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4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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266 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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275 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
276 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
279 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
280 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
281 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
282 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
283 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
284 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
285 License'' in the Emacs manual.
287 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
288 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
289 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
291 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
292 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
293 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
294 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
302 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
304 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
306 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
307 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
308 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
309 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
310 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
311 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
312 License'' in the Emacs manual.
314 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
315 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
316 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
318 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
319 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
320 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
321 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
327 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
329 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
332 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
333 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
335 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
336 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
337 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
338 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
339 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
340 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
341 License'' in the Emacs manual.
343 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
344 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
345 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
347 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
348 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
349 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
350 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
359 @top The gnus Newsreader
363 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
364 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
365 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
368 T-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So T-gnus supports
369 your right to read strange messages including big images or other
370 various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
371 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
372 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
373 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
375 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
386 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
387 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
389 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
390 being accused of plagiarism:
392 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
393 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
394 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
395 can even read news with it!
397 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
398 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
399 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
400 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
401 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
407 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
408 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
409 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
410 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
411 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
412 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
413 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
414 * Various:: General purpose settings.
415 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
416 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
417 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
418 * Key Index:: Key Index.
421 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
425 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
426 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
427 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
428 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
429 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
430 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
431 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
432 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
433 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
434 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
435 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
439 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
440 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
441 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
445 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
446 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
447 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
448 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
449 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
450 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
451 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
452 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
453 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
454 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
455 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
456 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
457 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
458 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
459 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
460 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
461 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
465 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
466 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
467 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
471 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
472 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
473 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
474 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
475 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
479 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
480 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
481 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
482 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
486 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
487 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
488 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
489 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
490 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
491 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
492 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
493 * Threading:: How threads are made.
494 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
495 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
496 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
497 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
498 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
499 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
500 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
501 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
502 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
503 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
504 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
505 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
506 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
507 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
508 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
509 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
510 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
511 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
512 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
513 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
514 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
516 Summary Buffer Format
518 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
519 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
520 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
521 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
525 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
526 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
528 Reply, Followup and Post
530 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
531 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
532 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
533 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
537 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
538 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
539 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
540 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
541 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
542 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
546 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
547 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
549 Customizing Threading
551 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
552 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
553 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
554 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
558 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
559 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
560 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
561 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
562 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
563 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
567 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
568 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
569 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
573 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
574 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
575 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
576 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
577 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
578 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
579 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
580 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
582 Alternative Approaches
584 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
585 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
587 Various Summary Stuff
589 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
590 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
591 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
592 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
596 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
597 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
598 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
599 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
600 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
604 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
605 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
606 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
607 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
608 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
609 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
610 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
611 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
615 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
616 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
617 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
618 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
619 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
620 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
621 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
625 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
626 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
627 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
628 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
629 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
630 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
631 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
635 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
636 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
640 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
641 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
642 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
643 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
644 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
645 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
646 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
647 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
648 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
649 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
650 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
651 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
652 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
656 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
657 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
658 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
660 Choosing a Mail Backend
662 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
663 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
664 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
665 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
666 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
667 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
671 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
672 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
673 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
674 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
678 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
679 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
680 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
681 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
682 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
683 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
687 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
691 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
692 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
693 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
697 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
698 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
699 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
703 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
704 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
708 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
709 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
710 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
711 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
712 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
713 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
714 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
715 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
716 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
717 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
721 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
722 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
723 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
727 * Group Agent Commands::
728 * Summary Agent Commands::
729 * Server Agent Commands::
733 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
734 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
735 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
736 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
737 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
738 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
739 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
740 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
741 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
742 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
743 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
744 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
745 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
746 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
747 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
748 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
752 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
753 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
754 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
755 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
759 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
760 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
761 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
765 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
766 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
767 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
768 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
769 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
770 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
771 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
772 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
773 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
774 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
775 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
776 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
777 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
778 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
779 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
780 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
781 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
782 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
786 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
787 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
788 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
789 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
790 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
794 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
795 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
796 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
797 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
801 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
802 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
803 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
804 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
805 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
809 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
810 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
811 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
812 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
813 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
814 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
815 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
816 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
820 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
821 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
822 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
823 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
824 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
825 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
826 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
827 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
828 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
832 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
833 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
834 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
835 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
836 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
840 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
841 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
842 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
843 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
847 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
848 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
849 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
850 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
851 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
852 * Group Info:: The group info format.
853 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
854 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
855 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
859 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
860 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
861 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
862 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
863 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
864 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
868 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
869 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
873 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
874 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
880 @chapter Starting gnus
885 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
886 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
889 @findex gnus-other-frame
890 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
891 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
892 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
894 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
895 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
896 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
898 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
899 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
902 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
903 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
904 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
905 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
906 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
907 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
908 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
909 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
910 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
911 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
912 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
916 @node Finding the News
917 @section Finding the News
920 @vindex gnus-select-method
922 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
923 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
924 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
925 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
928 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
929 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
932 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
935 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
938 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
941 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
942 certainly be much faster.
944 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
946 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
947 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
948 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
949 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
950 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
951 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
953 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
954 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
955 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
956 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
958 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
959 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
960 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
961 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
962 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
963 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
964 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
965 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
966 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
969 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
971 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
972 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
973 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
974 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
975 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
976 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
978 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
980 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
981 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
982 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
983 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
984 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
985 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
988 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
989 would typically set this variable to
992 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
997 @section The First Time
998 @cindex first time usage
1000 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1001 be subscribed by default.
1003 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1004 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1005 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1006 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1009 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1010 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1011 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1013 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1014 help you with most common problems.
1016 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1017 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1021 @node The Server is Down
1022 @section The Server is Down
1023 @cindex server errors
1025 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1026 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1027 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1029 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1030 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1031 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1032 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1033 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1034 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1035 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1037 @findex gnus-no-server
1038 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1040 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1041 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1042 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1043 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1044 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1045 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1046 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1050 @section Slave Gnusae
1053 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1054 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1055 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1056 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1058 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1059 @code{.newsrc} file.
1061 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1062 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1063 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1064 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1065 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1066 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1067 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1069 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1070 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1071 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1072 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1073 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1074 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1075 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1076 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1078 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1079 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1082 @node Fetching a Group
1083 @section Fetching a Group
1084 @cindex fetching a group
1086 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1087 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1088 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1089 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1090 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1091 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1097 @cindex subscription
1099 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1100 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1101 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1102 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1103 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1104 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1105 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1106 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1107 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1110 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1111 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
1112 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
1116 @node Checking New Groups
1117 @subsection Checking New Groups
1119 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1120 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1121 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1122 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1123 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1124 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1125 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1126 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1127 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1128 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1130 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1131 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1132 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1133 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1134 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1135 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1136 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1137 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1138 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1139 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1140 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1142 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1143 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1144 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1145 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1146 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1147 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1150 @node Subscription Methods
1151 @subsection Subscription Methods
1153 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1154 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1155 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1157 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1158 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1160 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1164 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1165 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1166 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1167 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1168 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1170 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1171 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1172 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1173 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1175 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1176 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1177 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1179 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1180 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1181 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1182 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1183 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1184 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1185 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1186 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1187 up. Or something like that.
1189 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1190 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1191 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1192 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1193 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1195 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1196 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1197 Kill all new groups.
1199 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1200 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1201 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1202 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1203 topic parameter that looks like
1209 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1212 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1217 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1218 A closely related variable is
1219 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1220 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1221 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1222 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1225 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1226 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1227 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1228 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1231 @node Filtering New Groups
1232 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1234 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1235 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1236 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1239 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1242 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1243 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1244 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1245 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1246 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1247 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1248 subscribing these groups.
1249 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1250 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1252 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1253 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1254 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1255 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1256 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1257 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1258 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1259 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1261 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1262 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1263 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1264 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1265 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1266 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1267 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1268 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1269 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1270 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1272 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1273 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1276 @node Changing Servers
1277 @section Changing Servers
1278 @cindex changing servers
1280 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1281 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1282 very flaky and you want to use another.
1284 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1285 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1289 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1290 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1291 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1292 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1295 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1296 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1297 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1298 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1300 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1301 @findex gnus-change-server
1302 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1303 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1304 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1305 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1306 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1308 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1309 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1310 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1311 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1312 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1314 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1315 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1316 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1317 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1318 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1319 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1321 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1322 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1323 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1327 @section Startup Files
1328 @cindex startup files
1333 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1334 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1336 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1337 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1338 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1339 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1340 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1341 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1342 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1344 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1345 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1346 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1347 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1348 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1349 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1351 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1352 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1353 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1354 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1355 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1356 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1357 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1358 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1359 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1360 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1362 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1363 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1364 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1365 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1366 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1367 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1368 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1369 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1370 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1371 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1372 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1373 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1375 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1376 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1377 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1378 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1380 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1381 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1382 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1383 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1384 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1385 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1386 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1387 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1388 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1389 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1392 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1393 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1395 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1396 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1399 @vindex gnus-init-file
1400 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1401 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1402 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1403 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1404 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1405 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1406 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1407 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1408 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1414 @cindex dribble file
1417 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1418 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1419 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1420 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1421 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1424 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1425 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1428 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1429 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1430 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1432 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1433 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1434 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1435 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1436 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1437 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1439 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1440 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1441 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1444 @node The Active File
1445 @section The Active File
1447 @cindex ignored groups
1449 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1450 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1451 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1453 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1454 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1455 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1456 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1457 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1458 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1459 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1462 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1463 @c if you set it to anything else.
1465 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1467 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1468 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1469 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1471 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1472 you actually subscribe to.
1474 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1475 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1476 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1477 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1479 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1480 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1481 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1482 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1483 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1484 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1486 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1487 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1488 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1491 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1492 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1493 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1494 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1495 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1496 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1498 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1499 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1501 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1502 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1504 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1505 secondary select methods.
1508 @node Startup Variables
1509 @section Startup Variables
1513 @item gnus-load-hook
1514 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1515 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1516 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1517 times you start gnus.
1519 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1520 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1521 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1523 @item gnus-startup-hook
1524 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1525 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1527 @item gnus-started-hook
1528 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1529 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1532 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1533 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1534 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1535 generating the group buffer.
1537 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1538 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1539 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1540 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1541 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1542 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1543 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1544 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1546 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1547 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1548 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1549 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1550 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1551 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1553 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1554 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1555 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1557 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1558 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1559 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1561 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1562 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1563 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1564 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1569 @node The Group Buffer
1570 @chapter The Group Buffer
1571 @cindex group buffer
1573 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1574 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1575 long as gnus is active.
1579 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1580 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1581 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1582 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1583 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1584 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1585 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1586 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1592 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1593 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1594 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1595 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1596 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1597 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1598 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1599 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1600 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1601 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1602 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1603 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1604 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1605 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1606 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1607 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1608 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1612 @node Group Buffer Format
1613 @section Group Buffer Format
1616 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1617 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1618 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1622 @node Group Line Specification
1623 @subsection Group Line Specification
1624 @cindex group buffer format
1626 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1627 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1629 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1632 25: news.announce.newusers
1633 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1638 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1639 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1640 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1641 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1643 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1644 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1645 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1646 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1647 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1648 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1650 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1652 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1653 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1654 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1655 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1658 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1659 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1660 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1662 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1667 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1670 Whether the group is subscribed.
1673 Level of subscribedness.
1676 Number of unread articles.
1679 Number of dormant articles.
1682 Number of ticked articles.
1685 Number of read articles.
1688 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1689 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1692 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1695 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1704 Newsgroup description.
1707 @samp{m} if moderated.
1710 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1719 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1723 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1726 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1727 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1728 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1729 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1730 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1733 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1735 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1739 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1742 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1746 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1747 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1748 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1749 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1750 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1751 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1756 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1757 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1758 group, or a bogus native group.
1761 @node Group Modeline Specification
1762 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1763 @cindex group modeline
1765 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1766 The mode line can be changed by setting
1767 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1768 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1772 The native news server.
1774 The native select method.
1778 @node Group Highlighting
1779 @subsection Group Highlighting
1780 @cindex highlighting
1781 @cindex group highlighting
1783 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1784 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1785 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1786 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1787 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1789 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1793 (cond (window-system
1794 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1795 (defface my-group-face-1
1796 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1797 (defface my-group-face-2
1798 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1799 (defface my-group-face-3
1800 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1801 (defface my-group-face-4
1802 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1803 (defface my-group-face-5
1804 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1806 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1807 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1808 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1809 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1810 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1811 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1814 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1816 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1823 The number of unread articles in the group.
1827 Whether the group is a mail group.
1829 The level of the group.
1831 The score of the group.
1833 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1835 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1836 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1838 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1839 topic being inserted.
1842 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1843 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1844 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1846 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1847 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1848 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1849 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1850 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1853 @node Group Maneuvering
1854 @section Group Maneuvering
1855 @cindex group movement
1857 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1858 expected, hopefully.
1864 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1865 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1866 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1872 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1873 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1874 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1878 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1879 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1883 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1884 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1888 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1889 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1890 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1894 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1895 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1896 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1899 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1905 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1906 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1907 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1912 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1913 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1914 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1918 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1919 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1920 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1923 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1924 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1925 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1926 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1930 @node Selecting a Group
1931 @section Selecting a Group
1932 @cindex group selection
1937 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1938 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1939 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1940 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1941 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1942 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1943 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1944 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1945 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1946 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1948 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
1949 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
1950 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
1952 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
1953 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
1958 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1959 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1960 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1961 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1962 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1966 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1967 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1968 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1969 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1970 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1971 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1972 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1973 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1974 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1975 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1978 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1979 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1980 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1981 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1982 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1985 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1986 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1987 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1988 doing any processing of its contents
1989 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1990 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1991 manner will have no permanent effects.
1995 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1996 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1997 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1998 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1999 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2000 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2001 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2002 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2005 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2006 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2007 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2008 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2013 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2014 full summary buffer.
2017 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2020 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2025 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2026 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2027 Useful functions include:
2030 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2031 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2032 don't select the article.
2034 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2035 Select the first unread article.
2037 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2038 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2042 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2043 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2044 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2048 @node Subscription Commands
2049 @section Subscription Commands
2050 @cindex subscription
2058 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2059 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2060 Toggle subscription to the current group
2061 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2067 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2068 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2069 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2070 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2076 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2077 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2078 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2084 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2085 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2088 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2089 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2090 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2091 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2092 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2098 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2099 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2103 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2104 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2107 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2108 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2109 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2110 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2111 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2112 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2113 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2114 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2115 @file{.newsrc} file.
2119 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2129 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2130 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2131 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2132 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2133 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2134 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2139 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2140 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2141 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2145 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2146 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2147 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2149 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2150 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2151 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2152 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2153 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2154 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2161 @section Group Levels
2165 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2166 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2167 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2168 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2169 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2171 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2177 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2178 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2179 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2180 prompted for a level.
2183 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2184 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2185 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2186 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2187 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2188 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2189 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2190 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2191 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2192 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2193 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2194 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2195 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2196 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2197 reasons of efficiency.
2199 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2200 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2202 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2203 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2204 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2205 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2206 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2207 groups are hidden, in a way.
2209 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2210 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2211 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2212 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2213 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2214 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2216 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2217 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2218 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2219 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2220 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2221 list of killed groups.)
2223 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2224 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2225 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2227 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2228 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2229 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2230 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2231 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2232 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2233 relevant valid ranges.
2235 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2236 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2237 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2238 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2239 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2240 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2243 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2244 one with the best level.
2246 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2247 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2248 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2251 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2252 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2253 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2254 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2257 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2258 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2259 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2260 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2262 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2263 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2264 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2265 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2266 to 5. The default is 6.
2270 @section Group Score
2275 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2276 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2277 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2280 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2281 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2282 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2283 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2284 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2285 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2286 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2287 least significant part.))
2289 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2290 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2291 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2292 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2293 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2294 action after each summary exit, you can add
2295 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2296 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2297 slow things down somewhat.
2300 @node Marking Groups
2301 @section Marking Groups
2302 @cindex marking groups
2304 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2305 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2306 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2307 bidding on those groups.
2309 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2310 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2311 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2319 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2320 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2326 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2327 Remove the mark from the current group
2328 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2332 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2333 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2337 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2338 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2342 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2343 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2347 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2348 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2349 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2352 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2354 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2355 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2356 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2357 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2358 the command to be executed.
2361 @node Foreign Groups
2362 @section Foreign Groups
2363 @cindex foreign groups
2365 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2366 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2367 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2368 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2375 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2376 @cindex making groups
2377 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2378 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2379 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2383 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2384 @cindex renaming groups
2385 Rename the current group to something else
2386 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2387 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2393 @findex gnus-group-customize
2394 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2398 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2399 @cindex renaming groups
2400 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2401 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2405 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2406 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2407 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2411 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2412 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2413 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2417 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2419 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2420 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2425 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2426 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2430 @cindex (ding) archive
2431 @cindex archive group
2432 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2433 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2434 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2435 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2436 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2437 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2438 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2442 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2444 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2445 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2446 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2447 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2451 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2453 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2454 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2455 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2459 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2460 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2462 Make a group based on some file or other
2463 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2464 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2465 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2466 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2467 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2468 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2469 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2473 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2474 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2475 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2476 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2480 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2485 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2486 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2487 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2488 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2489 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2490 @xref{Web Searches}.
2492 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2493 to a particular group by using a match string like
2494 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2497 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2498 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2499 This function will delete the current group
2500 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2501 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2502 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2503 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2504 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2508 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2509 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2510 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2514 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2515 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2516 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2519 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2522 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2523 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2524 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2525 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2526 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2527 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2531 @node Group Parameters
2532 @section Group Parameters
2533 @cindex group parameters
2535 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2536 Here's an example group parameter list:
2539 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2543 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2544 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2545 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2546 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2548 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2549 is an alist of regexps and values.
2551 The following group parameters can be used:
2556 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2559 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2562 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2563 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2564 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2565 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2566 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2568 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2569 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2570 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2571 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2572 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2573 list address instead.
2575 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2579 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2582 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2585 It is totally ignored
2586 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2587 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2589 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2590 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2591 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2592 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2593 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2595 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2596 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2597 sending the message.
2599 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2603 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2604 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2605 of whether it has any unread articles.
2607 @item broken-reply-to
2608 @cindex broken-reply-to
2609 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2610 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2611 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2612 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2613 broken behavior. So there!
2617 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2618 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2622 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2623 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2624 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2629 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2630 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2631 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2632 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2633 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2634 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2635 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2639 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2640 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2641 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2643 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2646 @cindex total-expire
2647 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2648 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2649 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2650 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2653 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2657 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2658 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2659 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2660 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2661 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2662 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2665 @cindex score file group parameter
2666 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2667 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2668 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2671 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2672 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2673 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2674 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2677 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2678 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2679 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2680 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2683 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2684 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2688 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2691 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2696 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2697 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2698 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2702 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2703 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2704 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2706 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2708 @item ignored-charsets
2709 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-known iso-8859-1)}
2710 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2711 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2713 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2716 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2717 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2718 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2719 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2720 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2722 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2723 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2724 like this in the group parameters:
2729 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2733 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2734 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2735 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2736 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2737 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2739 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2740 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2741 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2742 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2743 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2744 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2745 @code{eval}ed there.
2747 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2748 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2749 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2750 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2751 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2755 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2756 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2757 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2758 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2759 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2762 @node Listing Groups
2763 @section Listing Groups
2764 @cindex group listing
2766 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2774 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2775 List all groups that have unread articles
2776 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2777 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2778 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2779 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2786 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2787 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2788 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2789 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2790 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2791 unsubscribed groups).
2795 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2796 List all unread groups on a specific level
2797 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2798 with no unread articles.
2802 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2803 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2804 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2805 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2810 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2811 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2815 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2816 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2817 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2821 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2822 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2826 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2827 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2828 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2829 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2830 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2831 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2832 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2833 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2837 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2838 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2839 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2843 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2844 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2845 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2849 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2850 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2854 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2855 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2859 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2860 List groups limited within the current selection
2861 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
2865 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
2866 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
2870 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
2871 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
2875 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2876 @cindex visible group parameter
2877 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2878 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2879 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2880 get the same effect.
2882 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2883 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2884 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2885 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2886 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2889 @node Sorting Groups
2890 @section Sorting Groups
2891 @cindex sorting groups
2893 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2894 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2895 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2896 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2897 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2898 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2903 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2904 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2905 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2907 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2908 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2909 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2911 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2912 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2913 Sort by group level.
2915 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2916 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2917 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2919 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2920 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2921 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2922 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2924 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2925 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2926 Sort by number of unread articles.
2928 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2929 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2930 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2932 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
2933 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
2934 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
2939 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2940 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2944 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2945 some sorting criteria:
2949 @kindex G S a (Group)
2950 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2951 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2952 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2955 @kindex G S u (Group)
2956 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2957 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2958 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2961 @kindex G S l (Group)
2962 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2963 Sort the group buffer by group level
2964 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2967 @kindex G S v (Group)
2968 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2969 Sort the group buffer by group score
2970 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2973 @kindex G S r (Group)
2974 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2975 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2976 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2979 @kindex G S m (Group)
2980 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2981 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2982 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2986 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2987 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2989 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2990 commands will sort in reverse order.
2992 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2996 @kindex G P a (Group)
2997 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2998 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2999 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3002 @kindex G P u (Group)
3003 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3004 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3005 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3008 @kindex G P l (Group)
3009 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3010 Sort the groups by group level
3011 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3014 @kindex G P v (Group)
3015 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3016 Sort the groups by group score
3017 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3020 @kindex G P r (Group)
3021 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3022 Sort the groups by group rank
3023 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3026 @kindex G P m (Group)
3027 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3028 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
3029 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3035 @node Group Maintenance
3036 @section Group Maintenance
3037 @cindex bogus groups
3042 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3043 Find bogus groups and delete them
3044 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3048 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3049 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3050 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3051 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3052 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3056 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3057 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3058 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3059 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
3062 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3063 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3064 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
3065 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3070 @node Browse Foreign Server
3071 @section Browse Foreign Server
3072 @cindex foreign servers
3073 @cindex browsing servers
3078 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3079 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3080 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3081 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3084 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3085 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3086 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3087 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3089 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3094 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3095 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3099 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3100 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3103 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3104 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3105 Enter the current group and display the first article
3106 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3109 @kindex RET (Browse)
3110 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3111 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3115 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3116 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3117 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3123 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3124 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3128 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3129 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3130 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3135 @section Exiting gnus
3136 @cindex exiting gnus
3138 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3143 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3144 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3145 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3146 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3150 @findex gnus-group-exit
3151 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3152 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3156 @findex gnus-group-quit
3157 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3158 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3161 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3162 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3163 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3164 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3165 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3170 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3171 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3172 trying to customize meta-variables.
3177 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3178 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3179 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3185 @section Group Topics
3188 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3189 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3190 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3191 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3192 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3193 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3197 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3198 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3209 2: alt.religion.emacs
3212 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3214 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3215 13: comp.sources.unix
3218 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3220 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3221 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3222 is a toggling command.)
3224 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3225 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3226 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3227 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3230 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3231 the hook for the group mode:
3234 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3238 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3239 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3240 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3241 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3242 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3246 @node Topic Variables
3247 @subsection Topic Variables
3248 @cindex topic variables
3250 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3251 really neat, I think.
3253 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3254 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3255 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3268 Number of groups in the topic.
3270 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3272 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3275 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3276 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3277 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3280 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3281 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3283 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3284 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3285 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3288 @node Topic Commands
3289 @subsection Topic Commands
3290 @cindex topic commands
3292 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3293 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3294 definitions slightly.
3300 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3301 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3302 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3306 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3307 Move the current group to some other topic
3308 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3309 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3313 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3314 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3318 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3319 Copy the current group to some other topic
3320 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3321 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3325 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3326 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3327 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3331 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3332 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3333 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3337 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3338 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3339 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3340 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3341 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3342 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3343 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3346 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3347 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3351 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3352 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3353 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3357 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3358 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3359 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3363 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3364 Toggle hiding empty topics
3365 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3369 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3370 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3371 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3374 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3375 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3376 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3377 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3381 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3383 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3384 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3385 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3386 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3389 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3390 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3391 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3392 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3396 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3398 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3399 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3400 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3401 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3402 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3403 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3406 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3407 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3408 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3409 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3413 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3414 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3415 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3419 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3420 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3421 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3426 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3427 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3430 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3431 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3432 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3436 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3437 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3438 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3442 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3443 @cindex group parameters
3444 @cindex topic parameters
3446 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3447 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3453 @subsection Topic Sorting
3454 @cindex topic sorting
3456 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3462 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3463 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3464 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3465 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3468 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3469 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3470 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3471 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3474 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3475 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3476 Sort the current topic by group level
3477 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3480 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3481 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3482 Sort the current topic by group score
3483 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3486 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3487 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3488 Sort the current topic by group rank
3489 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3492 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3493 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3494 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3495 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3499 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3502 @node Topic Topology
3503 @subsection Topic Topology
3504 @cindex topic topology
3507 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3513 2: alt.religion.emacs
3516 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3518 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3519 13: comp.sources.unix
3522 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3523 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3524 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3529 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3530 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3534 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3535 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3536 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3537 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3538 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3539 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3541 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3542 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3543 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3546 @node Topic Parameters
3547 @subsection Topic Parameters
3548 @cindex topic parameters
3550 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3551 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3552 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3554 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3559 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3560 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3561 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3566 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3567 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3568 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3569 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3575 2: alt.religion.emacs
3579 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3581 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3582 13: comp.sources.unix
3586 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3587 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3588 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3589 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3590 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3591 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3593 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3594 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3595 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3596 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3597 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3599 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3600 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3601 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3602 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3603 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3604 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3605 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3606 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3609 @node Misc Group Stuff
3610 @section Misc Group Stuff
3613 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3614 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
3615 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3616 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3623 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3624 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3625 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3629 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3630 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3631 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3635 @findex gnus-group-mail
3636 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3640 Variables for the group buffer:
3644 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3645 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3646 is called after the group buffer has been
3649 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3650 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3651 is called after the group buffer is
3652 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3655 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3656 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3657 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3658 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3660 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3661 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3662 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3663 whether they are empty or not.
3665 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3666 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3667 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3668 non-ASCII group names.
3672 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3673 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3676 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3677 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3678 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3679 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3683 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3684 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3689 @node Scanning New Messages
3690 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3691 @cindex new messages
3692 @cindex scanning new news
3698 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3699 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3700 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3701 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3702 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3703 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3708 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3709 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3710 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3711 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3712 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3713 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3714 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3716 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3717 @cindex activating groups
3719 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3720 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3725 @findex gnus-group-restart
3726 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3727 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3728 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3732 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3733 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3735 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3736 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3740 @node Group Information
3741 @subsection Group Information
3742 @cindex group information
3743 @cindex information on groups
3750 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3751 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3754 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3755 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3756 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3757 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3758 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3759 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3760 for fetching the file.
3762 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3763 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3767 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3769 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3770 @cindex describing groups
3771 @cindex group description
3772 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3773 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3774 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3778 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3779 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3780 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3787 @findex gnus-version
3788 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3792 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3793 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3796 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3799 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3800 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3804 @node Group Timestamp
3805 @subsection Group Timestamp
3807 @cindex group timestamps
3809 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3810 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3811 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3814 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3817 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3819 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3820 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3823 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3824 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3827 This will result in lines looking like:
3830 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3831 0: custom 19961002T012713
3834 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3835 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3839 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3840 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3845 @subsection File Commands
3846 @cindex file commands
3852 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3853 @vindex gnus-init-file
3854 @cindex reading init file
3855 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3856 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3860 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3861 @cindex saving .newsrc
3862 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3863 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3864 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3867 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3868 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3869 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3874 @node The Summary Buffer
3875 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3876 @cindex summary buffer
3878 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3879 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3881 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3882 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3884 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3887 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3888 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3889 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3890 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3891 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3892 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3893 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3894 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3895 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3896 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3897 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3898 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3899 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3900 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3901 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3902 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3903 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3904 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3905 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3906 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3907 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3908 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3909 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3910 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3911 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3912 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
3913 or reselecting the current group.
3914 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3915 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3916 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
3920 @node Summary Buffer Format
3921 @section Summary Buffer Format
3922 @cindex summary buffer format
3926 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3927 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3928 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3934 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3935 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3936 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3937 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3940 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3941 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3942 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3943 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3944 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3945 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3946 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3947 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3948 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3949 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3950 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3951 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3952 other function instead:
3955 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3956 'mail-extract-address-components)
3959 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3960 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3961 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3962 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3965 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3966 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3968 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3969 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3970 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3971 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3972 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3974 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3976 The following format specification characters are understood:
3982 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3983 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3985 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3986 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3987 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3989 Full @code{From} header.
3991 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3993 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3994 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3996 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3997 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3998 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3999 may be more thorough.
4001 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4004 Number of lines in the article.
4006 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
4007 methods (like nnfolder).
4009 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4011 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4012 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4014 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4015 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4017 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4018 for adopted articles.
4020 One space for each thread level.
4022 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4027 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4028 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4032 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4034 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4035 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4036 default level. If the difference between
4037 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4038 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4046 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4048 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4054 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4055 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4057 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4058 article has any children.
4064 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4065 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4066 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4067 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4068 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4069 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4072 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4073 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4074 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4075 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4076 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4077 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4079 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4080 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4082 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4085 @node To From Newsgroups
4086 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4090 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4091 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4092 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4093 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4094 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4098 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4099 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4100 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4104 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4105 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4108 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4109 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4112 @findex gnus-extra-header
4113 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4114 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4115 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4118 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4122 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4123 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4124 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4125 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4126 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4127 headers are used instead.
4131 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4132 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4133 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4134 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4137 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4138 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4139 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4140 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4142 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4146 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4148 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4149 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4150 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4151 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4155 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4156 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4163 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4164 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4167 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4168 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4170 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4171 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4172 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4173 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4175 Here are the elements you can play with:
4181 Unprefixed group name.
4183 Current article number.
4185 Current article score.
4189 Number of unread articles in this group.
4191 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4194 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4195 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4196 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4197 and no unselected ones.
4199 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4200 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4202 Subject of the current article.
4204 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4206 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4208 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4210 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4212 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4214 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4218 @node Summary Highlighting
4219 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4223 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4224 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4225 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4226 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4227 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4229 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4230 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4231 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4232 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4234 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4235 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4236 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4237 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4239 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4240 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4241 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4242 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4243 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4244 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4247 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4248 ((> score default) . bold))
4250 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4251 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4255 @node Summary Maneuvering
4256 @section Summary Maneuvering
4257 @cindex summary movement
4259 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4260 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4262 None of these commands select articles.
4267 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4268 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4269 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4270 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4271 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4275 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4276 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4277 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4278 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4279 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4282 @kindex G g (Summary)
4283 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4284 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4285 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4288 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4289 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4290 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4291 to the group buffer.
4293 Variables related to summary movement:
4297 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4298 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4299 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4300 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4301 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4302 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4303 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4304 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4305 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4306 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4307 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4308 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4309 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4310 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4312 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4313 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4314 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4315 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4316 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4317 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4318 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4320 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4322 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4323 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4324 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4325 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4326 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4328 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4329 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4330 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4331 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4332 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4333 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4334 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4335 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4338 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4339 the given number of lines from the top.
4344 @node Choosing Articles
4345 @section Choosing Articles
4346 @cindex selecting articles
4349 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4350 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4354 @node Choosing Commands
4355 @subsection Choosing Commands
4357 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4358 and they all select and display an article.
4360 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4361 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4365 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4366 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4367 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4368 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4373 @kindex G n (Summary)
4374 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4375 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4376 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4381 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4382 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4383 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4388 @kindex G N (Summary)
4389 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4390 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4395 @kindex G P (Summary)
4396 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4397 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4400 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4402 Go to the next article with the same subject
4403 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4406 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4408 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4409 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4413 @kindex G f (Summary)
4415 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4416 Go to the first unread article
4417 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4421 @kindex G b (Summary)
4423 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4424 Go to the article with the highest score
4425 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4430 @kindex G l (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4432 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4435 @kindex G o (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4438 @cindex article history
4439 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4440 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4441 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4442 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4443 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4444 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4449 @kindex G j (Summary)
4450 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4451 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4452 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4457 @node Choosing Variables
4458 @subsection Choosing Variables
4460 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4463 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4464 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4465 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4466 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4467 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4468 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4470 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4471 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4472 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4473 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4475 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4476 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4477 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4478 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4479 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4480 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4481 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4482 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4483 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4484 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4485 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4486 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4487 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4488 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4493 @node Paging the Article
4494 @section Scrolling the Article
4495 @cindex article scrolling
4500 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4501 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4502 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4503 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4504 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4507 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4509 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4512 @kindex RET (Summary)
4513 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4514 Scroll the current article one line forward
4515 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4518 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4519 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4520 Scroll the current article one line backward
4521 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4525 @kindex A g (Summary)
4527 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4528 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4529 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4530 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4531 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4532 the way it came from the server.
4534 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4535 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4536 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4539 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4544 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4549 @kindex A < (Summary)
4550 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4551 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4552 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4557 @kindex A > (Summary)
4558 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4559 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4563 @kindex A s (Summary)
4565 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4566 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4567 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4571 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4572 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4577 @node Reply Followup and Post
4578 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4581 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4582 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4583 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4584 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4588 @node Summary Mail Commands
4589 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4591 @cindex composing mail
4593 Commands for composing a mail message:
4599 @kindex S r (Summary)
4601 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4602 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4603 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4604 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4605 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4610 @kindex S R (Summary)
4611 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4612 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4613 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4614 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4615 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4618 @kindex S w (Summary)
4619 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4620 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4621 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4622 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4623 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4626 @kindex S W (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4628 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4629 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4630 the process/prefix convention.
4634 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4635 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4636 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4637 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4638 Forward the current article to some other person
4639 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4640 headers of the forwarded article.
4645 @kindex S m (Summary)
4646 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4647 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4648 Send a mail to some other person
4649 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4652 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4653 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4654 @cindex bouncing mail
4655 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4656 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4657 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4658 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4659 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4660 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
4661 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4662 very well fail, though.
4665 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4666 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4667 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4668 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4669 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4670 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4671 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4672 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4673 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4674 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4676 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4677 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4678 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4679 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4680 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4682 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4683 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4686 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4687 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4688 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4689 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4690 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4693 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4694 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4695 @cindex crossposting
4696 @cindex excessive crossposting
4697 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4698 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4700 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4701 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4702 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4703 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4704 command understands the process/prefix convention
4705 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4709 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4712 @node Summary Post Commands
4713 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4715 @cindex composing news
4717 Commands for posting a news article:
4723 @kindex S p (Summary)
4724 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4725 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4726 Post an article to the current group
4727 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4732 @kindex S f (Summary)
4733 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4734 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4735 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4739 @kindex S F (Summary)
4741 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4742 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4743 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4744 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4745 process/prefix convention.
4748 @kindex S n (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4750 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4751 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4754 @kindex S N (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4756 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4757 message through mail and include the original message
4758 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4759 the process/prefix convention.
4762 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4763 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4764 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4765 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4766 headers of the forwarded article.
4769 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4770 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4772 @cindex making digests
4773 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4774 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4775 process/prefix convention.
4778 @kindex S u (Summary)
4779 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4780 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4781 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4782 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4785 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4788 @node Summary Message Commands
4789 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4793 @kindex S y (Summary)
4794 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4795 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4796 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4797 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4798 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4803 @node Canceling and Superseding
4804 @subsection Canceling Articles
4805 @cindex canceling articles
4806 @cindex superseding articles
4808 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4809 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4811 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4813 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4815 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4816 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4817 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4818 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4819 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4820 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4822 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4823 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4826 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4827 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4828 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4830 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4831 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4832 your original article.
4834 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4836 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4837 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4838 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4841 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4842 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4843 have posted almost the same article twice.
4845 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4846 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4847 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4848 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4849 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4850 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4851 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4852 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4853 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4854 canceled/superseded.
4856 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4859 @node Marking Articles
4860 @section Marking Articles
4861 @cindex article marking
4862 @cindex article ticking
4865 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4867 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4868 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4869 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4871 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4874 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4875 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4876 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4880 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4884 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4885 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4886 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4890 @node Unread Articles
4891 @subsection Unread Articles
4893 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4898 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4899 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4901 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4902 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4903 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4904 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4905 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4909 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4910 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4912 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4913 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4914 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4917 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4918 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4920 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4925 @subsection Read Articles
4926 @cindex expirable mark
4928 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4933 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4934 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4935 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4938 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4939 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4942 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4943 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4944 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4947 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4948 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4951 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4952 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4955 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4956 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4959 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4960 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4963 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4964 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4967 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4968 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4971 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4972 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4976 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4977 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4978 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4982 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4983 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4985 One more special mark, though:
4989 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4990 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4992 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4993 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4994 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4995 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5001 @subsection Other Marks
5002 @cindex process mark
5005 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5011 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5012 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5013 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5014 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5015 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5018 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5019 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5020 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5021 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5024 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5025 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5026 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5029 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5030 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5031 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5032 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5035 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5036 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5037 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5038 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5039 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5042 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5043 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5044 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5045 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5046 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5047 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5051 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5052 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5053 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5055 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5056 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5057 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5061 @subsection Setting Marks
5062 @cindex setting marks
5064 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5069 @kindex M c (Summary)
5070 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5072 @cindex mark as unread
5073 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5074 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5080 @kindex M t (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5082 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5083 @xref{Article Caching}.
5088 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5089 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5090 Mark the current article as dormant
5091 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5095 @kindex M d (Summary)
5097 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5098 Mark the current article as read
5099 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5103 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5104 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5105 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5110 @kindex M k (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5112 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5113 and then select the next unread article
5114 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5118 @kindex M K (Summary)
5119 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5120 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5121 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5122 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5125 @kindex M C (Summary)
5126 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5127 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5128 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5131 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5132 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5133 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5134 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5137 @kindex M H (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5139 Catchup the current group to point
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5143 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5145 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5149 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5150 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5151 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5152 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5156 @kindex M e (Summary)
5158 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5159 Mark the current article as expirable
5160 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5163 @kindex M b (Summary)
5164 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5165 Set a bookmark in the current article
5166 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5169 @kindex M B (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5171 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5172 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5175 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5177 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5178 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5181 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5182 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5183 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5184 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5187 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5189 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5190 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5191 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5194 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5195 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5196 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5197 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5198 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5199 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5200 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5201 The default is @code{t}.
5204 @node Generic Marking Commands
5205 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5207 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5208 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5209 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5210 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5211 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5214 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5215 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5218 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5219 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5220 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5221 to list in this manual.
5223 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5224 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5225 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5226 article, you could say something like:
5229 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5230 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5231 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5237 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5238 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5242 @node Setting Process Marks
5243 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5244 @cindex setting process marks
5251 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5252 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5253 Mark the current article with the process mark
5254 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5255 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5259 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5260 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5261 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5262 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5265 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5266 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5267 Remove the process mark from all articles
5268 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5271 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5272 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5273 Invert the list of process marked articles
5274 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5277 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5279 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5280 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5283 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5285 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5286 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5289 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5291 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5294 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5296 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5297 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5300 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5301 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5302 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5303 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5306 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5308 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5309 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5312 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5314 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5317 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5318 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5319 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5320 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5323 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5324 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5325 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5328 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5330 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5331 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5334 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5335 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5336 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5337 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5340 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5341 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5342 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5343 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5346 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5347 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5348 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5349 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5353 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5354 set process marks based on article body contents.
5361 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5362 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5363 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5366 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5367 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5368 additional articles.
5374 @kindex / / (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5376 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5377 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5380 @kindex / a (Summary)
5381 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5382 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5383 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5386 @kindex / x (Summary)
5387 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5388 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5389 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5394 @kindex / u (Summary)
5396 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5397 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5398 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5399 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5400 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5403 @kindex / m (Summary)
5404 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5405 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5406 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5409 @kindex / t (Summary)
5410 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5411 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5412 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5413 articles younger than that number of days.
5416 @kindex / n (Summary)
5417 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5418 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5419 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5420 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5423 @kindex / w (Summary)
5424 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5425 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5426 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5430 @kindex / v (Summary)
5431 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5432 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5433 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5437 @kindex M S (Summary)
5438 @kindex / E (Summary)
5439 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5440 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5441 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5444 @kindex / D (Summary)
5445 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5446 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5447 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5450 @kindex / * (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5452 Include all cached articles in the limit
5453 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5456 @kindex / d (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5458 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5462 @kindex / M (Summary)
5463 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5464 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5467 @kindex / T (Summary)
5468 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5469 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5472 @kindex / c (Summary)
5473 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5474 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5475 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5478 @kindex / C (Summary)
5479 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5480 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5481 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5482 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5490 @cindex article threading
5492 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5493 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5494 hierarchical fashion.
5496 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5497 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5498 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5499 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5500 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5501 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5502 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5504 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5508 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5511 A tree-like article structure.
5514 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5517 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5518 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5519 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5520 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5521 called loose threads.
5523 @item thread gathering
5524 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5526 @item sparse threads
5527 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5528 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5534 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5535 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5539 @node Customizing Threading
5540 @subsection Customizing Threading
5541 @cindex customizing threading
5544 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5545 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5546 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5547 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5552 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5555 @cindex loose threads
5558 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5559 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5560 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5561 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5562 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5563 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5565 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
5566 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
5567 There are four possible values:
5571 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5572 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5573 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5574 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5575 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5580 @cindex adopting articles
5585 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5586 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5587 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5588 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5591 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5592 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5593 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5594 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5595 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5596 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5597 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5600 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5601 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5602 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5606 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5607 display them after one another.
5610 Don't gather loose threads.
5613 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5614 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5615 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5616 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
5617 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5618 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5619 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5620 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5621 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5622 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
5623 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5625 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5626 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
5627 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5630 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5631 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5632 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5633 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5634 simplification is used.
5636 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5637 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5638 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5639 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5641 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5643 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5649 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5650 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5651 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5652 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5657 (mapconcat 'identity
5658 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5660 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5663 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5666 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5667 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5668 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5669 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5670 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5671 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5673 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5676 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5677 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5678 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5680 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5681 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5684 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5685 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5686 Remove excessive whitespace.
5689 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5692 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5693 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5694 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5695 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5696 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5697 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5698 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5699 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5701 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5702 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5703 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5704 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5705 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5706 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5707 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5708 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5709 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5713 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5714 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5715 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5716 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5718 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5719 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5720 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5723 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5727 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5728 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5734 @node Filling In Threads
5735 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5738 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5739 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5740 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5741 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5742 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5743 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5744 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5745 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5746 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5747 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5748 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5749 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5751 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5752 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5753 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5755 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5756 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5757 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5758 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5759 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5760 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5761 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5762 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5763 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5764 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5765 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5766 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5767 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5768 @code{nil} by default.
5773 @node More Threading
5774 @subsubsection More Threading
5777 @item gnus-show-threads
5778 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5779 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5780 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5781 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5782 slower and more awkward.
5784 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5785 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5786 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5789 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5790 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5791 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5792 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5793 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5794 threads are expunged.
5796 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5797 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5798 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5801 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5802 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5803 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5804 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5805 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5808 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5809 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5810 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5813 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5814 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5815 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5816 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5817 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5818 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5819 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5820 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5821 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5822 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5823 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5828 @node Low-Level Threading
5829 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5833 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5834 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5835 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5836 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5837 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5838 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5840 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5841 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5842 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5843 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5844 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5845 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5846 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5847 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5848 meaningful. Here's one example:
5851 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5853 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5854 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5856 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5858 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5865 @node Thread Commands
5866 @subsection Thread Commands
5867 @cindex thread commands
5873 @kindex T k (Summary)
5874 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5876 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5877 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5878 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5883 @kindex T l (Summary)
5884 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5886 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5887 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5890 @kindex T i (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5892 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5893 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5896 @kindex T # (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5898 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5899 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5902 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5903 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5904 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5905 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5908 @kindex T T (Summary)
5909 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5910 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5913 @kindex T s (Summary)
5914 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5915 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5916 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5919 @kindex T h (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5921 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5924 @kindex T S (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5926 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5929 @kindex T H (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5931 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5934 @kindex T t (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5936 Re-thread the current article's thread
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5938 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5941 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5942 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5943 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5944 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5948 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5949 understand the numeric prefix.
5954 @kindex T n (Summary)
5956 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5958 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5960 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5963 @kindex T p (Summary)
5965 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5967 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5968 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5969 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5972 @kindex T d (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5974 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5977 @kindex T u (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5979 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5982 @kindex T o (Summary)
5983 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5984 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5987 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5988 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5989 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5990 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5991 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5992 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5993 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5994 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5995 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5996 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5997 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5998 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6005 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6006 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6007 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6008 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6009 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6010 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6011 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6012 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6013 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6014 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6015 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6017 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6018 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6019 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6020 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6021 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6023 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6024 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6025 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6027 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6028 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6029 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6030 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6031 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6032 ascending article order.
6034 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6035 by number, you could do something like:
6038 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6039 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6040 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6041 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6044 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6045 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6046 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6047 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6048 which the articles arrived.
6050 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6054 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6056 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6057 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6060 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6061 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6062 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6063 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6066 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6067 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6068 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6069 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6070 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6071 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6072 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6073 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6074 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6075 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6076 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6077 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6078 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6080 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6084 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6085 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6086 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6091 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6092 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6093 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6094 @cindex article pre-fetch
6097 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6098 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6099 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6100 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6101 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6103 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6104 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6106 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6107 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6108 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6109 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6110 connection is blocked.
6112 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6113 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6114 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6115 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6117 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6118 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6119 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6120 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6123 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6126 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6127 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6128 happen automatically.
6130 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6131 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6132 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6133 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6134 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6135 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6136 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6138 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6139 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6140 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6141 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6142 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6143 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6144 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6145 data structure as the only parameter.
6147 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6150 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6151 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6152 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6153 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6156 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6159 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6160 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6161 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6163 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6164 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6165 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6166 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6170 Remove articles when they are read.
6173 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6176 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6178 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6179 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6180 @c from the next group.
6183 @node Article Caching
6184 @section Article Caching
6185 @cindex article caching
6188 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6189 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6190 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6191 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6192 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6194 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6196 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6197 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6198 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6199 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6200 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6201 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6202 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6203 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6205 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6206 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6207 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6208 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6209 as dormant, and don't worry.
6211 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6213 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6214 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6215 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6216 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6217 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6218 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6219 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6220 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6221 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6222 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6224 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6225 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6226 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6227 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6228 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6229 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6230 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6231 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6232 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6233 not then be downloaded by this command.
6235 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6236 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6237 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6238 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6239 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6240 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6242 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6243 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6244 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6245 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6246 variables, the group is not cached.
6248 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6249 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6250 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6251 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6252 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6253 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6254 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6255 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6256 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6260 @node Persistent Articles
6261 @section Persistent Articles
6262 @cindex persistent articles
6264 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6265 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6266 useful in my opinion.
6268 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6269 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6270 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6271 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6272 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6273 the expiry going on at the news server.
6275 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6276 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6277 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6283 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6284 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6287 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6289 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6290 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6294 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6296 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6297 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6298 interested in persistent articles:
6301 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6305 @node Article Backlog
6306 @section Article Backlog
6308 @cindex article backlog
6310 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6311 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6312 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6313 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6314 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6315 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6316 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6317 increase memory usage some.
6319 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6320 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6321 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6322 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6323 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6324 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6325 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6327 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6330 @node Saving Articles
6331 @section Saving Articles
6332 @cindex saving articles
6334 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6335 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6336 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6337 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6338 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6340 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6341 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6342 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6344 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6345 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6346 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6347 deleted before saving.
6353 @kindex O o (Summary)
6355 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6356 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6357 Save the current article using the default article saver
6358 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6361 @kindex O m (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6363 Save the current article in mail format
6364 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6367 @kindex O r (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6369 Save the current article in rmail format
6370 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6373 @kindex O f (Summary)
6374 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6375 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6376 Save the current article in plain file format
6377 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6380 @kindex O F (Summary)
6381 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6382 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6383 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6386 @kindex O b (Summary)
6387 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6388 Save the current article body in plain file format
6389 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6392 @kindex O h (Summary)
6393 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6394 Save the current article in mh folder format
6395 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6398 @kindex O v (Summary)
6399 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6400 Save the current article in a VM folder
6401 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6404 @kindex O p (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6406 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6407 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6410 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6411 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6412 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6413 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6414 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6415 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6416 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6417 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6418 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6419 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6420 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6421 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6425 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6426 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6427 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6428 functions below, or you can create your own.
6432 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6433 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6434 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6435 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6436 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6437 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6438 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6440 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6441 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6442 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6443 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6444 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6445 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6447 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6448 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6449 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6450 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6451 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6452 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6453 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6455 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6456 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6457 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6458 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6459 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6461 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6462 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6463 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6464 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6465 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6468 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6469 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6470 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6471 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6472 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6474 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6475 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6476 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6477 reader to use this setting.
6480 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6481 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6482 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6483 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6486 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6487 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6488 available functions that generate names:
6492 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6493 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6494 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6496 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6497 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6498 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6500 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6501 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6502 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6504 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6505 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6506 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6508 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6509 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6510 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6513 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6514 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6515 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6516 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6517 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6521 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6522 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6523 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6524 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6527 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6528 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6529 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6530 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6531 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6532 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6533 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6534 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6535 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6537 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6538 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6539 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6540 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6542 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6543 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6544 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6547 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6548 lots of mail groups called things like
6549 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6550 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6551 following will do just that:
6554 (defun my-save-name (group)
6555 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6556 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6558 (setq gnus-split-methods
6559 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6564 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6565 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6566 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6567 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6568 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6569 all the files in the top level directory
6570 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6571 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6572 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6573 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6575 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6576 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6577 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6578 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6579 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6582 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6586 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6587 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6590 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6591 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6592 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6593 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6596 @node Decoding Articles
6597 @section Decoding Articles
6598 @cindex decoding articles
6600 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6601 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6604 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6605 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6606 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6607 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6608 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6609 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6613 @cindex article series
6614 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6615 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6616 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6617 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6618 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6620 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6621 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6622 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6624 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
6625 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6626 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6628 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6629 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6630 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6633 @node Uuencoded Articles
6634 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6636 @cindex uuencoded articles
6641 @kindex X u (Summary)
6642 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6643 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6644 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6647 @kindex X U (Summary)
6648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6649 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6650 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6653 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6654 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6655 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6658 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6659 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6660 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6661 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6665 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6666 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6667 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6668 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6669 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6671 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6672 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6673 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6674 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6677 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6678 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6679 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6680 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6681 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6682 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6686 @node Shell Archives
6687 @subsection Shell Archives
6689 @cindex shell archives
6690 @cindex shared articles
6692 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6693 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6694 some commands to deal with these:
6699 @kindex X s (Summary)
6700 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6701 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6704 @kindex X S (Summary)
6705 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6706 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6709 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6711 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6714 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6715 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6716 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6717 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6721 @node PostScript Files
6722 @subsection PostScript Files
6728 @kindex X p (Summary)
6729 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6730 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6733 @kindex X P (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6735 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6736 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6739 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6740 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6741 View the current PostScript series
6742 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6745 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6746 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6747 View and save the current PostScript series
6748 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6753 @subsection Other Files
6757 @kindex X o (Summary)
6758 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6759 Save the current series
6760 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6763 @kindex X b (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6765 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6766 doesn't really work yet.
6770 @node Decoding Variables
6771 @subsection Decoding Variables
6773 Adjective, not verb.
6776 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6777 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6778 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6782 @node Rule Variables
6783 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6784 @cindex rule variables
6786 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6787 variables are of the form
6790 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6797 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6798 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6800 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6801 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6804 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6805 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6808 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6809 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6810 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6811 user and default view rules.
6813 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6814 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6815 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6820 @node Other Decode Variables
6821 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6824 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6826 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6827 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6828 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6829 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6830 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6834 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6835 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6838 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6839 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6840 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6843 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6844 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6845 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6846 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6847 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6850 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6851 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6852 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6854 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6855 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6856 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6857 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6858 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6861 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6862 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6863 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6865 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6866 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6867 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6868 looking for files to display.
6870 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6871 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6872 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6875 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6876 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6877 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6880 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6881 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6882 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6885 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6886 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6887 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6890 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6891 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6892 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6893 decoded articles as unread.
6895 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6896 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6897 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6898 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6900 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6901 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6902 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6904 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6905 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6907 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6908 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6909 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6910 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6912 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6913 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6914 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6915 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6916 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6917 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6918 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6919 simply dropped them.
6924 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6925 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6929 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6930 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6931 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6932 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6933 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6934 for you when you post the article.
6936 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6937 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6938 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6939 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6941 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6942 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6943 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6944 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6945 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6946 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6947 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6949 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6950 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6951 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6952 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6953 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6954 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6955 Default is @code{t}.
6961 @subsection Viewing Files
6962 @cindex viewing files
6963 @cindex pseudo-articles
6965 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6966 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6967 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6968 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6969 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6970 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6971 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6973 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6974 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6975 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6976 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6978 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6979 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6980 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6982 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6983 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6984 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6985 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6986 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6988 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6989 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6990 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6991 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6992 a list of parameters to that command.
6994 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6995 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6996 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6998 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6999 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7000 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7003 @node Article Treatment
7004 @section Article Treatment
7006 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7007 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7008 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7009 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7010 these articles easier.
7013 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7014 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7015 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7016 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7017 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7018 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7019 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7020 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7024 @node Article Highlighting
7025 @subsection Article Highlighting
7026 @cindex highlighting
7028 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7029 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7034 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7035 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7036 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7037 Do much highlighting of the current article
7038 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7039 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7042 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7043 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7044 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7045 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7046 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7047 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7048 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7049 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7050 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7051 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7052 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7053 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7056 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7057 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7058 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7060 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7063 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7065 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7066 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7067 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7069 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7070 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7071 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7073 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7074 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7075 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7076 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7077 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7078 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7080 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7081 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7082 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7084 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7085 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7086 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7088 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7089 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7090 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7091 that it's a citation.
7093 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7094 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7095 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7097 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7098 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7099 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7101 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7102 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7103 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7104 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7110 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7111 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7112 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7113 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7114 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7115 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7116 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7117 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7122 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7125 @node Article Fontisizing
7126 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7128 @cindex article emphasis
7130 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7131 @kindex W e (Summary)
7132 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7133 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7134 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7135 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7137 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7138 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7139 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7140 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7141 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7142 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7143 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7144 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7148 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7149 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7150 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7159 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7160 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7161 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7162 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7163 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7164 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7165 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7166 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7167 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7168 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7169 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7170 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7171 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7173 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7174 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7175 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7179 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7182 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7184 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7185 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7186 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7187 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7189 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7192 @node Article Hiding
7193 @subsection Article Hiding
7194 @cindex article hiding
7196 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7197 too much cruft in most articles.
7202 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7203 @findex gnus-article-hide
7204 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7205 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7206 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7209 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7210 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7211 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7215 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7216 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7217 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7218 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7221 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7222 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7223 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7227 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7228 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7229 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7230 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7231 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7232 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7233 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7234 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7238 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7239 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7240 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7241 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7246 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7248 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7249 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7250 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7251 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7252 articles that have signatures in them do:
7254 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7256 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7258 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7259 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7261 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7264 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7269 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7270 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7271 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7272 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7275 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7276 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7279 @cindex stripping advertisements
7280 @cindex advertisements
7281 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7282 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7283 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7284 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7285 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7286 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7287 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7288 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7289 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7290 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7294 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7295 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7296 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7297 customizing the hiding:
7301 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7302 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7303 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7304 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7305 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7306 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7307 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7312 Starting point of the hidden text.
7314 Ending point of the hidden text.
7316 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7318 Number of lines of hidden text.
7321 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7322 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7323 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7324 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7325 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7330 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7333 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7334 following two variables:
7337 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7338 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7339 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7340 50), hide the cited text.
7342 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7343 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7344 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7349 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7350 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7351 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7352 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7353 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7354 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7358 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7359 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7360 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7362 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7363 citation customization.
7365 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7369 @node Article Washing
7370 @subsection Article Washing
7372 @cindex article washing
7374 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7375 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7377 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7378 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7381 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7382 articles by default.
7387 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7388 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7392 @kindex W l (Summary)
7393 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7394 Remove page breaks from the current article
7395 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7399 @kindex W r (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7401 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7402 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7403 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7404 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7405 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7407 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7408 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7409 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7410 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7414 @kindex W t (Summary)
7416 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7417 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7418 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}).
7421 @kindex W v (Summary)
7422 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7423 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7424 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7427 @kindex W m (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7429 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7430 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7433 @kindex W o (Summary)
7434 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7435 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7438 @kindex W d (Summary)
7439 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7440 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7442 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7444 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7445 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7446 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7447 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7450 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7451 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7452 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7453 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7456 @kindex W w (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7458 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7460 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7464 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7465 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7466 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7469 @kindex W C (Summary)
7470 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7471 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7472 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7475 @kindex W c (Summary)
7476 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7477 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7478 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7479 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7480 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7483 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7484 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7485 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7486 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7487 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7488 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7489 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7493 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7494 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7495 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7496 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7497 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7500 @kindex W h (Summary)
7501 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7502 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7503 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7504 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7508 @kindex W f (Summary)
7510 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7511 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7512 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7513 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7520 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7521 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7522 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7523 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7524 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7525 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7526 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7527 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7528 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7529 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7530 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7531 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7532 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7533 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7534 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7535 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7536 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7537 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7538 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7539 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7543 @kindex W b (Summary)
7544 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7545 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7546 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7549 @kindex W B (Summary)
7550 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7551 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7552 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7555 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7557 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7558 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7561 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7562 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7563 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7564 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7567 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7568 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7569 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7570 lines with a single empty line.
7571 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7574 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7575 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7576 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7577 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7580 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7581 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7582 Do all the three commands above
7583 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7586 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7587 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7588 Remove all blank lines
7589 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7592 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7593 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7594 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7595 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7598 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7600 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7601 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7605 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7608 @node Article Buttons
7609 @subsection Article Buttons
7612 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7613 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7614 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7615 button on these references.
7617 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7618 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7619 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7624 @item gnus-button-alist
7625 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7626 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7629 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7635 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7636 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7637 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7640 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7641 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7642 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7645 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7646 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7647 avoid false matches.
7650 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7653 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7654 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7658 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7661 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7664 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7665 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7666 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7667 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7668 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7671 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7674 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7676 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7677 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7678 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7679 default values of the variables above.
7681 @item gnus-article-button-face
7682 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7683 Face used on buttons.
7685 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7686 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7687 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7691 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7695 @subsection Article Date
7697 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7698 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7699 when the article was sent.
7704 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7705 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7706 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7707 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7710 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7711 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7713 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7714 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7717 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7718 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7719 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7722 @kindex W T p (Summary)
7723 @findex gnus-article-date-english
7724 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
7725 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
7728 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7729 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7730 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7731 @findex format-time-string
7732 Display the date using a user-defined format
7733 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7734 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7735 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7736 for a list of possible format specs.
7739 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7740 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7741 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7742 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7743 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7744 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7747 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7750 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7751 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7754 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7755 into wonderful absurdities.
7757 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7760 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7763 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7764 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7768 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7769 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7770 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7771 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7772 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7773 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7774 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7778 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7779 preferred format automatically.
7782 @node Article Signature
7783 @subsection Article Signature
7785 @cindex article signature
7787 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7788 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7789 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7790 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7791 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7792 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7793 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7794 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7795 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7798 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7799 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7800 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7801 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7802 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7803 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7804 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7805 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7808 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7811 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7812 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7813 signature when displaying articles.
7817 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7820 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7823 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7824 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7826 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7827 in question is not a signature.
7830 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7831 listed above. Here's an example:
7834 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7835 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7838 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7839 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7840 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7841 signature after all.
7844 @node Article Miscellania
7845 @subsection Article Miscellania
7849 @kindex A t (Summary)
7850 @findex gnus-article-babel
7851 Translate the article from one language to another
7852 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7858 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7859 @cindex MIME decoding
7861 @cindex viewing attachments
7863 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7864 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7870 @kindex K v (Summary)
7871 View the @sc{mime} part.
7874 @kindex K o (Summary)
7875 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7878 @kindex K c (Summary)
7879 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7882 @kindex K e (Summary)
7883 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7886 @kindex K i (Summary)
7887 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7890 @kindex K | (Summary)
7891 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7894 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7899 @kindex K b (Summary)
7900 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7901 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7905 @kindex K m (Summary)
7906 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7907 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7908 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7909 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7910 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7913 @kindex X m (Summary)
7914 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7915 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7916 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7917 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7920 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7921 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7922 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7923 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7926 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7927 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7928 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7931 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7932 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7933 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7935 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7936 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7937 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7938 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7939 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7940 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7943 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7944 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7945 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7952 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7953 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7954 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7955 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7958 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7961 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7965 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7966 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7967 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7968 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7969 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7971 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7972 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7973 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7974 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7975 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7976 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7977 save all jpegs into some directory).
7979 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7982 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7983 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7985 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7986 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7987 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7988 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7989 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7992 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7993 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7994 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8003 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8004 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8005 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8006 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8007 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8008 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8009 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8011 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8012 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8013 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match full group names) and
8014 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8016 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8017 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
8018 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8019 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8020 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
8021 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8022 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
8023 something some agents insist on having in there.
8025 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8026 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8027 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8028 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8029 quoted-printable header encoding.
8031 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8032 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8033 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8037 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8040 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8041 means encode all charsets),
8043 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8044 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8045 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8052 @cindex coding system aliases
8053 @cindex preferred charset
8055 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8057 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8058 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8061 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8062 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8065 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8066 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8068 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8071 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8074 This will almost do the right thing.
8076 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8080 (codepage-setup 1251)
8081 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8085 @node Article Commands
8086 @section Article Commands
8093 @kindex A P (Summary)
8094 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8095 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8096 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8097 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8098 run just before printing the buffer.
8103 @node Summary Sorting
8104 @section Summary Sorting
8105 @cindex summary sorting
8107 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8108 can't really see why you'd want that.
8113 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8115 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8118 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8119 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8120 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8123 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8124 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8125 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8128 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8129 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8130 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8133 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8134 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8135 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8138 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8139 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8140 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8143 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8144 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8145 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8148 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8149 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8150 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8151 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8152 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8156 @node Finding the Parent
8157 @section Finding the Parent
8158 @cindex parent articles
8159 @cindex referring articles
8164 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8165 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8166 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8167 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8168 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8169 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8170 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8171 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8172 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8174 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8175 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8176 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
8177 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8178 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8182 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8183 @kindex A R (Summary)
8184 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8185 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8188 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8189 @kindex A T (Summary)
8190 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8191 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8192 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8193 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8194 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8195 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8196 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8198 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8199 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8200 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8201 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8202 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8203 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8206 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8207 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8209 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8210 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8211 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8212 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8213 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8214 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8215 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8218 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8219 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8220 by giving this command a prefix.
8222 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8223 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8224 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8225 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8226 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8227 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8230 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8231 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8232 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8235 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8236 then ask Deja if that fails:
8239 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8241 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8244 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8245 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8246 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8247 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8248 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8249 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8252 @node Alternative Approaches
8253 @section Alternative Approaches
8255 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8256 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8259 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8260 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8265 @subsection Pick and Read
8266 @cindex pick and read
8268 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8269 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8270 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8271 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8273 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8274 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8275 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8276 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8277 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8278 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8280 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8285 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8286 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8287 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8288 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8289 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8290 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8291 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8292 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8295 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8296 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8297 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8298 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8302 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8303 Unpick the thread or article
8304 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8305 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8306 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8307 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8308 the thread or article at that line.
8312 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8313 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8314 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8315 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8316 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8317 will still be visible when you are reading.
8321 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8322 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8323 which is mapped to the same function
8324 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8326 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8329 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8332 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8333 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8335 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8336 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8337 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8339 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8340 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8341 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8342 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8343 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8344 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8345 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8349 @subsection Binary Groups
8350 @cindex binary groups
8352 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8353 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8354 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8355 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8356 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8357 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8358 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8361 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8362 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8363 command, when you have turned on this mode
8364 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8366 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8367 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8371 @section Tree Display
8374 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8375 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
8376 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8377 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8380 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8383 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8384 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8385 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8387 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8388 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8389 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8390 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8391 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8393 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8394 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8395 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8396 default is @code{modeline}.
8398 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8399 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8400 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8401 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8402 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8403 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8404 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8410 The name of the poster.
8412 The @code{From} header.
8414 The number of the article.
8416 The opening bracket.
8418 The closing bracket.
8423 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8425 Variables related to the display are:
8428 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8429 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8430 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8431 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8432 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8433 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8435 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8436 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8437 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8438 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8442 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8443 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8444 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
8445 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
8446 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8447 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8448 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8449 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8450 other windows displayed next to it.
8452 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8453 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8454 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8455 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8456 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8457 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8458 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8462 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8465 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8475 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8479 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8480 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8482 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8484 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8489 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8490 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8491 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8494 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8495 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8496 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8497 (gnus-add-configuration
8501 (summary 0.75 point)
8506 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8509 @node Mail Group Commands
8510 @section Mail Group Commands
8511 @cindex mail group commands
8513 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8514 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8516 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8517 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8522 @kindex B e (Summary)
8523 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8524 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8525 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8528 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8529 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8530 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8531 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8532 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8533 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8536 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8537 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8538 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8539 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8540 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8541 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8544 @kindex B m (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8547 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8548 Move the article from one mail group to another
8549 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8550 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8553 @kindex B c (Summary)
8555 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8556 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8557 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8558 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8559 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8562 @kindex B B (Summary)
8563 @cindex crosspost mail
8564 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8565 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8566 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8567 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8568 be properly updated.
8571 @kindex B i (Summary)
8572 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8573 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8574 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8575 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8578 @kindex B r (Summary)
8579 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8580 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8581 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8582 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8583 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8584 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8585 (which is the default).
8589 @kindex B w (Summary)
8591 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8592 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8593 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8594 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8595 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8596 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8599 @kindex B q (Summary)
8600 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8601 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8602 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8603 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8606 @kindex B t (Summary)
8607 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8608 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8609 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8612 @kindex B p (Summary)
8613 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8614 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8615 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8616 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8617 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8618 article from your news server (or rather, from
8619 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8620 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8621 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8622 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8623 just not have arrived yet.
8627 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8628 @cindex moving articles
8629 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
8630 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8631 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8632 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8633 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
8634 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
8635 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
8638 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8639 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8640 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8641 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8645 @node Various Summary Stuff
8646 @section Various Summary Stuff
8649 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8650 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8651 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8652 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8656 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8657 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8658 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8660 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8661 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8662 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8663 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8664 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8665 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8668 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8669 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8670 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8671 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8672 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8674 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8675 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8676 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8679 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8680 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8681 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8682 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8683 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8684 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8685 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
8686 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8687 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8688 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8690 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8691 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8692 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8693 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8694 list of articles to be selected.
8696 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8697 the list in one particular group:
8700 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8701 (if (string= group "some.group")
8702 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8709 @node Summary Group Information
8710 @subsection Summary Group Information
8715 @kindex H f (Summary)
8716 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8717 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8718 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8719 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8720 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8721 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8722 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8723 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8724 be used for fetching the file.
8727 @kindex H d (Summary)
8728 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8729 Give a brief description of the current group
8730 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8731 rereading the description from the server.
8734 @kindex H h (Summary)
8735 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8736 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8737 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8740 @kindex H i (Summary)
8741 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8742 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8746 @node Searching for Articles
8747 @subsection Searching for Articles
8752 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8753 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8754 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8755 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8758 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8759 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8760 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8761 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8765 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8766 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8767 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8768 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8769 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8770 search backward instead.
8772 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8773 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8776 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8777 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8778 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8779 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8782 @node Summary Generation Commands
8783 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8788 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8789 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8790 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8793 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8794 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8795 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8796 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8801 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8802 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8808 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8809 @kindex A D (Summary)
8810 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8811 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8812 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8813 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8814 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8815 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8816 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8817 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8821 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8822 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8823 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8824 several documents into one biiig group
8825 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8826 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8827 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8828 command understands the process/prefix convention
8829 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8832 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8833 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8834 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8835 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8836 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8837 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8841 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8842 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8843 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8846 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8847 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8848 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8849 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8852 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8853 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8854 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8855 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8860 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8861 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8862 @cindex summary exit
8863 @cindex exiting groups
8865 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8866 group and return you to the group buffer.
8872 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8874 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8875 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8876 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8877 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8878 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8879 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8880 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8881 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8882 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8883 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8884 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8888 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8890 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8891 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8892 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8896 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8898 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8899 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8900 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8901 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8904 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8905 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8906 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8907 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8910 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8911 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8912 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8913 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8916 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8917 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8918 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8919 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8920 all articles, both read and unread.
8924 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8925 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8926 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8928 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8929 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8930 articles, both read and unread.
8933 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8934 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8935 Exit the group and go to the next group
8936 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8939 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8941 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8942 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8945 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8946 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8947 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8948 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8949 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8950 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8953 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8954 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8955 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8956 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8958 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8959 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8960 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8961 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8962 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8963 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8964 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8965 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8966 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8967 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8968 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8969 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8971 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8973 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8974 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8975 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8976 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8977 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8978 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8979 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8980 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8981 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8984 @node Crosspost Handling
8985 @section Crosspost Handling
8989 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8990 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8991 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8992 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8993 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8994 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8997 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8998 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8999 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9000 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9001 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9003 @cindex cross-posting
9006 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9007 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9008 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9009 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9010 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9011 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9012 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9013 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9014 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9015 the cross reference mechanism.
9017 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9018 @cindex overview.fmt
9019 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9020 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9021 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9022 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9023 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9024 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9027 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9028 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9029 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9034 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9037 @node Duplicate Suppression
9038 @section Duplicate Suppression
9040 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9041 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9042 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9043 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9048 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9049 is evil and not very common.
9052 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9053 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9056 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9057 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9060 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9063 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9064 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9066 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9067 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9068 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9069 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9070 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9071 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9072 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9075 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9076 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9077 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9078 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9079 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9083 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9084 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9085 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9087 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9088 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9089 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9090 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9091 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
9092 session are suppressed.
9094 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9095 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9096 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9097 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9099 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9100 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9101 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9102 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9105 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
9106 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9107 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9108 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9109 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
9110 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9111 to you to figure out, I think.
9116 Gnus is able to verify PGP or S/MIME signed messages or decrypt PGP
9121 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9127 @item mm-verify-option
9128 @vindex mm-verify-option
9129 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9130 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9131 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9133 @item mm-decrypt-option
9134 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9135 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9136 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9137 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9141 @node The Article Buffer
9142 @chapter The Article Buffer
9143 @cindex article buffer
9145 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9146 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9147 tell gnus otherwise.
9150 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9151 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9152 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9153 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9154 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9158 @node Hiding Headers
9159 @section Hiding Headers
9160 @cindex hiding headers
9161 @cindex deleting headers
9163 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9164 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9166 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9167 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9168 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9169 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9170 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9171 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9172 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9173 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9174 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9176 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9180 @item gnus-visible-headers
9181 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9182 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9183 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9184 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9186 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9187 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9190 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9193 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9196 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9197 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9198 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9199 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9200 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9201 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9203 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
9204 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
9207 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9210 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9213 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9214 variable will have no effect.
9218 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9219 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9220 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9221 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9222 the headers are to be displayed.
9224 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9225 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9228 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9231 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9232 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9234 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9235 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9236 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9237 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9238 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9239 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9240 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9243 These conditions are:
9246 Remove all empty headers.
9248 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9249 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9251 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9254 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9257 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9258 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9260 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9263 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9265 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9268 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9271 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9272 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9275 This is also the default value for this variable.
9279 @section Using @sc{mime}
9282 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9283 while people stand around yawning.
9285 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9286 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9288 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9289 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9290 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9292 @vindex gnus-show-mime
9293 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
9294 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
9295 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
9296 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
9297 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
9298 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
9299 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
9300 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
9301 existed yet, sorry).
9303 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
9304 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
9305 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
9306 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
9307 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
9308 buffer. These can't be avoided.
9310 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
9311 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
9312 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
9313 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
9314 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
9315 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
9316 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
9317 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
9318 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
9321 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9323 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
9324 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
9325 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
9326 buffer when there are nobody else.
9328 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9331 @node Customizing Articles
9332 @section Customizing Articles
9333 @cindex article customization
9335 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9336 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9337 called automatically when you select the articles.
9339 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9340 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9341 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9342 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9344 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9345 for sensible values.
9349 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9352 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9355 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9358 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9361 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9365 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9366 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9367 regexps in the list.
9370 A list where the first element is not a string:
9372 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9373 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9374 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9378 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9382 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
9387 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9388 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9389 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9390 considered to contain just a single part.
9392 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9393 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9394 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9395 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9396 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9397 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9398 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9400 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9401 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9402 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9403 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9406 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9407 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9408 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9409 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9410 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9411 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9412 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9413 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9414 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9415 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9416 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
9417 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9418 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9419 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9420 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9421 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9422 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9423 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9424 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9425 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9426 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9427 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9428 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
9429 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9430 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9431 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9432 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9433 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9434 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9435 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9436 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9437 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9438 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9439 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9440 @item gnus-treat-translate
9441 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
9444 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9445 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9446 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9447 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9448 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9452 @node Article Keymap
9453 @section Article Keymap
9455 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9456 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9457 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9458 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9461 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9466 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9467 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9468 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9471 @kindex DEL (Article)
9472 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9473 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9476 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9477 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9478 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9479 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9480 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9483 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9484 @findex gnus-article-mail
9485 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9486 given a prefix, include the mail.
9490 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9491 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9492 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9496 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9497 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9498 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9501 @kindex TAB (Article)
9502 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9503 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9504 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9507 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9508 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9509 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9515 @section Misc Article
9519 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9520 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9521 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9522 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9525 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9526 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9528 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9529 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9531 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9532 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9533 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9534 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9535 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9536 the contents of the article buffer.
9538 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9539 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9540 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9542 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9543 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9544 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9545 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9547 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9548 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9549 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9550 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9551 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9556 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9557 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9560 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9563 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9565 @item gnus-break-pages
9566 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9567 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9568 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9569 paging will not be done.
9571 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9572 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9573 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9578 @node Composing Messages
9579 @chapter Composing Messages
9580 @cindex composing messages
9583 @cindex sending mail
9589 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9590 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9591 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9592 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9593 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9594 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9597 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9598 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9599 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9600 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9601 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9602 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9603 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9604 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9607 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9608 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9614 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9617 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9618 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9619 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9620 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9622 @item gnus-add-to-list
9623 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9624 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9625 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9630 @node Posting Server
9631 @section Posting Server
9633 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9634 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9636 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9638 @vindex gnus-post-method
9640 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
9641 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9642 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9643 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9644 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9647 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9650 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9651 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9652 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9653 the ``current'' server for posting.
9655 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9656 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9658 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9659 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9662 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9663 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9664 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9669 @section Mail and Post
9671 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9675 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9676 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9677 @cindex mailing lists
9679 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9680 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9681 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9682 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9683 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9684 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9685 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9686 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9687 still a pain, though.
9691 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9692 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9693 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9696 @findex ispell-message
9698 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9701 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9702 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9705 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9708 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9709 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9711 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9714 Modify to suit your needs.
9717 @node Archived Messages
9718 @section Archived Messages
9719 @cindex archived messages
9720 @cindex sent messages
9722 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9723 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9724 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9725 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9728 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9729 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
9730 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9734 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9735 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9736 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9737 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9740 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9741 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
9742 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9743 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9746 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9747 '(nnfolder "archive"
9748 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9749 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9750 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9753 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9755 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9756 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9757 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9759 This variable can be used to do the following:
9763 Messages will be saved in that group.
9765 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9766 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9767 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9768 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9769 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9770 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9771 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9772 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9774 @item a list of strings
9775 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9776 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9777 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9779 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9784 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9786 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9789 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9791 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9794 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9796 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9797 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9798 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9799 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9804 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9805 '((if (message-news-p)
9810 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9811 messages in one file per month:
9814 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9815 '((if (message-news-p)
9817 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9820 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9821 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9823 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9824 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9825 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9826 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9827 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9828 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9829 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9830 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9831 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9832 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9834 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9835 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9836 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9837 this will disable archiving.
9840 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9841 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9842 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9843 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9844 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9847 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9848 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9849 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9852 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9853 but the latter is the preferred method.
9855 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9856 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9857 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
9862 @node Posting Styles
9863 @section Posting Styles
9864 @cindex posting styles
9867 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9869 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9870 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9871 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9874 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9875 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9876 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9877 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9878 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9883 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9884 (organization "What me?"))
9886 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9887 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9888 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9891 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9892 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9893 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9894 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9895 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9896 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9897 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9898 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9900 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9901 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9902 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9903 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9904 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9905 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9906 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9907 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9910 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9911 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9912 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9913 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9914 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9915 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9916 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9917 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9918 result is thrown away.
9920 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9921 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9922 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9923 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9924 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9925 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9927 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9928 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9929 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9931 @findex message-mail-p
9932 @findex message-news-p
9934 So here's a new example:
9937 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9939 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9941 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9942 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9944 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9945 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9946 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9948 (signature my-news-signature))
9949 (header "From\\|To" "larsi.*org"
9950 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9951 ((posting-from-work-p)
9952 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9953 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9954 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9955 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9957 (From (save-excursion
9958 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
9959 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
9961 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9964 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
9965 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
9966 if you fill many roles.
9973 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9974 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9975 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9976 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9977 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9979 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9980 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9981 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9982 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9983 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9987 @vindex nndraft-directory
9988 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9989 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9990 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9991 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9992 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9993 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9995 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9996 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9999 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10000 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10001 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10002 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10003 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10004 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10005 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10006 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10007 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10008 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10009 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10010 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10011 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10012 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10014 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10015 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10016 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10018 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10019 @kindex D e (Draft)
10020 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10021 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10022 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10024 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10027 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10028 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10029 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10030 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10031 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10032 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10033 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10036 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10037 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10038 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10041 @node Rejected Articles
10042 @section Rejected Articles
10043 @cindex rejected articles
10045 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10046 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10047 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10048 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10050 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
10051 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10052 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10053 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
10054 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10056 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10057 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10058 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10064 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10065 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10066 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10068 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10069 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10073 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10074 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10077 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10078 to 700, for your own safety.
10080 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10081 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10085 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10088 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10089 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10092 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10095 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10096 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{C-c
10097 C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{C-c C-m c
10098 p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c C-m c s} to
10099 encrypt using S/MIME.
10101 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10102 you've typed it correctly.
10104 @node Select Methods
10105 @chapter Select Methods
10106 @cindex foreign groups
10107 @cindex select methods
10109 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10110 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10111 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10112 personal mail group.
10114 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10115 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10116 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10117 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10118 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10119 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10121 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10122 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
10124 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10127 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10128 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10129 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10130 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10131 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10133 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10136 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10137 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10138 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10139 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10140 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10141 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10142 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10146 @node The Server Buffer
10147 @section The Server Buffer
10149 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10150 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10151 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10152 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10153 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10154 backend represents a virtual server.
10156 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10157 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10158 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10159 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10161 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10162 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10163 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10164 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10165 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10166 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10167 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10169 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10170 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10173 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10174 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10175 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10176 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10177 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10178 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10179 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10182 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10183 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10186 @node Server Buffer Format
10187 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10188 @cindex server buffer format
10190 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10191 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10192 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10193 variable, with some simple extensions:
10198 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10201 The name of this server.
10204 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10207 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10210 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10211 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10212 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10213 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10223 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10226 @node Server Commands
10227 @subsection Server Commands
10228 @cindex server commands
10234 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10235 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10239 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10240 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10243 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10244 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10245 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10249 @findex gnus-server-exit
10250 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10254 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10255 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10259 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10260 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10264 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10265 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10269 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10270 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10274 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10275 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10276 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10281 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10282 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10283 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10284 a mail backend that has gotten out of sync.
10289 @node Example Methods
10290 @subsection Example Methods
10292 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10295 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10298 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10304 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10305 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10308 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10309 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10311 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10312 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10316 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10319 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10320 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10322 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10323 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10324 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10328 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10331 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10334 Here's the method for a public spool:
10338 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10339 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10345 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10346 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10347 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10348 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10349 should probably look something like this:
10353 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10354 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10355 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10356 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10357 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10360 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10361 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10362 server that would look something like this:
10366 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10367 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10368 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10369 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10370 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10371 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10374 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10375 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10376 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10377 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10380 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10381 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10383 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10384 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10386 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10387 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10388 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10390 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10392 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10393 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10394 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10395 will contain the following:
10405 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10406 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10407 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10410 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10411 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10412 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10415 @node Server Variables
10416 @subsection Server Variables
10418 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10419 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10420 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10421 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10422 won't change the "derived" variables.
10424 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10425 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10426 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10427 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10428 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10429 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10430 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10431 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10432 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10436 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10437 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10438 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10442 @node Servers and Methods
10443 @subsection Servers and Methods
10445 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10446 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10447 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10448 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10452 @node Unavailable Servers
10453 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10455 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10456 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10457 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10458 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10459 actually the case or not.
10461 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10462 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10463 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10464 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10465 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10466 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10467 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10468 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10470 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10471 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10473 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10474 with the following commands:
10480 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10481 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10482 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10486 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10487 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10488 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10492 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10493 Mark the current server as unreachable
10494 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10497 @kindex M-o (Server)
10498 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10499 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10500 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10503 @kindex M-c (Server)
10504 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10505 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10506 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10510 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10511 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10512 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10518 @section Getting News
10519 @cindex reading news
10520 @cindex news backends
10522 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10523 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10524 or it can read from a local spool.
10527 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10528 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10533 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10536 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10537 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10538 server as the, uhm, address.
10540 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10541 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10542 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10543 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10545 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10546 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10547 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10549 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10554 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10555 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10556 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10558 @cindex authentification
10559 @cindex nntp authentification
10560 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10561 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10562 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10563 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10564 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10565 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10566 present in this hook.
10568 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10569 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10570 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10571 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10572 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10573 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10574 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10575 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10576 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10577 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10578 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10579 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10583 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10586 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10588 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10589 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
10590 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10591 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10592 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10593 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
10594 @samp{force} is explained below.
10598 Here's an example file:
10601 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10602 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10605 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10606 have to be first, for instance.
10608 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10609 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10610 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10611 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10612 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10613 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10614 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10616 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10617 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10623 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10624 previously mentioned.
10626 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10628 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10629 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10630 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10631 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10632 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10635 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10636 '(("innd" (ding))))
10639 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10641 The default value is
10644 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10645 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10648 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10649 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10651 @item nntp-maximum-request
10652 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10653 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10654 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10655 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10656 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10657 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10658 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10660 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10661 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10662 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10663 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10664 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10665 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10666 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10667 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10668 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10669 no timeouts are done.
10671 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10672 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10673 @c @cindex PPP connections
10674 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10675 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10676 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10677 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10678 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10679 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10680 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10681 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10682 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10683 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10685 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10686 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10687 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10688 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10689 @c described above.
10691 @item nntp-server-hook
10692 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10693 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10696 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10697 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10698 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10699 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10700 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10701 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10702 functions are supplied:
10705 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10706 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10709 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10710 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10711 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10714 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10718 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10719 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10720 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10721 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10723 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10724 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10725 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10727 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10728 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10729 User name on the remote system.
10733 @item nntp-open-telnet
10734 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10735 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10737 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10740 @item nntp-telnet-command
10741 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10742 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10744 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10745 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10746 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10748 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10749 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10750 User name for log in on the remote system.
10752 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10753 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10754 Password to use when logging in.
10756 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10757 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10758 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10761 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10762 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10763 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10764 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10766 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10767 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10768 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10769 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10770 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10774 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10775 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10776 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10777 you must have SSLay installed
10778 (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10779 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
10780 define a server as follows:
10783 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10785 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10787 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10788 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10789 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10790 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10795 @item nntp-end-of-line
10796 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10797 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10798 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10799 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10801 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10802 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10803 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10807 @vindex nntp-address
10808 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10810 @item nntp-port-number
10811 @vindex nntp-port-number
10812 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10815 @item nntp-list-options
10816 @vindex nntp-list-options
10817 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
10818 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
10819 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
10820 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
10821 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
10825 (setq gnus-select-method
10826 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
10827 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
10830 @item nntp-options-subscribe
10831 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
10832 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
10833 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
10834 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
10835 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
10836 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
10839 (setq gnus-select-method
10840 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
10841 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
10844 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
10845 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
10846 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
10847 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
10848 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
10849 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
10850 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
10853 (setq gnus-select-method
10854 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
10855 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
10858 @item nntp-buggy-select
10859 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10860 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10862 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10863 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10864 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10865 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10868 @item nntp-xover-commands
10869 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10872 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10873 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10877 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10878 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10879 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10880 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10881 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10882 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10883 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10884 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10885 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10886 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10887 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10889 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10890 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10891 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10893 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10894 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10895 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10896 server closes connection.
10898 @item nntp-record-commands
10899 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10900 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10901 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10902 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10903 that doesn't seem to work.
10909 @subsection News Spool
10913 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10914 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10915 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10918 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10919 anything else) as the address.
10921 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10922 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10923 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10924 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10928 @item nnspool-inews-program
10929 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10930 Program used to post an article.
10932 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10933 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10934 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10936 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10937 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10938 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10939 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10941 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10942 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10943 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10944 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10946 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10947 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10948 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10950 @item nnspool-active-file
10951 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10952 The path to the active file.
10954 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10955 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10956 The path to the group descriptions file.
10958 @item nnspool-history-file
10959 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10960 The path to the news history file.
10962 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10963 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10964 The path to the active date file.
10966 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10967 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10968 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10971 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10972 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10974 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10975 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10976 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10982 @section Getting Mail
10983 @cindex reading mail
10986 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10990 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10991 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10992 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10993 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10994 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10995 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10996 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10997 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10998 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10999 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11000 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11001 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
11002 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11006 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11007 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11009 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11010 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11011 of a culture shock.
11013 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11014 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11016 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11017 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11018 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11019 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11021 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11023 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11024 deleted? How awful!
11026 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11027 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11028 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11029 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11032 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11033 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11034 they want to treat a message.
11036 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11037 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11038 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11039 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11040 archived somewhere else.
11042 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11043 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11044 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11045 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11046 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11048 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11049 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11050 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11052 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11053 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11056 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11057 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11058 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11059 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11060 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11062 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11063 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11064 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11065 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11066 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11067 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11071 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11072 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11074 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11075 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11076 and things will happen automatically.
11078 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11079 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11082 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11083 '((nnml "private")))
11086 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
11087 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11088 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11089 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11090 like any other group.
11092 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11095 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11096 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11097 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11101 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11102 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11103 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11106 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11107 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11108 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11111 @node Splitting Mail
11112 @subsection Splitting Mail
11113 @cindex splitting mail
11114 @cindex mail splitting
11116 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11117 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11118 to be split into groups.
11121 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11122 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11123 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11124 ("mail.other" "")))
11127 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11128 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11129 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11130 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11131 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11132 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11133 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11136 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11139 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11140 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11141 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11142 mail belongs in that group.
11144 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11145 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11146 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11147 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11148 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11149 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11151 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11152 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11153 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11154 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11155 thinks should carry this mail message.
11157 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11158 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11159 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11160 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11162 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11163 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11164 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11165 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11166 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11168 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11171 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11172 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11173 links. If that's the case for you, set
11174 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11175 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11177 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11178 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11179 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11180 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11181 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11182 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11185 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11186 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11187 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11188 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11189 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11190 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11191 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11192 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11193 month's rent money.
11197 @subsection Mail Sources
11199 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11200 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11204 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11205 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11206 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11210 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11211 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11213 @cindex mail server
11216 @cindex mail source
11218 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11219 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11224 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11227 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11228 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11229 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11232 The following mail source types are available:
11236 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11242 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11243 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11246 An example file mail source:
11249 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11252 Or using the default path:
11258 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11259 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11260 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11263 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11267 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11270 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11274 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11277 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11279 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11282 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11286 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11287 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11288 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil force Gnus to
11289 scan the mail source only once.
11295 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11299 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11303 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11304 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11305 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11306 predicate are considered.
11310 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11314 An example directory mail source:
11317 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11322 Get mail from a POP server.
11328 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11329 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11332 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11333 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11334 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11335 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
11336 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
11339 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11343 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11347 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
11348 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11351 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11354 The valid format specifier characters are:
11358 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11359 included in this string.
11362 The name of the server.
11365 The port number of the server.
11368 The user name to use.
11371 The password to use.
11374 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11375 corresponding keywords.
11378 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11379 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11382 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11383 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11386 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11387 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11390 @item :authentication
11391 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11392 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11397 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11398 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11400 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11401 default user name, and default fetcher:
11407 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11410 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11411 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11414 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11417 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11421 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11422 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11423 contains exactly one mail.
11429 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11430 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11433 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11434 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11436 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11437 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11438 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11441 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11442 from locking problems).
11446 Two example maildir mail sources:
11449 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11453 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11457 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
11458 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
11459 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
11460 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
11467 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11468 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11471 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11472 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11475 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11479 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11483 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11484 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11485 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11487 @item :authentication
11488 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11489 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11490 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11494 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
11495 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
11496 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
11502 The valid format specifier characters are:
11506 The name of the server.
11509 User name from `imap-default-user'.
11512 The port number of the server.
11515 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11516 corresponding keywords.
11519 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11520 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11523 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11524 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11525 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11526 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11527 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11528 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11531 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11532 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11533 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11534 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11537 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11538 after finishing the fetch.
11542 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11545 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11549 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11550 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11552 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11555 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11556 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11558 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11564 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11565 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11568 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11572 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11576 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11577 folder after finishing the fetch.
11581 An example webmail source:
11584 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11589 @item Common Keywords
11590 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11596 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11597 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11601 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11606 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11607 useful when you use local mail and news.
11612 @subsubsection Function Interface
11614 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11615 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11616 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11617 consider the following mail-source setting:
11620 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11621 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11624 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11625 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11626 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11627 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11628 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11630 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11633 @node Mail Source Customization
11634 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11636 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11637 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11641 @item mail-source-crash-box
11642 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11643 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11644 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11646 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11647 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11648 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11650 @item mail-source-directory
11651 @vindex mail-source-directory
11652 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11653 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11654 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11657 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11658 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11659 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11660 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11661 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11662 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11664 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11665 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11666 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11671 @node Fetching Mail
11672 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11674 @vindex mail-sources
11675 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11676 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11677 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11678 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11680 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11681 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11684 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11685 mail server, you'd say something like:
11690 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11691 :password "secret")))
11694 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11698 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11699 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11702 :password "secret")))
11706 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11707 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11708 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11709 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11710 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11711 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11715 @node Mail Backend Variables
11716 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11718 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11722 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11723 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11724 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11725 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11727 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11728 @item nnmail-split-hook
11729 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11730 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11731 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11732 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11733 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11734 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11735 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11736 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11737 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11740 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11741 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11742 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11743 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11744 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11745 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11746 starting to handle the new mail) and
11747 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11748 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11749 default file modes the new mail files get:
11752 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11753 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11755 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11756 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11759 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11760 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11761 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11762 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11763 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11764 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11765 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11767 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11768 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11769 @findex delete-file
11770 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11772 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11773 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11774 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11775 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11776 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11781 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11782 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11783 @cindex mail splitting
11784 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11786 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11787 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11788 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11789 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11790 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11791 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11793 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11796 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11797 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11798 ;; from real errors.
11799 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11801 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11802 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11803 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11804 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11805 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11806 ;; Other mailing lists...
11807 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11808 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11809 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11810 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11811 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11812 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11813 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11814 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11816 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11817 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11821 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11822 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11823 the five possible split syntaxes:
11828 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11829 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11833 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11834 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11835 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11836 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11837 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11838 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11839 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11840 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11843 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11844 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11845 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11846 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11849 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11850 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11853 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11854 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11857 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11858 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11859 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11860 function should return a @var{split}.
11862 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11863 body of the messages:
11866 (defun split-on-body ()
11868 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11869 (goto-char (point-min))
11870 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11875 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11876 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11877 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11881 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11885 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11886 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11887 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11888 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11889 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11891 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11892 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11893 are expanded as specified by the variable
11894 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11895 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11898 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11899 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11900 when all this splitting is performed.
11902 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11903 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11904 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11907 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11910 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11911 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11913 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11914 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11915 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11916 groupings 1 through 9.
11918 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
11919 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
11920 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
11921 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
11922 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
11923 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
11924 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
11925 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
11926 it once per thread.
11928 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
11929 non-nil value. And then you can include
11930 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
11932 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11933 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
11934 ;; other splits go here
11938 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
11939 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
11940 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
11941 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
11942 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
11943 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
11944 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
11945 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
11946 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
11947 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
11948 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
11949 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300
11951 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11952 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
11953 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
11954 messages goes into the new group.
11957 @node Group Mail Splitting
11958 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11959 @cindex mail splitting
11960 @cindex group mail splitting
11962 @findex gnus-group-split
11963 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11964 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11965 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11966 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11967 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11968 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11969 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11970 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11972 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11973 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11974 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11975 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11977 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11978 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11979 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11980 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11981 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11982 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11983 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11985 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11986 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11987 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11988 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11989 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11990 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11991 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11993 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11994 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11995 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11996 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11997 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11998 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11999 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12000 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12001 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12002 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12003 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12004 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12005 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12007 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12012 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12013 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12015 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12016 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12017 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12018 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12020 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12023 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12024 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12025 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12028 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12029 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12030 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12034 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12035 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12036 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12040 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12043 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12044 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12045 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12046 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12047 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12048 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12049 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12050 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12051 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12053 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12054 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12055 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12056 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12057 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12058 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12059 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12060 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12061 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12063 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12064 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12065 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12066 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12067 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12068 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12071 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12074 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12075 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12076 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12077 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12078 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12081 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12082 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12083 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12084 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12086 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12087 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12089 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12090 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12091 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12094 Doing so can be quite easy.
12096 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12097 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12098 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12099 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12100 your @code{nnml} groups.
12106 Go to the group buffer.
12109 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12110 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12113 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12116 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12117 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12120 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12121 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12124 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12125 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12126 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12127 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12128 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12130 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12131 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12132 using the new mail backend.
12135 @node Expiring Mail
12136 @subsection Expiring Mail
12137 @cindex article expiry
12139 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12140 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12141 different approach to mail reading.
12143 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12144 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12145 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12146 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12147 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12148 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12151 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12152 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12153 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12154 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12155 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12156 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12157 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12158 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12160 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12161 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12162 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12163 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12164 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12165 column in the summary buffer.
12167 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12168 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12169 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12170 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12173 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12175 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12176 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12177 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12180 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12181 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12182 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12183 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12184 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12186 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12187 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12190 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12191 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12194 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12195 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12197 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12198 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12199 don't really mix very well.
12201 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12202 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12203 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12204 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12207 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12208 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12209 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12210 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12213 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12215 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12217 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12219 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12221 ((string= group "important")
12227 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12228 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12230 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12231 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12232 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12235 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12236 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12238 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12239 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12240 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12241 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12242 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12243 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12244 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12245 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12246 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12247 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12248 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12249 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12252 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12254 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12258 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12259 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12260 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12261 easier for procmail users.
12263 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12264 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12265 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12266 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12267 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12268 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12269 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12270 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12271 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12272 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12273 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12274 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12275 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12278 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12280 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12281 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12282 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12283 auto-expire turned on.
12287 @subsection Washing Mail
12288 @cindex mail washing
12289 @cindex list server brain damage
12290 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12292 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12293 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12294 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12295 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12296 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12297 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12299 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12300 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12301 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12304 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12305 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12306 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12307 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12310 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12311 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12312 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12313 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12314 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12317 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12318 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12319 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12320 Emacs running on MS machines.
12324 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12325 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12326 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12327 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12330 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12331 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12332 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12333 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12335 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12336 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12337 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12338 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12339 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12340 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12341 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12344 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12345 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12348 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12349 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12352 This can also be done non-destructively with
12353 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12355 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12356 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12357 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12359 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12360 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12362 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12363 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12364 @code{References} headers.
12368 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12369 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12370 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12374 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12375 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12376 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12383 @subsection Duplicates
12385 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12386 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12387 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12388 @cindex duplicate mails
12389 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12390 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12391 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12392 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12393 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12394 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12395 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12396 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12397 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12398 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12399 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12400 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12401 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12403 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12404 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12405 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12406 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12408 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12411 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12412 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12416 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12417 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12418 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12419 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12420 (any mail "mail.misc")
12427 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12428 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12433 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12434 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12435 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12436 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12437 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12440 @node Not Reading Mail
12441 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12443 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12444 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12445 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12447 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12448 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12449 mail, which should help.
12451 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12452 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12453 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12454 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12455 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12456 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12457 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12458 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12459 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12460 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12461 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12463 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12464 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12468 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12469 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12471 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12472 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12473 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12475 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12476 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12477 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12478 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12481 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12482 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12483 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12484 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12485 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12486 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12490 @node Unix Mail Box
12491 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12493 @cindex unix mail box
12495 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12496 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12497 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12498 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12499 which group it belongs in.
12501 Virtual server settings:
12504 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12505 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12506 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12508 @item nnmbox-active-file
12509 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12510 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12512 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12513 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12514 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12520 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12524 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12525 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12526 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12527 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12528 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12530 Virtual server settings:
12533 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12534 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12535 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12537 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12538 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12539 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12541 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12542 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12543 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12548 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12550 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12552 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12553 format. It should be used with some caution.
12555 @vindex nnml-directory
12556 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12557 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12558 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12559 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12561 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12564 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12565 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12566 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12567 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12568 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12569 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12570 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12571 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12573 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12574 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12575 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12576 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12578 Virtual server settings:
12581 @item nnml-directory
12582 @vindex nnml-directory
12583 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12585 @item nnml-active-file
12586 @vindex nnml-active-file
12587 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12589 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12590 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12591 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12594 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12595 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12596 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12598 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12599 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12600 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12602 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12603 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12604 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12606 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12607 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12608 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12612 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12613 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12614 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12615 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12616 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12617 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12618 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12623 @subsubsection MH Spool
12625 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12627 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12628 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12629 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12630 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12632 Virtual server settings:
12635 @item nnmh-directory
12636 @vindex nnmh-directory
12637 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12639 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12640 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12641 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12644 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12645 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12646 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12647 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12648 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12649 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12650 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12655 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12657 @cindex mbox folders
12658 @cindex mail folders
12660 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12661 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12662 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12665 Virtual server settings:
12668 @item nnfolder-directory
12669 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12670 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12672 @item nnfolder-active-file
12673 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12674 The name of the active file.
12676 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12677 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12678 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12680 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12681 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12682 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12684 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12685 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12686 @cindex backup files
12687 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12688 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12689 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12690 your @file{.emacs} file:
12693 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12694 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12696 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12699 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12700 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12701 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12702 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12703 extract some information from it before removing it.
12705 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12706 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12707 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12712 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12713 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12714 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12715 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12716 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12717 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12720 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12721 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12723 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12724 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12725 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12726 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12727 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12729 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12730 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12731 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12732 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12733 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12734 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12735 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12736 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12739 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12740 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12741 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12742 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12747 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12748 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12749 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12750 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12751 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12752 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12753 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12754 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12755 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12756 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12757 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12758 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12759 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12764 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12765 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12766 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12767 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12768 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12769 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12770 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12771 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12772 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12773 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12774 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12775 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12776 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12777 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12779 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12780 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12785 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12786 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12787 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12788 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12789 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12790 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12791 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12792 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12793 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12794 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12795 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12796 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12797 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12798 provided by the active file and overviews.
12800 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12801 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12802 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12803 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12804 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12807 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12808 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12813 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12814 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12815 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12816 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12817 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12818 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12819 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12823 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12824 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12825 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12826 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12827 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12828 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12829 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12830 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12831 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12833 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12834 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12835 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12836 friendly mail backend all over.
12841 @node Browsing the Web
12842 @section Browsing the Web
12844 @cindex browsing the web
12848 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12849 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12850 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12851 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12852 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12853 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12854 even know what a news group is.
12856 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12857 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12858 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12859 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12860 you mad in the end.
12862 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12865 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12866 interfaces to these sources.
12869 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12870 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12871 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12872 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12873 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12876 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12878 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12879 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12880 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12881 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12882 though, you should be ok.
12884 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12885 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12886 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12887 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12888 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12892 @subsection Web Searches
12896 @cindex InReference
12897 @cindex Usenet searches
12898 @cindex searching the Usenet
12900 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12901 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12902 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12903 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12904 searches without having to use a browser.
12906 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12907 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12908 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12909 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12910 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12912 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12913 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12914 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12915 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12916 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12917 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12918 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12919 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12920 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12921 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12924 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12925 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12926 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12927 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12928 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12929 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12931 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12932 to use @code{nnweb}.
12934 Virtual server variables:
12939 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12940 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12944 @vindex nnweb-search
12945 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12947 @item nnweb-max-hits
12948 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12949 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12952 @item nnweb-type-definition
12953 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12954 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12955 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12960 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12964 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12967 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12970 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12974 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12981 @subsection Slashdot
12985 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12986 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12987 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12989 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12990 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12993 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12994 '((nnslashdot "")))
12997 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12998 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12999 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13000 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13001 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13004 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13005 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13007 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13008 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13009 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13010 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13011 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13012 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13015 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13018 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13019 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13020 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13021 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13022 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13023 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13024 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13026 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13027 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13028 The login name to use when posting.
13030 @item nnslashdot-password
13031 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13032 The password to use when posting.
13034 @item nnslashdot-directory
13035 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13036 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
13037 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13039 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13040 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13041 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13042 news articles and comments. The default is
13043 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13045 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13046 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13047 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13049 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13051 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13052 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13053 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13055 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13057 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13058 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13059 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13061 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13062 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13063 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13064 updated. The default is 0.
13071 @subsection Ultimate
13073 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13075 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13076 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13077 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13078 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13080 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13081 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13082 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13083 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13084 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13085 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13086 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13088 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13091 @item nnultimate-directory
13092 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13093 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13094 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13099 @subsection Web Archive
13101 @cindex Web Archive
13103 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13104 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13105 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13106 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13109 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13110 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13111 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13112 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13113 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13114 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13115 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13117 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13120 @item nnwarchive-directory
13121 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13122 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13123 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13125 @item nnwarchive-login
13126 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13127 The account name on the web server.
13129 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13130 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13131 The password for your account on the web server.
13135 @node Customizing w3
13136 @subsection Customizing w3
13142 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
13143 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
13144 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
13146 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
13147 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
13148 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
13151 (eval-after-load "w3"
13153 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
13154 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
13155 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
13156 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
13158 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
13161 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
13162 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
13166 @node Other Sources
13167 @section Other Sources
13169 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
13170 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
13174 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
13175 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
13176 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
13177 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
13178 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
13179 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
13183 @node Directory Groups
13184 @subsection Directory Groups
13186 @cindex directory groups
13188 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
13189 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
13192 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
13193 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
13194 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
13195 backend to read directories. Big deal.
13197 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
13198 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
13199 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
13200 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
13201 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
13203 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
13205 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
13206 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
13207 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
13208 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
13211 @node Anything Groups
13212 @subsection Anything Groups
13215 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
13216 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
13217 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
13220 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
13221 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
13222 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
13223 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
13224 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
13225 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
13226 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
13227 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
13228 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
13229 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
13232 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
13233 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
13234 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
13235 in the article buffer, just as usual.
13237 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
13238 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
13239 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
13240 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
13242 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
13243 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
13244 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
13245 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
13246 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
13247 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
13248 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
13249 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
13254 @item nneething-map-file-directory
13255 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
13256 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
13257 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
13259 @item nneething-exclude-files
13260 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
13261 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
13262 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
13264 @item nneething-include-files
13265 @vindex nneething-include-files
13266 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
13267 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
13269 @item nneething-map-file
13270 @vindex nneething-map-file
13271 Name of the map files.
13275 @node Document Groups
13276 @subsection Document Groups
13278 @cindex documentation group
13281 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
13282 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
13289 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
13294 The standard Unix mbox file.
13296 @cindex MMDF mail box
13298 The MMDF mail box format.
13301 Several news articles appended into a file.
13304 @cindex rnews batch files
13305 The rnews batch transport format.
13306 @cindex forwarded messages
13309 Forwarded articles.
13312 Netscape mail boxes.
13315 MIME multipart messages.
13317 @item standard-digest
13318 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13321 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13324 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13325 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13326 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13329 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13330 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13331 group. And that's it.
13333 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13334 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13335 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13336 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13337 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13338 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13339 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13340 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13341 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13342 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13344 Virtual server variables:
13347 @item nndoc-article-type
13348 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13349 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13350 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13351 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13352 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13354 @item nndoc-post-type
13355 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13356 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13357 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13362 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13366 @node Document Server Internals
13367 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13369 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13370 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13371 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13372 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13374 First, here's an example document type definition:
13378 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13379 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13382 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13383 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13384 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13385 types can be defined with very few settings:
13388 @item first-article
13389 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13390 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13393 @item article-begin
13394 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13395 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13397 @item head-begin-function
13398 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13401 @item nndoc-head-begin
13402 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13405 @item nndoc-head-end
13406 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13407 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13409 @item body-begin-function
13410 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13414 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13417 @item body-end-function
13418 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13422 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13425 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13426 regexp will be totally ignored.
13430 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13431 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13432 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13433 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13434 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13437 @item prepare-body-function
13438 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13439 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13440 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13442 @item article-transform-function
13443 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13444 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13445 body of the article.
13447 @item generate-head-function
13448 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13449 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13450 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13451 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13455 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13460 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13461 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13462 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13463 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13464 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13465 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13466 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13467 (subtype digest guess))
13470 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13471 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13472 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13473 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13474 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13476 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13477 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13478 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13479 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13480 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13481 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13482 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13483 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13484 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13485 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13493 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13494 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13495 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13497 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13498 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13499 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13502 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13503 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13504 that interested in doing things properly.
13506 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13507 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13510 First some terminology:
13515 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13516 get news and/or mail from.
13519 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13520 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13523 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13527 @item message packets
13528 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13529 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13530 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13532 @item response packets
13533 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13534 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13535 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13545 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13546 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13547 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13548 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13551 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13554 You put the packet in your home directory.
13557 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13558 the native or secondary server.
13561 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13562 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13565 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13569 You transfer this packet to the server.
13572 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13575 You then repeat until you die.
13579 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13580 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13583 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13584 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13585 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13589 @node SOUP Commands
13590 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13592 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13596 @kindex G s b (Group)
13597 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13598 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13599 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13600 process/prefix convention.
13603 @kindex G s w (Group)
13604 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13605 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13608 @kindex G s s (Group)
13609 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13610 Send all replies from the replies packet
13611 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13614 @kindex G s p (Group)
13615 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13616 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13619 @kindex G s r (Group)
13620 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13621 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13624 @kindex O s (Summary)
13625 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13626 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13627 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13628 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13633 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13638 @item gnus-soup-directory
13639 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13640 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13641 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13643 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13644 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13645 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13646 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13648 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13649 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13650 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13651 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13653 @item gnus-soup-packer
13654 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13655 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13656 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13658 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13659 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13660 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13661 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13663 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13664 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13665 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13667 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13668 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13669 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13670 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13676 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13679 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13680 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13681 you can read them at leisure.
13683 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13687 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13688 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13689 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13690 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13692 @item nnsoup-directory
13693 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13694 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13695 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13697 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13698 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13699 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13700 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13702 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13703 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13704 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13705 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13706 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13708 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13709 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13710 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13711 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13713 @item nnsoup-active-file
13714 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13715 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13716 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13717 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13718 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13720 @item nnsoup-packer
13721 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13722 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13723 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13725 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13726 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13727 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13728 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13730 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13731 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13732 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13735 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13736 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13737 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13740 @item nnsoup-always-save
13741 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13742 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13748 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13750 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13751 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13752 more for that to happen.
13754 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13755 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13756 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13759 In specific, this is what it does:
13762 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13763 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13766 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13767 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13768 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13771 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13772 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13773 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13776 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13777 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13778 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13780 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13786 @item nngateway-address
13787 @vindex nngateway-address
13788 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13790 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13791 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13792 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13793 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13794 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13795 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13796 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13799 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13800 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13801 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13804 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13807 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13810 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13813 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13815 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13818 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13819 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13820 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13822 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13824 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13825 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13826 @code{nngateway-address}.
13831 (setq gnus-post-method
13832 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13833 (nngateway-header-transformation
13834 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13842 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13845 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13851 @subsection @sc{imap}
13855 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13856 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
13857 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
13858 specify the network address of the server.
13860 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
13861 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
13862 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
13863 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
13864 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
13866 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
13867 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
13868 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
13869 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13871 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
13872 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
13873 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
13874 usage explained in this section.
13876 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
13877 might look something like this:
13880 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13881 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
13882 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
13884 (nnimap-address "localhost")
13885 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
13886 ; a UW server running on localhost
13888 (nnimap-server-port 143)
13889 (nnimap-address "localhost")
13890 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
13891 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
13892 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
13893 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
13894 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
13895 (nnimap-stream network))
13896 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
13898 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
13899 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
13900 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
13903 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13908 @item nnimap-address
13909 @vindex nnimap-address
13911 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13912 server name if not specified.
13914 @item nnimap-server-port
13915 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13916 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13918 Note that this should be a integer, example server specification:
13921 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13922 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
13925 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13926 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13927 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13928 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13929 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13930 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13931 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13933 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13934 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13935 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13938 Example server specification:
13941 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13942 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
13943 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
13946 @item nnimap-stream
13947 @vindex nnimap-stream
13948 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13949 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13950 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13951 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13953 Example server specification:
13956 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13957 (nnimap-stream ssl))
13960 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
13964 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13965 @samp{imtest} program.
13967 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13969 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13970 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13973 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13974 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13976 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
13978 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13981 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
13982 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13983 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
13984 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
13987 @vindex imap-ssl-program
13988 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13989 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13990 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
13991 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
13992 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
13993 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
13996 @vindex imap-shell-program
13997 @vindex imap-shell-host
13998 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
13999 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14001 @item nnimap-authenticator
14002 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14004 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14005 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14007 Example server specification:
14010 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14011 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14014 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14018 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14019 external program @code{imtest}.
14021 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14024 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14025 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14027 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14029 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14031 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14034 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14036 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14037 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14038 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14039 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14040 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14041 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14044 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14045 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14046 running in circles yet?
14048 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14049 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14052 The possible options are:
14057 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14060 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14061 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14062 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14063 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14065 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14070 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14071 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14073 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format
14074 is (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See
14075 `nntp-authinfo-file' for exact syntax.
14077 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14078 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14079 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14085 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14086 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14087 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14092 @node Splitting in IMAP
14093 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14094 @cindex splitting imap mail
14096 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14097 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14098 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14099 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14100 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14104 Here are the variables of interest:
14108 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14109 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14111 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14113 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14114 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14116 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14118 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14119 @cindex splitting, inbox
14121 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14123 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14124 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14128 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14129 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14132 No nnmail equivalent.
14134 @item nnimap-split-rule
14135 @cindex Splitting, rules
14136 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14138 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14141 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14142 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14143 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14144 Neither did I, we need examples.
14147 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14148 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14149 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14150 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14153 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14154 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14155 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
14157 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14158 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14162 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14165 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14166 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14167 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14168 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14170 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14171 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14172 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14173 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
14174 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14175 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14177 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14178 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14179 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14181 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14182 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14183 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14185 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14187 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14188 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14189 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14192 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14193 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14194 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14195 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14196 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14197 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14200 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14201 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14202 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14203 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14204 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14205 group/function elements.
14207 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14209 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14211 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14213 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14214 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14216 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14217 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14218 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14221 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14222 @cindex splitting, fancy
14223 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14224 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14226 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14227 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14228 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14230 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14231 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14232 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14233 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14238 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14239 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14242 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14246 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14247 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14248 @cindex editing imap acls
14249 @cindex Access Control Lists
14250 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14252 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14254 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14255 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14256 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14259 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14260 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14261 editing window with detailed instructions.
14263 Some possible uses:
14267 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14268 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14269 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14271 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14272 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14273 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14277 @node Expunging mailboxes
14278 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
14282 @cindex Manual expunging
14284 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14286 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
14287 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14288 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14290 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14295 @node Combined Groups
14296 @section Combined Groups
14298 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
14302 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
14303 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
14307 @node Virtual Groups
14308 @subsection Virtual Groups
14310 @cindex virtual groups
14311 @cindex merging groups
14313 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
14316 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
14317 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
14318 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
14320 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
14321 regexp to match component groups.
14323 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
14324 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
14325 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
14326 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
14327 the virtual group.)
14329 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
14330 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
14333 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
14336 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
14337 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
14339 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
14340 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
14341 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
14342 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
14345 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
14348 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
14349 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
14350 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
14352 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
14353 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
14354 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
14355 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
14356 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
14358 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
14359 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
14360 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
14362 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
14363 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
14364 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
14365 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14366 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
14367 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
14368 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
14369 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
14370 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
14371 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
14372 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
14374 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14375 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14376 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14377 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14378 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14379 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14380 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14382 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14383 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14387 @node Kibozed Groups
14388 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14392 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14393 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14394 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14395 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14397 @kindex G k (Group)
14398 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14401 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14402 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14403 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14404 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14406 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14407 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14408 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14410 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14411 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14412 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14413 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14414 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14415 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14416 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14417 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14419 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14420 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14421 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14422 Stranger things have happened.
14424 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14425 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14427 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14428 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14429 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14430 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14431 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14432 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14434 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14435 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14438 @node Gnus Unplugged
14439 @section Gnus Unplugged
14444 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14446 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14447 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14448 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14449 read news. Believe it or not.
14451 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14452 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14453 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14454 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14455 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14457 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14458 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14459 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14460 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14461 reading news on a machine.
14463 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14467 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14468 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14472 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14473 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14480 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14482 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14485 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14486 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14487 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14488 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14489 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
14490 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14491 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14492 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14493 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14494 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14499 @subsection Agent Basics
14501 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14503 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14504 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14505 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14506 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14508 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14509 connected to the net continuously.
14511 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14512 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14514 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14519 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14520 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14521 already fetched while in this mode.
14524 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14525 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14526 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14527 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
14528 Source Specifiers}).
14531 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14532 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
14533 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
14534 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14535 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14538 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14539 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14540 then you read the news offline.
14543 And then you go to step 2.
14546 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14552 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14553 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14554 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14555 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14556 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14557 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14560 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14567 @node Agent Categories
14568 @subsection Agent Categories
14570 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14571 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14572 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14573 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14574 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14575 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14576 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14578 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14579 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14580 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14581 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14582 managing categories.
14585 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14586 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14587 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14591 @node Category Syntax
14592 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14594 A category consists of two things.
14598 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14599 are eligible for downloading; and
14602 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14603 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14604 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14607 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14608 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14609 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14610 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14612 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14613 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14614 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
14616 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14617 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14618 operators sprinkled in between.
14620 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14622 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14623 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14629 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14630 short (for some value of ``short'').
14632 Here's a more complex predicate:
14641 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14642 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14645 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14646 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14647 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14649 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14650 you want to do, you can write your own.
14654 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14655 lines; default 100.
14658 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14659 lines; default 200.
14662 True iff the article has a download score less than
14663 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14666 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14667 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14670 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14671 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14672 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14681 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14682 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14683 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14686 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14687 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14688 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14689 something along the lines of the following:
14692 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14693 "Say whether an article is old."
14694 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14695 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14698 with the predicate then defined as:
14701 (not my-article-old-p)
14704 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14705 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14706 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14707 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14710 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
14711 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14712 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14715 and simply specify your predicate as:
14721 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14722 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14723 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14724 just don't give a damn.
14726 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14727 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14728 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14729 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14730 parameters like so:
14733 (agent-predicate . short)
14736 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14737 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14738 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14740 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14743 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14746 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14747 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14748 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14751 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14752 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14753 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14754 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14755 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14756 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14758 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14759 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14760 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14761 if it's to be specific to that group.
14763 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14770 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14771 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14777 Category specification
14781 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14787 Group Parameter specification
14790 (agent-score ("from"
14791 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14796 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14802 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14809 Category specification
14812 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14818 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14822 Group Parameter specification
14825 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14828 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14833 Use @code{normal} score files
14835 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14836 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14837 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14838 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14840 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14841 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14842 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14843 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14847 Category Specification
14854 Group Parameter specification
14857 (agent-score . file)
14862 @node The Category Buffer
14863 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14865 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14866 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14867 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14869 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14873 @kindex q (Category)
14874 @findex gnus-category-exit
14875 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14878 @kindex k (Category)
14879 @findex gnus-category-kill
14880 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14883 @kindex c (Category)
14884 @findex gnus-category-copy
14885 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14888 @kindex a (Category)
14889 @findex gnus-category-add
14890 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14893 @kindex p (Category)
14894 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14895 Edit the predicate of the current category
14896 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14899 @kindex g (Category)
14900 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14901 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14902 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14905 @kindex s (Category)
14906 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14907 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14908 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14911 @kindex l (Category)
14912 @findex gnus-category-list
14913 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14917 @node Category Variables
14918 @subsubsection Category Variables
14921 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14922 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14923 Hook run in category buffers.
14925 @item gnus-category-line-format
14926 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14927 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14928 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14932 The name of the category.
14935 The number of groups in the category.
14938 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14939 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14940 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14942 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14943 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14944 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14946 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14947 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14948 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14950 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14951 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14952 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14955 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14956 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14957 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14963 @node Agent Commands
14964 @subsection Agent Commands
14966 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14967 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14968 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14972 * Group Agent Commands::
14973 * Summary Agent Commands::
14974 * Server Agent Commands::
14977 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14978 following incantation:
14980 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14982 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14987 @node Group Agent Commands
14988 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14992 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14993 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14994 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14995 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14998 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14999 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15000 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15003 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15004 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15005 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15006 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15009 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15010 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15011 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15012 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15015 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15016 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15017 Add the current group to an Agent category
15018 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15019 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15022 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15023 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15024 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15025 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15026 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15029 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15030 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15031 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15037 @node Summary Agent Commands
15038 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15042 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15043 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15044 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15047 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15048 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15049 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15050 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15053 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15054 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15055 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15058 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15059 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15060 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15065 @node Server Agent Commands
15066 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15070 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15071 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15072 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15073 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15076 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15077 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15078 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15079 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15085 @subsection Agent Expiry
15087 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15088 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15089 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15090 @cindex Agent expiry
15091 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
15094 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
15095 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
15096 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
15097 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
15098 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
15099 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
15101 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
15102 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
15103 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
15104 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
15105 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
15108 @node Agent and IMAP
15109 @subsection Agent and IMAP
15111 The Agent work with any Gnus backend, including nnimap. However,
15112 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
15113 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
15114 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
15116 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
15117 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
15118 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
15119 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
15121 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
15122 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
15123 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
15124 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
15125 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
15127 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15128 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
15129 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
15130 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
15131 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
15132 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
15134 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
15135 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
15136 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
15137 in the group buffer by default.
15139 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
15140 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
15145 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
15148 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
15152 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
15153 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
15154 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
15155 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
15156 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
15157 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
15158 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
15159 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
15162 @node Outgoing Messages
15163 @subsection Outgoing Messages
15165 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
15166 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
15167 after posting, and edit them at will.
15169 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
15170 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
15171 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
15172 messages in the draft group.
15176 @node Agent Variables
15177 @subsection Agent Variables
15180 @item gnus-agent-directory
15181 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
15182 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
15183 @file{~/News/agent/}.
15185 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
15186 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
15187 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
15188 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
15189 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
15192 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15193 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15194 Hook run when connecting to the network.
15196 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15197 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15198 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
15203 @node Example Setup
15204 @subsection Example Setup
15206 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
15207 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
15208 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
15211 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
15212 ;;; from your ISP's server.
15213 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
15215 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
15216 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
15217 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
15219 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
15220 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15222 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
15226 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
15227 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
15230 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
15231 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
15232 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
15233 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
15234 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
15237 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
15238 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
15239 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
15240 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
15241 back all the killed groups.)
15243 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
15244 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
15245 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
15248 @node Batching Agents
15249 @subsection Batching Agents
15251 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
15252 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
15253 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
15257 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
15261 @node Agent Caveats
15262 @subsection Agent Caveats
15264 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
15265 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
15269 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
15274 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
15275 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
15281 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
15282 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
15289 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
15290 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
15291 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
15294 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
15295 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
15296 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
15297 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
15298 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
15300 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
15301 before generating the summary buffer.
15303 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
15304 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
15305 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
15307 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
15308 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
15309 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
15310 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
15313 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
15314 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
15315 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
15316 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
15317 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
15318 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
15319 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
15320 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
15321 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
15322 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
15323 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
15324 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
15325 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
15326 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
15327 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
15328 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
15332 @node Summary Score Commands
15333 @section Summary Score Commands
15334 @cindex score commands
15336 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
15337 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
15338 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
15339 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
15340 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
15342 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
15343 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
15344 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
15345 score file the current one.
15347 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
15352 @kindex V s (Summary)
15353 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
15354 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
15357 @kindex V S (Summary)
15358 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
15359 Display the score of the current article
15360 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
15363 @kindex V t (Summary)
15364 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
15365 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
15366 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
15369 @kindex V R (Summary)
15370 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
15371 Run the current summary through the scoring process
15372 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
15373 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
15374 effect you're having.
15377 @kindex V c (Summary)
15378 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
15379 Make a different score file the current
15380 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
15383 @kindex V e (Summary)
15384 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
15385 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
15386 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
15390 @kindex V f (Summary)
15391 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
15392 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
15393 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
15396 @kindex V F (Summary)
15397 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15398 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
15399 after editing score files.
15402 @kindex V C (Summary)
15403 @findex gnus-score-customize
15404 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
15405 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
15409 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
15414 @kindex V m (Summary)
15415 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
15416 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
15417 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
15420 @kindex V x (Summary)
15421 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
15422 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
15423 expunge all articles below this score
15424 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
15427 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
15428 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
15431 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
15432 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
15436 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
15437 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15439 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15440 keys are available:
15444 Score on the author name.
15447 Score on the subject line.
15450 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15453 Score on the @code{References} line.
15459 Score on the number of lines.
15462 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15465 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15466 the followups to this author.
15480 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15481 what headers you are scoring on.
15493 Substring matching.
15496 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15525 Greater than number.
15530 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15531 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15532 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15536 Temporary score entry.
15539 Permanent score entry.
15542 Immediately scoring.
15547 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15548 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15549 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15550 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15552 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15553 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15554 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15555 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15556 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15558 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15559 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15560 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15561 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15562 current score file.
15564 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15565 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15566 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15569 @node Group Score Commands
15570 @section Group Score Commands
15571 @cindex group score commands
15573 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15578 @kindex W f (Group)
15579 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15580 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15581 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15582 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15586 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15588 @findex gnus-batch-score
15589 @cindex batch scoring
15591 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15595 @node Score Variables
15596 @section Score Variables
15597 @cindex score variables
15601 @item gnus-use-scoring
15602 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15603 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15604 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15606 @item gnus-kill-killed
15607 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15608 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15609 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15610 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15611 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15612 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15613 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15615 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15616 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15617 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15618 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15619 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15621 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15622 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15623 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15624 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15626 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15627 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15628 @cindex score cