
17394 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17395 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17396 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17397 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17398 predicate to individual groups.
17402 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17403 lines; default 100.
17406 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17407 lines; default 200.
17410 True iff the article has a download score less than
17411 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17414 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17415 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17418 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17419 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17420 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17429 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17430 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17431 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17434 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17435 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17436 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17437 something along the lines of the following:
17440 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17441 "Say whether an article is old."
17442 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17443 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17446 with the predicate then defined as:
17449 (not my-article-old-p)
17452 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17453 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17457 (require 'gnus-agent)
17458 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17459 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17460 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17463 and simply specify your predicate as:
17469 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17470 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17471 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17472 just don't give a damn.
17474 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17475 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17476 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17477 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
17478 parameters like so:
17481 (agent-predicate . short)
17484 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17485 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17486 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17488 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17491 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17494 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17495 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17496 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17499 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17500 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17501 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17502 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17503 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17504 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17506 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17507 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17508 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17509 if it's to be specific to that group.
17511 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17518 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17519 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17525 Category specification
17529 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17535 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17538 (agent-score ("from"
17539 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17544 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17550 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17551 keywords stated above.
17557 Category specification
17560 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17566 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17570 Group Parameter specification
17573 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17576 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17581 Use @code{normal} score files
17583 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17584 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17585 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17586 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17588 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17589 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17590 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17591 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17595 Category Specification
17602 Group Parameter specification
17605 (agent-score . file)
17610 @node Category Buffer
17611 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17613 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17614 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17615 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17617 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17621 @kindex q (Category)
17622 @findex gnus-category-exit
17623 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17626 @kindex e (Category)
17627 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17628 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17629 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17632 @kindex k (Category)
17633 @findex gnus-category-kill
17634 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17637 @kindex c (Category)
17638 @findex gnus-category-copy
17639 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17642 @kindex a (Category)
17643 @findex gnus-category-add
17644 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17647 @kindex p (Category)
17648 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17649 Edit the predicate of the current category
17650 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17653 @kindex g (Category)
17654 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17655 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17656 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17659 @kindex s (Category)
17660 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17661 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17662 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17665 @kindex l (Category)
17666 @findex gnus-category-list
17667 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17671 @node Category Variables
17672 @subsubsection Category Variables
17675 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17676 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17677 Hook run in category buffers.
17679 @item gnus-category-line-format
17680 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17681 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17682 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17686 The name of the category.
17689 The number of groups in the category.
17692 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17693 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17694 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17696 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17697 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17698 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17700 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17701 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17702 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17704 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17705 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17706 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17709 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17710 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17711 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17714 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17715 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17716 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17717 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17718 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17719 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17720 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17721 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17725 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17726 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17727 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17728 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17729 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17730 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17731 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17736 @node Agent Commands
17737 @subsection Agent Commands
17738 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17739 @kindex J j (Agent)
17741 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17742 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17743 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17747 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17748 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17749 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17755 @node Group Agent Commands
17756 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17760 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17761 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17762 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17763 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17766 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17767 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17768 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17771 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17772 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17773 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17774 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17777 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17778 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17779 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17780 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17783 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17784 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17785 Add the current group to an Agent category
17786 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17787 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17790 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17791 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17792 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17793 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17794 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17797 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17798 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17799 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17805 @node Summary Agent Commands
17806 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17810 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17811 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17812 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17815 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17816 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17817 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17818 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17822 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17823 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17824 Toggle whether to download the article
17825 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17829 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17830 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17831 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17834 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17835 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17836 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17837 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17840 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17841 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17842 Download all processable articles in this group.
17843 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17846 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17847 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17848 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17849 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17854 @node Server Agent Commands
17855 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17859 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17860 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17861 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17862 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17865 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17866 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17867 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17868 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17873 @node Agent as Cache
17874 @subsection Agent as Cache
17876 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17877 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17878 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17879 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17880 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17881 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17882 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17883 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17884 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17886 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17887 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
17888 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
17889 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
17890 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap backend.
17893 @subsection Agent Expiry
17895 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17896 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17897 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17898 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
17899 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
17900 @cindex Agent expiry
17901 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17904 The Agent backend, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
17905 least it doesn't handle it like other backends. Instead, there are
17906 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
17907 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
17908 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
17909 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
17910 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
17911 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
17913 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17914 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17915 synchronized with the group.
17917 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
17918 prevent expiration in selected groups.
17920 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17921 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
17922 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
17923 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
17924 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
17925 be kept indefinitely.
17927 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17928 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
17929 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
17930 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
17932 @node Agent Regeneration
17933 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17935 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17936 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17937 @cindex regeneration
17939 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17940 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17941 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17942 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17943 internal inconsistencies.
17945 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17946 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17947 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
17948 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17949 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17950 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17952 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17953 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17954 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17955 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17956 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17957 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17959 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17960 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17961 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17962 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17963 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17964 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17967 @node Agent and IMAP
17968 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17970 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17971 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17972 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17973 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17975 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17976 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17977 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17978 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17980 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17981 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17982 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17983 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17985 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17986 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17987 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17988 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17989 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17990 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17992 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17993 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17994 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17995 in the group buffer.
17997 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17998 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
18003 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18006 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18010 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18011 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18012 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18013 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
18014 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18015 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18016 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18017 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18020 @node Outgoing Messages
18021 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18023 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18024 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18025 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18027 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18028 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18029 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18030 messages in the draft group.
18034 @node Agent Variables
18035 @subsection Agent Variables
18038 @item gnus-agent-directory
18039 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18040 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18041 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18043 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18044 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18045 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18046 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18047 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18050 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18051 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18052 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18054 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18055 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18056 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18058 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18059 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18060 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18062 @item gnus-agent-cache
18063 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18064 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
18065 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18066 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18068 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18069 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18070 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18071 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18072 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18073 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18074 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18077 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18078 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18079 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18080 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18081 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18082 read. The default is t.
18084 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18085 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18086 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18087 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
18088 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
18090 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18091 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18092 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18093 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18094 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18095 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18096 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18097 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18098 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18099 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18100 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18101 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18104 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18105 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18106 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18107 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18108 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18109 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18110 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18111 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18112 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18114 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18115 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18116 Another variable that isn't a Agent variable, yet so closely related
18117 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18118 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18119 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18121 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18122 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18123 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18124 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18125 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18130 @node Example Setup
18131 @subsection Example Setup
18133 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18134 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18135 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18138 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
18139 ;;; from your ISP's server.
18140 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18142 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
18143 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
18144 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18146 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
18147 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18149 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
18150 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
18151 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
18154 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18155 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18158 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18159 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18160 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18161 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18162 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18165 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18166 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18167 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18168 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18169 back all the killed groups.)
18171 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18172 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18173 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18176 @node Batching Agents
18177 @subsection Batching Agents
18178 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18180 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18181 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18182 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18184 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18185 following incantation:
18189 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18193 @node Agent Caveats
18194 @subsection Agent Caveats
18196 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18197 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18201 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18203 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18204 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18205 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18207 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18208 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18210 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18214 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18215 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18216 locally stored articles.
18223 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18224 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18225 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18228 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18229 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18230 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18231 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18232 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18234 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18235 before generating the summary buffer.
18237 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18238 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18239 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18241 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18242 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18243 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18244 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18247 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18248 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18249 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18250 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18251 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18252 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18253 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18254 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18255 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18256 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18257 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18258 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18259 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18260 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18261 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18262 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18263 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18267 @node Summary Score Commands
18268 @section Summary Score Commands
18269 @cindex score commands
18271 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18272 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18273 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18274 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18275 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18277 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18278 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18279 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18280 score file the current one.
18282 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18287 @kindex V s (Summary)
18288 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18289 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18292 @kindex V S (Summary)
18293 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18294 Display the score of the current article
18295 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18298 @kindex V t (Summary)
18299 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18300 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18301 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18302 can use @kbd{q} to quit. @kbd{e} edits the corresponding score file.
18303 When point is on a string within the match element, @kbd{e} will try to
18304 bring you to this string in the score file.
18307 @kindex V w (Summary)
18308 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18309 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18312 @kindex V R (Summary)
18313 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18314 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18315 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18316 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18317 effect you're having.
18320 @kindex V c (Summary)
18321 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18322 Make a different score file the current
18323 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18326 @kindex V e (Summary)
18327 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18328 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18329 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18333 @kindex V f (Summary)
18334 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18335 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18336 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18339 @kindex V F (Summary)
18340 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18341 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18342 after editing score files.
18345 @kindex V C (Summary)
18346 @findex gnus-score-customize
18347 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18348 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18352 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18357 @kindex V m (Summary)
18358 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18359 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18360 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18363 @kindex V x (Summary)
18364 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18365 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18366 expunge all articles below this score
18367 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18370 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18371 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18374 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18375 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18379 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18380 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18382 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18383 keys are available:
18387 Score on the author name.
18390 Score on the subject line.
18393 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18396 Score on the @code{References} line.
18402 Score on the number of lines.
18405 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18408 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18409 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18412 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18413 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18414 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18423 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18429 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18430 what headers you are scoring on.
18442 Substring matching.
18445 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18474 Greater than number.
18479 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18480 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18481 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18486 Temporary score entry.
18489 Permanent score entry.
18492 Immediately scoring.
18496 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18497 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18498 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18502 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18503 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18504 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18505 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18507 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18508 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18509 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18510 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18511 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18513 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18514 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18515 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18516 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18517 current score file.
18519 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18520 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18521 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18524 @node Group Score Commands
18525 @section Group Score Commands
18526 @cindex group score commands
18528 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18533 @kindex W f (Group)
18534 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18535 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18536 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18537 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18541 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18543 @findex gnus-batch-score
18544 @cindex batch scoring
18546 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18550 @node Score Variables
18551 @section Score Variables
18552 @cindex score variables
18556 @item gnus-use-scoring
18557 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18558 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18559 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18561 @item gnus-kill-killed
18562 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18563 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18564 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18565 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18566 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18567 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18568 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18570 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18571 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18572 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18573 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18574 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18576 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18577 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18578 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18579 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18581 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18582 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18583 @cindex score cache
18584 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18585 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18586 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18587 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18588 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18589 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18590 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18593 @item gnus-save-score
18594 @vindex gnus-save-score
18595 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18596 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18597 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18599 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18600 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18601 across group visits.
18603 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18604 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18605 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18606 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18607 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18608 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18609 manually entered data.
18611 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18612 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18613 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18615 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18616 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18617 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18618 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18619 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18620 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18622 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18623 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18624 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18625 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18627 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18628 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18629 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18630 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18632 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18633 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18634 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18635 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18637 Predefined functions available are:
18640 @item gnus-score-find-single
18641 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18642 Only apply the group's own score file.
18644 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18645 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18646 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18647 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18648 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18649 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18650 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18651 then a regexp match is done.
18653 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18654 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18656 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18657 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18658 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18659 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18661 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18662 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18663 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18664 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18665 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18669 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18670 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18671 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18672 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18673 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18674 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18675 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18678 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18679 overall score file, you could use the value
18681 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18682 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18685 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18686 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18687 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18688 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18689 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18691 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18692 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18693 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18694 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18695 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18696 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18697 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18698 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18700 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18701 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18702 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18704 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18705 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18706 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18707 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18708 threading---according to the current value of
18709 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18710 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18711 simplified in this manner.
18716 @node Score File Format
18717 @section Score File Format
18718 @cindex score file format
18720 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18721 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18722 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18724 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18728 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18730 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18732 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18734 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18739 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18743 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18744 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18745 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18746 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18750 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18751 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18753 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18754 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18755 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18757 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18762 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18763 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18764 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18765 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18766 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18767 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18768 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18769 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18770 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18771 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18772 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18773 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18774 to articles that matches these score entries.
18776 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18777 score entry has one to four elements.
18781 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18782 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18786 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18787 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18788 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18789 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18790 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18791 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18794 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18795 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18796 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18797 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18798 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18801 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18802 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18803 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18804 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18807 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18808 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18809 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18810 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18811 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18812 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18813 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18814 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18815 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18816 instead, if you feel like.
18819 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18820 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18821 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18822 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18823 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18824 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18827 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18831 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18832 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18834 These predicates are true if
18837 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18840 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18841 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18848 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18849 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18850 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18851 it's not. I think.)
18853 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18854 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18855 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18856 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18859 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18860 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18861 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18862 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18863 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18864 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18865 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18869 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18870 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18871 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18872 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18873 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18874 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18875 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18876 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18879 @item Head, Body, All
18880 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18884 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18885 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18886 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18887 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18888 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18889 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18890 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18894 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18895 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18896 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18897 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18898 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18899 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18900 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18901 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18902 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18903 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18904 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18908 @cindex Score File Atoms
18910 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18911 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18914 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18915 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18917 @item mark-and-expunge
18918 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18919 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18922 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18923 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18924 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18925 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18926 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18929 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18930 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18933 @item exclude-files
18934 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18935 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18939 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18940 ignored when handling global score files.
18943 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18944 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18945 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18946 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18949 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18950 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18951 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18952 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18954 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18958 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18961 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18962 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18963 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18964 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18965 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18967 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18968 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18969 scoring rules exist.
18972 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18973 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18974 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18975 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18976 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18977 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18978 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18979 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18980 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18981 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18982 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18986 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18987 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18988 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18989 file for a number of groups.
18992 @cindex local variables
18993 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
18994 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
18995 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
18996 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
18997 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19002 @node Score File Editing
19003 @section Score File Editing
19005 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19006 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19007 with a mode for that.
19009 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19010 additional commands:
19015 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19016 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19017 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19018 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19021 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19022 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19023 Insert the current date in numerical format
19024 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19025 you were wondering.
19028 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19029 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19030 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19031 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19032 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19037 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19039 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19040 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19042 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
19043 e} to begin editing score files.
19046 @node Adaptive Scoring
19047 @section Adaptive Scoring
19048 @cindex adaptive scoring
19050 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19051 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19052 stupidity, to be precise.
19054 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19055 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19056 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19057 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19058 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19059 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19060 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19061 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19062 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19064 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19065 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19066 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19067 might look something like this:
19070 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19071 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19072 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19073 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19074 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19075 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19076 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19077 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19078 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19079 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19080 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19081 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19084 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19085 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19086 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19087 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19088 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19089 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19092 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19093 will be applied to each article.
19095 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19096 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19097 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19098 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19100 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19101 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19102 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19103 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19105 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19106 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19107 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19108 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19110 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19111 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19112 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19113 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19114 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19115 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19117 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19118 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19119 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19121 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19122 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19123 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19125 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19126 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19127 let you use different rules in different groups.
19129 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19130 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19131 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19134 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19135 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19136 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19137 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19138 the length of the match is less than
19139 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19140 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19143 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19144 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19145 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19146 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19147 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19150 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19151 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19152 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19153 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19154 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19157 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19158 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19159 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19160 score with 30 points.
19162 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19163 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19164 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19165 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19166 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19168 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19169 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19170 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19171 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19172 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19174 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19175 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19176 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19177 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19179 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19180 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19181 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19182 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19184 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19185 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19186 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19187 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19188 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19190 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19191 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19192 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19194 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19195 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19196 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19197 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19200 @node Home Score File
19201 @section Home Score File
19203 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19204 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19205 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19206 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19208 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19209 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19210 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19212 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19213 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19218 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19222 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19223 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19227 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19231 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19232 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19235 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
19236 the home score file.
19239 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19242 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19247 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19250 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19251 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19254 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19255 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19257 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19259 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19260 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19263 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19264 Other functions include
19267 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19268 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19269 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19270 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19274 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19275 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19276 their own home score files:
19279 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19280 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
19281 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19282 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
19283 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19286 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19287 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19288 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19289 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19290 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19292 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19293 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19294 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19295 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19296 precedence over this variable.
19299 @node Followups To Yourself
19300 @section Followups To Yourself
19302 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19303 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19304 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19305 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19306 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19307 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19311 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19312 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19313 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19316 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19317 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19318 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19322 @vindex message-sent-hook
19323 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19324 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19326 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19330 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19331 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19335 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19336 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19339 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19340 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19345 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19349 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19350 is system-dependent.
19353 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19354 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19355 @cindex scoring on other headers
19357 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19358 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19359 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19360 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19361 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19363 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19364 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
19365 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
19366 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
19367 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19369 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19372 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19373 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19376 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19377 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19378 time if you have much mail.
19380 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19381 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19387 @section Scoring Tips
19388 @cindex scoring tips
19394 @cindex scoring crossposts
19395 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19396 the @code{Xref} header.
19398 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19401 @item Multiple crossposts
19402 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19403 more than, say, 3 groups:
19406 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19410 @item Matching on the body
19411 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19412 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19413 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19414 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19415 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19416 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19417 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19420 @item Marking as read
19421 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19422 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19423 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19427 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19429 @item Negated character classes
19430 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19431 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19432 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19436 @node Reverse Scoring
19437 @section Reverse Scoring
19438 @cindex reverse scoring
19440 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19441 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19442 like this in your score file:
19446 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19451 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19452 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19455 @node Global Score Files
19456 @section Global Score Files
19457 @cindex global score files
19459 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19460 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19461 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19463 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19464 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19465 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19467 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19468 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19469 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19470 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19471 files are applicable to which group.
19473 To use the score file
19474 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19475 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19479 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19480 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19481 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19484 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19486 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19487 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19488 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19489 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19491 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19492 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19494 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19495 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19496 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19497 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19498 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19499 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19501 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19507 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19509 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19511 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19513 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19514 lowered out of existence.
19516 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19517 articles completely.
19520 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19521 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19522 old articles for a long time.
19525 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19526 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19527 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19528 holding our breath yet?
19532 @section Kill Files
19535 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19536 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19537 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19539 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19540 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19541 files into score files.
19543 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19544 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19545 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19546 that isn't a very good idea.
19548 Normal kill files look like this:
19551 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19552 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19556 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19557 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19559 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19560 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19563 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
19568 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19569 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19570 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19573 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19574 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19575 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19578 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19583 @kindex M-k (Group)
19584 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19585 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19588 @kindex M-K (Group)
19589 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19590 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19593 Kill file variables:
19596 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19597 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19598 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19599 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19600 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19601 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19602 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19604 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19605 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19606 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19607 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19610 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19611 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19612 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19613 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19614 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19615 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19616 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19617 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19618 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19620 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19621 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19622 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19627 @node Converting Kill Files
19628 @section Converting Kill Files
19630 @cindex converting kill files
19632 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19633 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19634 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19637 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19638 You can fetch it from
19639 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19641 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19642 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19643 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19651 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
19652 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19653 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19654 news articles generated every day.
19656 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19657 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19658 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19659 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19660 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19661 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19662 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19663 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19666 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19667 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19670 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19671 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19672 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19673 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19677 @node Using GroupLens
19678 @subsection Using GroupLens
19680 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19682 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19683 better bit in town at the moment.
19685 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19689 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19690 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19691 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19692 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19694 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19695 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19696 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19697 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19699 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19700 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19701 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19705 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19706 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19707 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19708 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19709 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19710 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19713 @node Rating Articles
19714 @subsection Rating Articles
19716 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19717 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19718 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19719 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19722 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19727 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19728 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19729 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19732 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19733 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19734 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19735 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19736 threads in rec.humor.
19740 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19741 the score of the article you're reading.
19746 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19747 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19748 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19751 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19752 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19753 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19757 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19758 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19761 @node Displaying Predictions
19762 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19764 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19765 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19766 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19767 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19768 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19770 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19771 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19772 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19773 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19774 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19775 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19776 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19777 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19778 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19779 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19780 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19781 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19782 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19784 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19785 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19786 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19787 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19789 The following are valid values for that variable.
19792 @item prediction-spot
19793 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19796 @item confidence-interval
19797 A numeric confidence interval.
19799 @item prediction-bar
19800 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19802 @item confidence-bar
19803 Numerical confidence.
19805 @item confidence-spot
19806 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19808 @item prediction-num
19809 Plain-old numeric value.
19811 @item confidence-plus-minus
19812 Prediction +/- confidence.
19817 @node GroupLens Variables
19818 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19822 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19823 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19824 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19825 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19828 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19829 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19832 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19833 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19835 @item grouplens-score-offset
19836 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19837 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19840 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19841 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19842 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19847 @node Advanced Scoring
19848 @section Advanced Scoring
19850 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19851 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19852 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19853 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19854 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19856 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19860 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19861 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19862 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19866 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19867 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19869 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19870 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19871 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19872 non-@code{nil} value.
19874 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19875 operator, and various match operators.
19882 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19883 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19884 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19889 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19890 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19891 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19896 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19897 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19901 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19902 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19903 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19904 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19905 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19906 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19907 the ancestry you want to go.
19909 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19910 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19911 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19912 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19913 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19916 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19917 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19919 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19920 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19923 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19924 when he's talking about Gnus:
19928 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19929 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19935 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19939 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19946 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19947 really don't want to read what he's written:
19951 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19952 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19956 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19957 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19958 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19965 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19966 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19967 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19968 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19972 The possibilities are endless.
19975 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19976 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19978 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19979 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19980 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19981 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19982 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19983 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19984 @samp{subject}) first.
19986 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19987 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19998 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19999 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20005 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20012 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20013 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20018 @section Score Decays
20019 @cindex score decays
20022 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20023 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20024 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20025 use them in any sensible way.
20027 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20028 @findex gnus-decay-score
20029 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20030 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20031 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20032 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20033 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20034 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20035 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20036 definition of that function:
20039 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20041 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20042 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20045 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
20047 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20049 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20052 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20053 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20054 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20055 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20059 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20062 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20065 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20069 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20070 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20071 the new score, which should be an integer.
20073 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20074 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20079 @include message.texi
20080 @chapter Emacs MIME
20081 @include emacs-mime.texi
20083 @include sieve.texi
20085 @c @include pgg.texi
20093 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20094 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20095 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20096 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20097 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20098 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20099 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20100 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20101 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20102 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20103 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20104 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20105 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20106 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20107 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20108 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20109 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20110 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20111 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20115 @node Process/Prefix
20116 @section Process/Prefix
20117 @cindex process/prefix convention
20119 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20120 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20122 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20123 command to be performed on.
20127 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20128 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20129 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20130 with the current one.
20132 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20133 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20134 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20136 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20137 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20140 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20141 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20143 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20146 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20147 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20148 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20149 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20151 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20152 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20153 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20154 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20155 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20156 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20157 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20158 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20160 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20161 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20162 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20163 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20164 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20168 @section Interactive
20169 @cindex interaction
20173 @item gnus-novice-user
20174 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20175 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20176 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20177 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20178 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20181 @item gnus-expert-user
20182 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20183 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20184 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20185 matter how strange.
20187 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20188 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20189 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20190 is @code{t} by default.
20192 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20193 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20194 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20199 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20200 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20201 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20203 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20204 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20205 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20206 rule of 900 to the current article.
20208 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20209 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20210 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20211 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20212 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20213 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20214 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20216 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20217 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20218 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20219 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20220 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20221 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20222 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20223 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20224 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20226 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20227 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20228 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20230 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20234 @node Formatting Variables
20235 @section Formatting Variables
20236 @cindex formatting variables
20238 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20239 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20240 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20241 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20242 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20245 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20246 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20247 lots of percentages everywhere.
20250 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20251 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20252 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20253 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20254 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20255 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20256 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20257 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20260 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20261 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20262 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20263 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20264 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20265 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20266 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20267 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20269 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20270 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20272 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20273 @findex gnus-update-format
20274 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20275 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20276 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20277 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20281 @node Formatting Basics
20282 @subsection Formatting Basics
20284 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20285 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20286 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20288 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20289 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20290 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20291 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20292 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20295 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20296 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20297 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20298 less than 4 characters wide.
20300 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20301 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20304 @node Mode Line Formatting
20305 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20307 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20308 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20309 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20310 with the following two differences:
20315 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20318 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20319 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20320 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20321 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20322 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20323 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20324 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20329 @node Advanced Formatting
20330 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20332 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20333 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20334 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20335 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20337 These are the valid modifiers:
20342 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20346 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20351 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20354 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20359 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20362 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20365 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20368 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20374 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20379 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20380 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20381 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20382 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20383 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20384 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20385 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20387 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20388 last operation, padding.
20390 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20391 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20392 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20393 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20394 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20395 the look of your lines.
20396 @xref{Compilation}.
20399 @node User-Defined Specs
20400 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20402 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20403 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20404 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20405 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20406 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20407 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20408 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20409 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20410 should protect against that.
20412 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20413 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20415 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20416 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20417 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20418 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20422 @node Formatting Fonts
20423 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20425 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20426 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20427 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20428 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20431 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20432 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20433 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20434 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20435 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20436 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20438 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20439 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20440 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20441 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20442 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20443 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20444 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20445 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20446 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20447 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20448 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20451 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20454 ;; Create three face types.
20455 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20456 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20458 ;; We want the article count to be in
20459 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
20460 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
20461 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20463 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20464 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20466 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
20467 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20468 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20471 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20472 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20474 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20475 mode-line variables.
20477 @node Positioning Point
20478 @subsection Positioning Point
20480 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20481 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20482 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20484 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20486 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20487 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20488 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20490 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20491 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20492 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20497 @subsection Tabulation
20499 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20500 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20501 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20502 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20504 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
20505 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20507 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20508 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20509 This is the soft tabulator.
20511 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20512 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20513 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20516 @node Wide Characters
20517 @subsection Wide Characters
20519 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20520 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20521 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20523 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20524 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20525 these countries, that's not true.
20527 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20528 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20529 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20530 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20534 @node Window Layout
20535 @section Window Layout
20536 @cindex window layout
20538 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20540 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20541 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20542 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20543 @code{t} by default.
20545 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20546 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20548 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20549 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20550 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20553 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20554 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20555 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20559 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20560 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20561 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20562 possible names is listed below.
20564 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20565 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20568 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20572 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20573 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20574 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20575 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20576 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20577 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20578 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20579 size spec per split.
20581 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20582 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20583 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20584 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20585 present) gets focus.
20587 Here's a more complicated example:
20590 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20591 (summary 0.25 point)
20592 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20596 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20597 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20598 occupy, not a percentage.
20600 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20601 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20602 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20603 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20604 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20607 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20610 (article (horizontal 1.0
20615 (summary 0.25 point)
20620 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20621 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20623 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20624 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20625 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20626 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20627 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20629 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20630 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20631 lines from the splits.
20633 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20637 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20638 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20639 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20640 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20641 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20642 size = number | frame-params
20643 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20646 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20647 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20648 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20649 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20651 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20652 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20653 @cindex window height
20654 @cindex window width
20655 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20656 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20657 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20658 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20659 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20660 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20662 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20663 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20664 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20665 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20667 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20668 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20669 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20670 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20671 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20672 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20673 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20674 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20675 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20676 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20677 configuration list.
20680 (gnus-configure-frame
20684 (article 0.3 point))
20692 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20693 @code{frame} split:
20696 (gnus-configure-frame
20699 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20701 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20702 (user-position . t)
20703 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20708 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20709 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20710 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20711 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20712 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20713 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20714 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20715 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20717 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20718 be found in its default value.
20720 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20721 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20722 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20726 (message (horizontal 1.0
20727 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20729 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20734 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20735 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20736 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20741 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20742 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20743 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20744 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20745 (name . "Message"))
20746 (message 1.0 point))))
20749 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20750 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20751 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20752 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20753 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20756 (gnus-add-configuration
20757 '(article (vertical 1.0
20759 (summary .25 point)
20763 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20764 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20765 Gnus has been loaded.
20767 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20768 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20769 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20770 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20771 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20773 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20774 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20775 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20778 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20782 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20783 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20798 (gnus-add-configuration
20801 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20803 (summary 0.16 point)
20806 (gnus-add-configuration
20809 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20810 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20816 @node Faces and Fonts
20817 @section Faces and Fonts
20822 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20823 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20824 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20829 @section Compilation
20830 @cindex compilation
20831 @cindex byte-compilation
20833 @findex gnus-compile
20835 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20836 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20837 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20838 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20839 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20840 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20841 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20842 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20845 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20846 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20847 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20848 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20849 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20852 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20853 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20854 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20855 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20856 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20861 @section Mode Lines
20864 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20865 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20866 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20867 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20868 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20869 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20870 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20873 @cindex display-time
20875 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20876 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20877 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20878 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20879 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20880 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20881 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20882 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20885 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20887 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20888 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20890 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20891 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20892 (length display-time-string)))))
20895 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20896 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20897 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20898 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20899 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20902 @node Highlighting and Menus
20903 @section Highlighting and Menus
20905 @cindex highlighting
20908 @vindex gnus-visual
20909 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20910 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20911 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20914 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20915 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20918 @item group-highlight
20919 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20920 @item summary-highlight
20921 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20922 @item article-highlight
20923 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20925 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20927 Create menus in the group buffer.
20929 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20931 Create menus in the article buffer.
20933 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20935 Create menus in the server buffer.
20937 Create menus in the score buffers.
20939 Create menus in all buffers.
20942 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20943 buffers, you could say something like:
20946 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20949 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20952 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20955 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20956 in all Gnus buffers.
20958 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20961 @item gnus-mouse-face
20962 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20963 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20964 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20968 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20972 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20973 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20974 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20976 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20977 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20978 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20980 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20981 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20982 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20984 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20985 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20986 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20988 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20989 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20990 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20992 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20993 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20994 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21005 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21006 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21007 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21008 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21009 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21013 @vindex gnus-carpal
21014 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21015 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21016 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21021 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21022 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21023 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21025 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21026 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21027 Face used on buttons.
21029 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21030 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21031 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21033 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21034 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21035 Buttons in the group buffer.
21037 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21038 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21039 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21041 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21042 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21043 Buttons in the server buffer.
21045 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21046 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21047 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21050 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21051 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21052 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21060 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21061 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21062 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21063 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21064 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21066 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21067 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21068 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21070 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21071 been idle for thirty minutes:
21074 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21077 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
21081 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21084 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
21085 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21086 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21088 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21089 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21090 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21091 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21093 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21094 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21095 @var{idle} minutes.
21097 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21098 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21101 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21102 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21103 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21105 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21106 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21107 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21108 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21110 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21111 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21113 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21115 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21118 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21119 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21120 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21121 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21122 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21123 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21124 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21125 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21126 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21127 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21128 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21130 @findex gnus-demon-init
21131 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21132 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21133 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21134 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21135 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21137 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21138 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21139 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21148 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21149 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21151 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21152 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21153 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21154 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21157 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21158 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21159 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21160 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21162 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21163 this will make spam disappear.
21165 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21168 @item gnus-use-nocem
21169 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21170 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21173 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21174 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21175 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21176 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21177 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
21179 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21180 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21181 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21182 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
21183 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
21184 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21186 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
21187 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21189 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21190 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21191 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21192 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21193 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21194 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21195 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21196 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21197 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21198 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21200 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21201 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21204 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21207 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21208 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21211 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21214 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21217 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21218 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21220 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21221 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21222 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21223 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21225 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21226 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21229 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21231 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21239 This might be dangerous, though.
21241 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21242 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21243 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
21244 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21246 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21247 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21248 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21249 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21250 might then see old spam.
21252 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21253 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21254 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21255 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21256 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21259 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21260 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21261 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21262 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21266 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21267 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21268 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21269 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21276 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21277 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21278 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21280 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21281 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21282 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21283 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21284 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21285 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21286 @code{undo} function.
21288 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21289 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21290 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21291 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21292 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21293 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21294 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21295 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21296 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21297 never be totally undoable.
21299 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21300 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21302 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21303 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21304 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21305 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21309 @node Predicate Specifiers
21310 @section Predicate Specifiers
21311 @cindex predicate specifiers
21313 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21314 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21315 to type all that much.
21317 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21322 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21323 gnus-article-unread-p)
21326 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21327 functions all take one parameter.
21329 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21330 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21331 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21332 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21337 @section Moderation
21340 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21341 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21342 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21345 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21349 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21352 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21354 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21359 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21360 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21361 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21364 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21365 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21368 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21369 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21373 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21376 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21377 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21381 @node Image Enhancements
21382 @section Image Enhancements
21384 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
21385 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
21388 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21389 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21390 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21391 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21404 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21405 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
21406 over your shoulder as you read news.
21408 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21417 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21418 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21419 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21420 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21421 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21422 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21423 @code{GIF} formats.
21426 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21427 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21428 point your Web browser at
21429 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21431 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21432 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21434 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21435 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21438 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21442 @item gnus-picon-databases
21443 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21444 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21445 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21446 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21447 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21449 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21450 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21451 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21452 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21454 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21455 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21456 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21457 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21459 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21460 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21461 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21462 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21463 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21465 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21466 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21467 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21468 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
21473 @subsection Smileys
21478 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21483 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21484 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21486 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21487 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21490 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21493 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21494 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21495 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21496 text and maps that to file names.
21498 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21499 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21500 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21501 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21502 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21505 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21510 @item smiley-data-directory
21511 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21512 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21514 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21515 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21516 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21525 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21526 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21527 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21531 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21532 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
21533 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21534 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21542 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21543 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21544 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21545 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21547 The variable that controls this is the
21548 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21549 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21550 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21551 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21552 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21554 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21555 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21556 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21557 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21560 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21561 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21562 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21563 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21564 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21565 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21566 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21567 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21569 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21572 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21573 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21575 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21576 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21577 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21578 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21579 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21580 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21581 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21582 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21583 header data as a string.
21585 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21586 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21587 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21588 randomly generated data.
21590 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21591 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21592 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21593 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21594 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21596 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21597 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21600 (setq message-required-news-headers
21601 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21602 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21605 Using the last function would be something like this:
21608 (setq message-required-news-headers
21609 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21610 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21611 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21612 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21617 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21620 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21621 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21622 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21623 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21624 unusual directory structure.
21626 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21627 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21628 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21629 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21631 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21632 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21633 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21634 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21635 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21636 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21638 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21639 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21640 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21645 @subsubsection Toolbar
21649 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21650 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21651 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21652 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21653 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21655 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21656 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21657 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21659 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21660 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21661 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21663 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21664 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21665 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21676 @node Fuzzy Matching
21677 @section Fuzzy Matching
21678 @cindex fuzzy matching
21680 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21681 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21683 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21684 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21685 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21687 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21688 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21689 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21690 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21691 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21694 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21695 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21699 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21701 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21702 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21703 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21704 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21705 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21706 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21707 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21708 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21711 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21712 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21713 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21714 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21715 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21716 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21718 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21721 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21722 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21723 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21724 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21725 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21726 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21729 @node The problem of spam
21730 @subsection The problem of spam
21732 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21733 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21735 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21737 First, some background on spam.
21739 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21740 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21741 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21742 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21743 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21744 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21745 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21746 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21748 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21749 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21750 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21751 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21752 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21753 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21754 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21755 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21756 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21759 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21760 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21761 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21762 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21763 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21764 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21765 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21766 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21767 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21768 mail can be useful.
21770 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21771 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21772 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21773 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21774 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21775 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21776 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21777 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21778 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21780 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21781 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21782 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21783 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21784 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21785 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21786 because of the incident.
21788 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21789 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21790 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21791 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21792 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21793 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21794 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21795 to store the database of spam analyses.
21797 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21798 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21802 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21804 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21805 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21807 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21808 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21809 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21810 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21811 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21812 part of the mail address.)
21815 (setq message-default-news-headers
21816 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21819 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21820 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21825 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21826 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21827 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21833 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21834 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21835 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21836 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21838 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21839 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21840 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21841 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21842 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21843 your fancy split rule in this way:
21848 (to "larsi" "misc")
21852 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21853 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21854 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21855 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21856 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21858 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21859 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21860 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21861 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21862 cosmic balance somewhat.
21864 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21865 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21866 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21867 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21872 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21873 @cindex SpamAssassin
21874 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21877 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21878 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21879 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21880 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21881 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21882 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21883 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21885 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21886 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21887 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21888 Specifiers}) follows.
21892 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21895 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21898 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21899 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21900 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21903 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21907 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21910 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21911 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21915 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21916 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21917 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21918 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21921 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21923 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21925 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21926 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21928 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21930 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21931 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21935 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21936 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21937 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21940 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21941 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21943 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21944 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21945 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21949 @subsection Hashcash
21952 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21953 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21954 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21955 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21956 in smaller communities.
21958 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21959 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21960 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21961 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21962 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21963 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21964 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21965 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21966 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21967 one of them separately.
21970 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21971 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21972 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21973 header. For more details, and for the external application
21974 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21975 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21976 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21978 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21982 (require 'hashcash)
21983 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21986 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21987 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21988 development contrib directory.
21990 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21994 @item hashcash-default-payment
21995 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21996 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21997 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21998 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22000 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22001 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22002 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22003 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22004 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22005 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22006 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22007 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22008 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22012 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22016 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22017 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22018 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22019 a useful contribution, however.
22021 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22022 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22023 @cindex spam filtering
22026 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22027 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
22028 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22029 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
22032 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
22033 the following keyboard commands:
22043 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22044 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22046 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22047 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22048 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22049 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22055 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22056 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22058 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22064 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22065 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22068 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22069 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22070 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22071 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22072 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22073 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22074 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22075 will be detected later.
22077 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22078 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22079 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22080 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22081 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22082 by customizing the corresponding variable
22083 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22084 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22085 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22086 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22087 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22088 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22089 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22092 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22093 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
22094 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
22095 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
22096 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
22097 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
22098 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
22099 will study them as spam samples.
22101 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22102 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
22103 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22104 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22105 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22106 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22107 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22108 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
22110 @defvar spam-ham-marks
22111 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
22112 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
22113 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22116 @defvar spam-spam-marks
22117 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
22118 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
22121 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22122 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22123 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22124 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22125 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22126 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22129 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22130 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22131 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22132 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22133 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22134 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22135 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22136 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22137 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
22138 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
22139 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
22141 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22142 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22144 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22145 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22146 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22147 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22148 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22149 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22150 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
22151 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22152 the spam articles are only expired.
22154 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22155 must add the following to your fancy split list
22156 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22162 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22163 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22164 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22166 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22167 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22168 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22169 but you can customize it.
22171 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22173 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22174 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22175 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
22176 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
22177 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
22178 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
22179 because it will slow IMAP down.
22181 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22183 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22184 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22185 longer spam or ham.}
22187 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22188 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22191 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22192 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22195 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22196 * BBDB Whitelists::
22198 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22200 * ifile spam filtering::
22201 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22202 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22205 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22206 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22207 @cindex spam filtering
22208 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22209 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22212 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22214 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22215 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22216 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22217 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22222 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22224 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22225 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22226 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22227 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22228 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22232 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22234 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22235 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22236 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22240 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22242 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22243 customizing the group parameters or the
22244 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22245 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22246 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22250 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22252 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22253 customizing the group parameters or the
22254 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22255 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22256 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22257 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22258 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22262 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22263 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22264 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22265 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22266 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22268 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22269 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22270 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22271 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22273 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22274 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22275 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22276 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22277 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22278 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22280 @node BBDB Whitelists
22281 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22282 @cindex spam filtering
22283 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22284 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22287 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22289 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22290 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22291 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22292 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22293 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22294 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22295 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22299 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22301 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22302 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22303 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22304 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22305 classified as spammers.
22309 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22311 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22312 customizing the group parameters or the
22313 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22314 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22315 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22316 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22317 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22322 @subsubsection Blackholes
22323 @cindex spam filtering
22324 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22327 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22329 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22330 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22331 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22332 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22333 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22334 contains outdated servers.
22336 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22337 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22338 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
22339 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
22340 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
22341 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22345 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22347 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22351 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22353 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22354 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
22358 @defvar spam-use-dig
22360 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22361 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22365 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22366 ham processor for blackholes.
22368 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22369 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22370 @cindex spam filtering
22371 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22374 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22376 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22377 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22378 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22379 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22380 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22381 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22385 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22387 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22388 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22392 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22394 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22395 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22399 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22400 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22403 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22404 @cindex spam filtering
22405 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22408 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22410 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22413 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22414 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22415 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22416 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22417 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22418 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22420 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
22421 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
22424 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22425 processing will be turned off.
22427 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22431 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22433 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22434 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22435 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22436 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22437 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22438 installation documents for details.
22440 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22444 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22445 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22446 customizing the group parameters or the
22447 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22448 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22449 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22452 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22453 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22454 customizing the group parameters or the
22455 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22456 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22457 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22458 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22459 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22462 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22464 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22465 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22466 database directory.
22470 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
22471 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22472 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22473 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22474 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22475 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22477 @node ifile spam filtering
22478 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22479 @cindex spam filtering
22480 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22483 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22485 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
22486 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22490 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22492 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22493 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22494 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22498 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22500 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22501 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22502 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22505 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22507 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22508 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22512 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22513 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22514 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22515 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22518 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22519 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22520 @cindex spam filtering
22521 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22525 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22527 @defvar spam-use-stat
22529 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22530 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22534 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22535 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22536 customizing the group parameters or the
22537 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22538 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22539 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22542 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22543 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22544 customizing the group parameters or the
22545 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22546 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22547 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22548 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22549 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22552 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
22553 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
22554 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
22555 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
22558 @node Extending the spam elisp package
22559 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
22560 @cindex spam filtering
22561 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
22562 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
22564 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
22565 incoming mail, provide the following:
22573 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
22574 "True if blackbox should be used.")
22579 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
22581 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
22586 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
22587 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
22588 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
22590 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
22591 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
22592 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
22596 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
22603 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
22604 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22607 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22608 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22609 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22611 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22612 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22613 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22621 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22622 (spam-generic-register-routine
22623 ;; the spam function
22625 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22626 (when (stringp from)
22627 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22628 ;; the ham function
22631 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22632 (spam-generic-register-routine
22633 ;; the spam function
22635 ;; the ham function
22637 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22638 (when (stringp from)
22639 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22642 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22643 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22644 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22645 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22646 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22647 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22652 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22653 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22654 @cindex Paul Graham
22655 @cindex Graham, Paul
22656 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22657 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22658 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22660 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22661 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22662 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22663 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22664 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22665 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22666 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22667 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22668 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22671 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22672 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22673 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22674 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22675 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22676 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22677 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22678 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22680 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22681 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22682 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22683 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22684 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22687 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22688 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22689 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22692 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22693 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22695 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22696 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22697 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22698 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22699 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22701 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22702 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22703 per mail. Use the following:
22705 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22706 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22707 is treated as one spam mail.
22710 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22711 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22712 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22715 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22716 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22717 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22718 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22719 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22720 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22722 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22723 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22724 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22725 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22726 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22729 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22730 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22731 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22732 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22735 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22736 reset the dictionary.
22738 @defun spam-stat-reset
22739 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22742 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22743 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22744 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22745 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22746 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22747 only non-spam mails.
22749 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22750 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22751 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22754 @defun spam-stat-save
22755 Save the dictionary.
22758 @defvar spam-stat-file
22759 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22760 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22763 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22764 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22766 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22767 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22770 (require 'spam-stat)
22774 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22777 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22778 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22779 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22780 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22782 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22783 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22784 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22785 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22788 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22789 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22793 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22794 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22797 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22798 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22799 expression are considered potential spam.
22802 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22803 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22804 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22808 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22809 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22810 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22811 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22812 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22815 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22816 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22817 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22821 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22822 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22823 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22824 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22825 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22829 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22830 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22831 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22832 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22837 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22838 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22840 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22842 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22843 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22844 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22847 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22848 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22849 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22852 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22853 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22854 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22855 already been processed as non-spam.
22858 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22859 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22860 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22861 been processed as spam.
22864 @defun spam-stat-save
22865 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22866 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22869 @defun spam-stat-load
22870 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22871 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22874 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22875 Return the spam score for a word.
22878 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22879 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22882 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22883 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22884 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22887 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22888 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22891 (require 'spam-stat)
22895 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22898 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22899 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22900 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22901 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22902 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22903 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22904 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22905 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22906 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22907 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22908 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22909 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22910 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22911 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22914 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22917 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22918 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22919 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22920 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22921 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22922 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22925 @node Various Various
22926 @section Various Various
22932 @item gnus-home-directory
22933 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22934 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22935 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22937 @item gnus-directory
22938 @vindex gnus-directory
22939 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22940 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22941 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22943 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22944 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22945 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22946 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22948 @item gnus-default-directory
22949 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22950 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22951 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22952 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22953 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22954 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22955 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22958 @vindex gnus-verbose
22959 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22960 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22961 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22962 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22963 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22965 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22966 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22967 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22968 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22970 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22971 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22972 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22973 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22974 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22975 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22976 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22977 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22978 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22979 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22981 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22982 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22983 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22984 read when doing the operation described above.
22986 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22987 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22989 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22990 @cindex characters in file names
22991 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22992 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22993 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22996 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23000 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23001 Windows (phooey) systems.
23003 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23004 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23005 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23006 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23007 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23009 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23010 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23011 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23012 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23013 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23015 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23016 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23017 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23019 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23020 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23022 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23023 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23024 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23025 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23028 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23036 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23037 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23039 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23041 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23047 Not because of victories @*
23050 but for the common sunshine,@*
23052 the largess of the spring.
23056 but for the day's work done@*
23057 as well as I was able;@*
23058 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23059 but at the common table.@*
23064 @chapter Appendices
23067 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23068 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23069 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23070 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23071 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23072 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23073 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23074 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23075 * Frequently Asked Questions::
23082 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
23084 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23085 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23086 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
23087 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
23088 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
23089 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
23096 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23097 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23099 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23100 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23101 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23102 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23103 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23105 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23106 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23107 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23108 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23109 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23110 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23112 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23113 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23114 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23115 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23118 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23119 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23120 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23121 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23122 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23123 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23124 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23125 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23126 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23130 @node Gnus Versions
23131 @subsection Gnus Versions
23133 @cindex September Gnus
23135 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23136 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23139 @cindex Gnus versions
23141 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23142 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23143 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23145 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23146 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23148 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23149 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23151 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23152 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23154 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23155 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23158 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23160 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23161 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23162 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23163 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23164 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23165 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23168 @node Other Gnus Versions
23169 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23172 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23173 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23174 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
23175 @sc{mime} capabilities.
23177 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23178 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23179 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23180 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23187 What's the point of Gnus?
23189 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23190 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23191 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23192 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23193 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23194 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23195 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23196 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23197 keep track of millions of people who post?
23199 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23200 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23201 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23202 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23203 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23204 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23205 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23206 every one of you to explore and invent.
23208 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23209 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23212 @node Compatibility
23213 @subsection Compatibility
23215 @cindex compatibility
23216 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23217 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23218 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23223 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23227 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23230 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23233 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23234 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23235 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23236 important variables have their values copied into their global
23237 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23238 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23240 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23241 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23242 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23243 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23244 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23248 @cindex highlighting
23249 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23250 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23251 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23252 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23253 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23254 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23257 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23258 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23259 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23260 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23262 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23263 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23264 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23265 to stop doing it the old way.
23267 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23269 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23271 @cindex reporting bugs
23273 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23274 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23275 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23277 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23278 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23279 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23280 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23285 @subsection Conformity
23287 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23288 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23296 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23300 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23302 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23303 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23304 We do have some breaches to this one.
23310 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23311 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23312 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23313 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23314 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23319 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23320 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23321 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23322 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23324 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23326 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
23328 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23329 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23331 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23334 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
23335 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
23336 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
23337 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
23338 decoding (verification and decryption).
23340 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23341 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23342 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23343 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23345 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23346 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
23348 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23349 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
23350 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
23351 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
23352 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
23353 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
23354 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
23358 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23359 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23364 @subsection Emacsen
23370 Gnus should work on :
23378 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23382 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23383 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23384 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23385 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23386 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23388 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23389 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23390 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23394 @node Gnus Development
23395 @subsection Gnus Development
23397 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23398 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23399 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23400 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23401 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23402 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23403 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23404 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23406 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23407 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23408 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23409 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23410 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23413 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23414 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23415 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23416 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23417 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23419 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23420 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23421 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23422 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23423 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23424 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23425 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23426 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23427 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23428 can't be assumed to do so.
23433 @subsection Contributors
23434 @cindex contributors
23436 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23437 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23438 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23439 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23440 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23441 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23442 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23443 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23444 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23445 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23447 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23453 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23456 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23457 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
23458 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23459 functionality and stuff.
23462 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23463 well as numerous other things).
23466 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23469 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23472 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
23475 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23478 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23479 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23482 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23485 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23486 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23489 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23492 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23495 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23498 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
23501 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
23502 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
23505 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
23508 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
23511 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
23514 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
23518 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
23521 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
23524 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
23527 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
23528 well as autoconf support.
23532 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
23533 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
23535 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
23550 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
23552 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
23556 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
23566 Alexei V. Barantsev,
23581 Massimo Campostrini,
23586 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
23587 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
23591 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
23594 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
23600 Michael Welsh Duggan,
23605 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
23609 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23617 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23619 Michelangelo Grigni,
23623 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23625 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
23627 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23634 François Felix Ingrand,
23635 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
23636 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23638 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23648 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23649 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23651 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23652 Thor Kristoffersen,
23655 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23673 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23674 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23681 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23686 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23690 John McClary Prevost,
23696 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23701 Christian von Roques,
23704 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23711 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23713 Randal L. Schwartz,
23727 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23732 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23752 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23753 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23754 (550kB and counting).
23756 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23759 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23760 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23764 @subsection New Features
23765 @cindex new features
23768 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23769 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23770 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23771 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23772 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23775 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23776 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23777 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23780 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23782 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23787 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23788 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23791 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23792 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23795 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23798 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23799 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23800 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23803 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23804 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23805 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23806 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23809 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23810 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23813 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23814 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23815 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23818 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23819 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23822 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23823 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23824 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23827 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23828 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23829 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23832 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
23833 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
23836 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23837 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23840 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23841 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23844 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23845 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23848 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23849 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23852 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23853 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23856 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23859 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23860 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23863 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23864 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23867 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23868 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23871 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23874 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23875 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23878 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23882 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23886 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23887 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23890 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23896 @node September Gnus
23897 @subsubsection September Gnus
23901 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23905 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23910 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23911 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23915 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23916 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23920 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23924 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23925 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23928 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23932 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23935 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23938 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23941 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23945 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23946 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23949 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23953 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23957 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23961 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23965 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23968 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23969 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23972 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23976 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23977 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23980 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23983 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23984 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23985 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23988 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23992 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23995 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23999 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24000 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24003 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24004 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24007 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24008 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24011 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24012 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24013 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24016 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24017 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24020 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24023 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24026 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24029 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24032 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24033 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24036 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24040 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24043 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24048 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24051 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24055 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24058 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24062 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24065 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24068 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24069 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24072 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24073 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24077 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24078 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24081 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24085 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24086 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24089 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24092 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24096 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24100 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24101 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24104 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24108 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24109 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24112 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24113 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24116 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24120 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24123 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24126 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24132 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24134 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24138 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24145 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24148 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24149 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24152 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24153 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24157 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24158 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24161 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24164 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24165 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24168 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24172 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24173 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24177 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24178 Server Internals}).
24181 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24185 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24188 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24189 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24192 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24193 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24194 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24197 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24198 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24201 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24202 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24205 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24209 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24210 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24213 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24214 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24217 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24221 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24224 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24228 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24229 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24232 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24233 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24236 A new command for reading collections of documents
24237 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24238 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24241 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24245 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
24246 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24249 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24250 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24251 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24254 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24255 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24259 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24263 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24267 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24272 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24276 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24280 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24281 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24284 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24290 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24292 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24297 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24298 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
24299 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
24302 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24303 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24304 group, which is created automatically.
24307 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24311 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24314 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24315 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24318 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24322 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24325 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24326 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24329 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24332 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section ``Symbolic
24333 Prefixes'' in the Gnus manual for details.
24336 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24337 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24340 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24341 control over simplification.
24344 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24347 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24351 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24354 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24357 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24358 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24359 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24362 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24363 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24366 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24370 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24371 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24374 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24375 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
24378 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24382 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24385 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24388 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24389 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24392 A new function for citing in Message has been
24393 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24396 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24399 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24403 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24404 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24407 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24408 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24411 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24414 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24418 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24419 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24421 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24426 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24427 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24429 If you used procmail like in
24432 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24433 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24434 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24435 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24438 this now has changed to
24442 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24446 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
24447 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
24450 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24451 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24454 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24455 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24458 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24459 called to position point.
24462 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24463 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
24466 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24467 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24470 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24471 subtly different manner.
24474 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24475 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24476 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24479 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24487 @section The Manual
24491 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
24492 either @code{texi2dvi}
24494 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
24495 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
24497 to get what you hold in your hands now.
24499 The following conventions have been used:
24504 This is a @samp{string}
24507 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
24510 This is a @file{file}
24513 This is a @code{symbol}
24517 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
24521 (setq flargnoze "yes")
24524 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
24527 (setq flumphel 'yes)
24530 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
24531 ever get them confused.
24535 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
24536 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
24537 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
24538 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
24539 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
24540 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
24541 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
24547 @node On Writing Manuals
24548 @section On Writing Manuals
24550 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
24551 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
24552 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
24553 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
24554 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
24555 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
24558 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
24559 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
24560 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
24563 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
24564 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
24569 @section Terminology
24571 @cindex terminology
24576 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
24577 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
24578 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
24579 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
24580 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
24584 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
24585 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
24586 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
24587 not posting, and replying is not following up.
24591 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
24595 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
24600 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
24601 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
24602 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
24603 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
24604 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
24605 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
24606 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
24607 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
24608 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
24610 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
24611 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
24612 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
24613 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
24614 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24617 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24618 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24619 access the articles.
24621 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24622 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24623 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24628 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24629 default, way of getting news.
24633 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24634 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24639 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24640 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24644 A message that has been posted as news.
24647 @cindex mail message
24648 A message that has been mailed.
24652 A mail message or news article
24656 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24661 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24666 A line from the head of an article.
24670 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24671 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24675 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24676 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24677 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24678 normal @sc{head} format.
24682 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24683 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24684 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24685 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24686 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24687 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24689 @item killed groups
24690 @cindex killed groups
24691 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24692 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24694 @item zombie groups
24695 @cindex zombie groups
24696 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24699 @cindex active file
24700 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24701 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24702 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24705 @cindex bogus groups
24706 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24707 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24708 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24711 @cindex activating groups
24712 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24713 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24714 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24718 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24720 @item select method
24721 @cindex select method
24722 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24725 @item virtual server
24726 @cindex virtual server
24727 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24728 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24729 whole is a virtual server.
24733 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24734 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24737 @item ephemeral groups
24738 @cindex ephemeral groups
24739 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24740 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24741 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24744 @cindex solid groups
24745 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24746 group buffer are solid groups.
24748 @item sparse articles
24749 @cindex sparse articles
24750 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24751 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24755 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24756 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24760 @cindex thread root
24761 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24762 articles in the thread.
24766 An article that has responses.
24770 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24774 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24775 specified by RFC 1153.
24781 @node Customization
24782 @section Customization
24783 @cindex general customization
24785 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24786 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24787 for some quite common situations.
24790 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24791 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24792 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24793 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24797 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24798 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24800 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24801 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24802 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24806 @item gnus-read-active-file
24807 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24808 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24809 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24810 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24811 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24813 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24814 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24815 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24816 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24820 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24821 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24823 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24824 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24825 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24829 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24830 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24831 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24832 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24833 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24835 @item gnus-visible-headers
24836 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24837 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24838 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24839 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24841 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24843 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24844 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24845 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24848 @item gnus-use-full-window
24849 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24850 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24851 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24852 want to read them anyway.
24854 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24855 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24859 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24860 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24861 lines, which might save some time.
24865 @node Little Disk Space
24866 @subsection Little Disk Space
24869 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24870 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24874 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24875 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24876 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24877 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24880 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24881 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24882 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24883 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24886 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24887 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24888 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24889 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24890 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24896 @subsection Slow Machine
24897 @cindex slow machine
24899 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24900 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24902 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24903 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24905 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24906 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24907 summary buffer faster.
24911 @node Troubleshooting
24912 @section Troubleshooting
24913 @cindex troubleshooting
24915 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24923 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24926 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24927 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24931 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24932 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24933 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24934 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24935 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24938 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24942 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24943 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24944 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24945 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24946 something like that.
24949 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24952 @cindex reporting bugs
24954 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24956 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24957 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24958 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24959 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24961 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24962 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24963 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24964 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24967 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24968 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24969 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24970 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24971 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24972 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24974 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24975 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24976 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24980 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24981 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24984 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24985 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24986 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24987 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24988 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24989 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24990 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24991 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24992 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24993 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24994 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24995 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24996 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24997 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
25002 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
25003 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
25004 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
25005 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
25006 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
25007 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
25008 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
25009 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
25010 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
25011 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET message}. Then perform
25012 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
25013 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
25014 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
25015 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
25016 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
25017 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
25018 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
25019 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
25021 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
25022 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
25024 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
25025 @cindex ding mailing list
25026 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@email{ding@@gnus.org}.
25027 Write to @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
25031 @node Gnus Reference Guide
25032 @section Gnus Reference Guide
25034 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
25035 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
25036 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
25037 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
25040 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
25041 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
25042 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
25043 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
25044 and general methods of operation.
25047 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
25048 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
25049 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
25050 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
25051 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
25052 * Group Info:: The group info format.
25053 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
25054 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
25055 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
25059 @node Gnus Utility Functions
25060 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
25061 @cindex Gnus utility functions
25062 @cindex utility functions
25064 @cindex internal variables
25066 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
25067 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
25068 Below is a list of the most common ones.
25072 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
25073 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
25074 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
25076 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
25077 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
25078 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
25080 @item gnus-group-real-name
25081 @findex gnus-group-real-name
25082 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
25085 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
25086 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
25087 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
25088 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
25090 @item gnus-get-info
25091 @findex gnus-get-info
25092 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
25094 @item gnus-group-unread
25095 @findex gnus-group-unread
25096 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
25100 @findex gnus-active
25101 The active entry for @var{group}.
25103 @item gnus-set-active
25104 @findex gnus-set-active
25105 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
25107 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
25108 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
25109 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
25112 @item gnus-continuum-version
25113 @findex gnus-continuum-version
25114 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
25115 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
25118 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
25119 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
25120 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
25122 @item gnus-news-group-p
25123 @findex gnus-news-group-p
25124 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
25126 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
25127 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
25128 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
25130 @item gnus-server-to-method
25131 @findex gnus-server-to-method
25132 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
25134 @item gnus-server-equal
25135 @findex gnus-server-equal
25136 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
25138 @item gnus-group-native-p
25139 @findex gnus-group-native-p
25140 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
25142 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
25143 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
25144 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
25146 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
25147 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
25148 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
25150 @item group-group-find-parameter
25151 @findex group-group-find-parameter
25152 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
25153 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
25155 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
25156 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
25157 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
25159 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
25160 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
25161 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
25163 @item gnus-check-backend-function
25164 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
25165 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
25166 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
25169 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
25173 @item gnus-read-method
25174 @findex gnus-read-method
25175 Prompts the user for a select method.
25180 @node Back End Interface
25181 @subsection Back End Interface
25183 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
25184 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
25185 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
25186 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
25187 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
25188 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
25190 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
25191 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
25192 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
25193 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
25194 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
25195 been opened, the function should fail.
25197 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
25198 name. Take this example:
25202 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
25203 (nntp-port-number 4324))
25206 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
25207 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
25209 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
25210 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
25211 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
25213 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
25214 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
25215 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
25217 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
25218 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
25219 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
25220 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
25221 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
25222 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
25225 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
25226 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
25227 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
25228 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
25231 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
25232 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
25233 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
25234 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
25235 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
25236 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
25237 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
25238 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
25239 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
25240 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
25242 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
25243 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
25244 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
25245 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
25246 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
25247 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
25248 of numbers as long as possible.
25250 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
25251 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
25252 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
25254 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
25257 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
25260 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
25261 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
25262 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
25263 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
25264 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
25265 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
25269 @node Required Back End Functions
25270 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
25274 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
25276 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
25277 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
25278 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
25279 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
25281 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
25282 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
25283 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
25284 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
25286 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
25287 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
25288 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
25289 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
25290 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
25291 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
25292 number, do maximum fetches.
25294 Here's an example HEAD:
25297 221 1056 Article retrieved.
25298 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
25299 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
25300 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
25301 Subject: Re: Something very droll
25302 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
25303 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
25305 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
25306 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
25307 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
25311 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
25312 these in the data buffer.
25314 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
25318 head = error / valid-head
25319 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
25320 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
25321 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
25322 header = <text> eol
25326 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
25328 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
25329 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
25333 nov-buffer = *nov-line
25334 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
25335 field = <text except TAB>
25338 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
25342 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
25344 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
25345 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
25347 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
25348 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
25349 server. In fact, it should do so.
25351 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
25352 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
25355 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
25357 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
25358 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
25361 There should be no data returned.
25364 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
25366 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
25367 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
25368 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
25369 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
25371 There should be no data returned.
25374 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
25376 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
25377 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
25378 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
25379 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
25381 There should be no data returned.
25384 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
25386 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
25388 There should be no data returned.
25391 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
25393 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
25394 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
25395 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
25396 it would be nice if that were possible.
25398 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
25399 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
25400 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
25401 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
25402 into its article buffer.
25404 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
25405 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
25406 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
25407 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
25408 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
25409 on successful article retrieval.
25412 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
25414 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
25415 making @var{group} the current group.
25417 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
25420 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
25423 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
25426 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
25427 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
25428 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
25429 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
25430 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
25431 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
25432 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
25433 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
25434 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
25438 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
25439 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
25440 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
25444 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25446 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
25447 a no-op on most back ends.
25449 There should be no data returned.
25452 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
25454 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
25457 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
25460 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
25461 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
25464 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
25465 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
25466 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
25467 and the highest as 0.
25470 active-file = *active-line
25471 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
25473 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
25476 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
25477 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
25478 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
25481 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
25483 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
25484 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
25485 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
25486 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
25487 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
25488 clear if the posting could not be completed.
25490 There should be no result data from this function.
25495 @node Optional Back End Functions
25496 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
25500 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
25502 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
25503 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
25504 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
25506 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
25507 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
25508 former is in the same format as the data from
25509 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
25510 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
25513 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
25517 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
25519 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
25520 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
25521 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
25522 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
25523 should return a non-nil value.
25525 There should be no result data from this function.
25528 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
25530 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
25531 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
25532 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
25533 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
25534 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
25535 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
25536 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
25537 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
25539 There should be no result data from this function.
25542 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
25544 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
25545 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
25546 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
25547 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
25548 propagate the mark information to the server.
25550 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
25553 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
25556 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
25557 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
25558 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
25559 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
25560 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
25561 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
25562 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
25563 possible, not limit itself to these.
25565 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
25566 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
25567 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
25568 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
25570 An example action list:
25573 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
25574 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
25575 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
25578 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
25579 mark on (currently not used for anything).
25581 There should be no result data from this function.
25583 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
25585 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
25586 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
25587 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
25588 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
25589 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
25591 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
25592 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
25593 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
25596 There should be no result data from this function.
25599 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
25601 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
25602 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
25603 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
25604 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
25605 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
25606 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
25607 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
25609 There should be no result data from this function.
25612 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
25614 The result data from this function should be a description of
25618 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25620 description = <text>
25623 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25625 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25626 groups available on the server.
25629 description-buffer = *description-line
25633 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25635 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25636 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25637 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25638 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25639 in the active buffer format.
25641 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25642 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25643 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25644 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25645 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25646 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25647 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25650 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25652 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25654 There should be no return data.
25657 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25659 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25660 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25661 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25662 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25663 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25666 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25669 There should be no result data returned.
25672 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
25674 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25675 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25677 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25678 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25679 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25680 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25681 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25682 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25684 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25685 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25688 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25689 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25691 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25692 article for that group.
25694 There should be no data returned.
25697 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25699 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25700 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25701 this function in short order.
25703 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25704 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25706 There should be no data returned.
25709 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25711 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25712 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25714 There should be no data returned.
25717 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25719 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25720 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25721 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25723 There should be no data returned.
25726 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25728 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25729 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25731 There should be no data returned.
25736 @node Error Messaging
25737 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25739 @findex nnheader-report
25740 @findex nnheader-get-report
25741 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25742 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25743 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25744 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25745 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25746 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25749 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25751 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25754 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25755 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25756 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25757 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25759 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25760 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25761 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25764 @node Writing New Back Ends
25765 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25767 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25768 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25769 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25770 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25771 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25774 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25775 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25776 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25778 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25779 package called @code{nnoo}.
25781 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25782 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25788 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25789 parameters. For instance:
25792 (nnoo-declare nndir
25796 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25797 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25800 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25801 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25802 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25804 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25805 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25806 a function in those back ends.
25809 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25810 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25811 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25814 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25815 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25816 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25818 @item nnoo-define-basics
25819 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25823 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25827 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25828 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25829 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25831 @item nnoo-map-functions
25832 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25833 functions from the parent back ends.
25836 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25837 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25838 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25841 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25842 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25843 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25844 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25847 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25848 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25849 haven't already been defined.
25855 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25859 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25860 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25861 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25866 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25869 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25870 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25874 (require 'nnheader)
25878 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25880 (nnoo-declare nndir
25883 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25884 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25885 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25887 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25888 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25891 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25893 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25894 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25895 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25897 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25898 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25900 ;;; Interface functions.
25902 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25904 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25905 (setq nndir-directory
25906 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25908 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25909 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25910 (push `(nndir-current-group
25911 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25912 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25914 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25915 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25917 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25919 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25920 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25921 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25922 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25923 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25927 nnmh-status-message
25929 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25935 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25936 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25938 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25939 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25940 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25941 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25942 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25944 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25945 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25950 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25953 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25955 The abilities can be:
25959 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25961 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25963 This back end supports both mail and news.
25965 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25968 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25969 articles and groups.
25971 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25972 true for almost all back ends.
25973 @item prompt-address
25974 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25975 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25976 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25980 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25981 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25983 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25984 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25985 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25986 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25989 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25990 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25991 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25994 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25995 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25998 This function takes four parameters.
26002 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
26005 @item exit-function
26006 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
26008 @item temp-directory
26009 Where the temporary files should be stored.
26012 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
26013 performed for one group only.
26016 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
26017 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
26018 find the article number assigned to this article.
26020 The function also uses the following variables:
26021 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
26022 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
26023 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
26024 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
26028 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
26029 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
26033 @node Score File Syntax
26034 @subsection Score File Syntax
26036 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
26037 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
26038 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
26040 Here's a typical score file:
26044 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
26051 BNF definition of a score file:
26054 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
26055 element = rule / atom
26056 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
26057 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
26058 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
26059 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
26061 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
26062 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
26063 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
26064 date-header = "date"
26065 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
26066 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
26067 score = "nil" / <integer>
26068 date = "nil" / <natural number>
26069 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
26070 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
26071 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
26072 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
26073 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
26074 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
26075 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
26076 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
26077 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
26078 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
26079 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
26080 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
26081 exclude-files / read-only / touched
26082 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
26083 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
26084 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
26085 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
26086 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
26087 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
26088 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
26089 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
26090 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
26091 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
26092 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
26093 eval = "eval" space <form>
26094 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
26097 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
26100 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
26101 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
26102 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
26103 one looong line, then that's ok.
26105 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
26106 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26110 @subsection Headers
26112 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
26113 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
26114 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
26115 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
26117 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
26118 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
26119 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
26120 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
26121 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
26122 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
26123 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
26125 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
26126 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
26127 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
26128 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
26129 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
26131 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
26132 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
26138 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
26139 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
26141 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
26142 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
26143 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
26144 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
26146 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
26150 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
26153 is transformed into
26156 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
26159 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
26160 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
26163 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
26166 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
26167 is slightly tricky:
26170 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
26176 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
26179 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
26185 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
26192 and is equal to the previous range.
26194 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
26195 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
26196 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
26200 range = simple-range / normal-range
26201 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
26202 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
26203 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
26204 number *[ " " contents ]
26207 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
26208 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
26209 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
26210 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
26211 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
26216 @subsection Group Info
26218 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
26219 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
26220 describes the group.
26222 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
26223 second is a more complex one:
26226 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
26228 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
26229 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
26231 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
26234 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
26235 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
26236 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
26237 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
26238 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
26239 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
26240 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
26241 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
26242 this section is about.
26244 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
26245 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
26246 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
26248 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
26251 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
26252 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
26253 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
26254 group = quote <string> quote
26255 ralevel = rank / level
26256 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26257 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
26258 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26260 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
26261 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
26262 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
26263 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
26266 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
26267 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
26270 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
26271 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
26274 @item gnus-info-group
26275 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
26276 @findex gnus-info-group
26277 @findex gnus-info-set-group
26278 Get/set the group name.
26280 @item gnus-info-rank
26281 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
26282 @findex gnus-info-rank
26283 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
26284 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
26286 @item gnus-info-level
26287 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
26288 @findex gnus-info-level
26289 @findex gnus-info-set-level
26290 Get/set the group level.
26292 @item gnus-info-score
26293 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
26294 @findex gnus-info-score
26295 @findex gnus-info-set-score
26296 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
26298 @item gnus-info-read
26299 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
26300 @findex gnus-info-read
26301 @findex gnus-info-set-read
26302 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
26304 @item gnus-info-marks
26305 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
26306 @findex gnus-info-marks
26307 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
26308 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
26310 @item gnus-info-method
26311 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
26312 @findex gnus-info-method
26313 @findex gnus-info-set-method
26314 Get/set the group select method.
26316 @item gnus-info-params
26317 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
26318 @findex gnus-info-params
26319 @findex gnus-info-set-params
26320 Get/set the group parameters.
26323 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
26324 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
26326 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
26327 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
26328 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
26329 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
26332 @node Extended Interactive
26333 @subsection Extended Interactive
26334 @cindex interactive
26335 @findex gnus-interactive
26337 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
26338 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
26339 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
26342 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
26343 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
26348 The best thing to do would have been to implement
26349 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
26350 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
26351 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
26352 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
26353 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
26354 @code{interactive}.
26356 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
26361 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
26362 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
26366 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
26367 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
26368 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
26371 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
26375 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
26379 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
26385 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
26386 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
26390 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
26391 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
26392 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
26394 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
26395 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
26396 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
26397 Gnus, that's very useful.
26399 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
26400 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
26401 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
26402 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
26403 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
26404 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
26405 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
26406 following function:
26409 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
26413 (,function ,@@args))
26417 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
26418 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
26419 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
26422 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
26423 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
26424 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
26426 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
26427 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
26428 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
26431 @node Various File Formats
26432 @subsection Various File Formats
26435 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
26436 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
26440 @node Active File Format
26441 @subsubsection Active File Format
26443 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
26444 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
26447 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
26450 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
26451 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
26452 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
26453 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
26454 no.general 1000 900 y
26457 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
26460 active = *group-line
26461 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
26462 group = <non-white-space string>
26464 high-number = <non-negative integer>
26465 low-number = <positive integer>
26466 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
26469 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
26470 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
26473 @node Newsgroups File Format
26474 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
26476 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
26477 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
26478 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
26481 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
26482 Here's the definition:
26486 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
26487 group = <non-white-space string>
26489 description = <string>
26494 @node Emacs for Heathens
26495 @section Emacs for Heathens
26497 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
26498 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
26499 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
26500 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
26501 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
26502 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
26503 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
26507 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
26508 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
26513 @subsection Keystrokes
26517 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
26520 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
26523 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
26524 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
26525 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
26526 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
26527 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
26528 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
26530 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
26531 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
26532 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
26533 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
26534 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
26535 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
26536 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
26538 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
26539 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
26540 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
26541 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
26542 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
26543 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
26544 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
26546 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
26547 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
26548 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
26549 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
26550 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
26556 @subsection Emacs Lisp
26558 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
26559 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
26560 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
26561 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
26563 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
26564 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
26565 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
26566 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
26567 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
26568 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
26569 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
26572 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
26573 write the following:
26576 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
26579 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
26580 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
26581 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
26584 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
26585 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
26586 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
26587 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
26588 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
26590 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
26591 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
26592 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
26596 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
26600 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
26603 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
26604 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
26607 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
26610 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
26611 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
26614 @include gnus-faq.texi
26634 @c Local Variables:
26636 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26638 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26639 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26640 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26641 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26642 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref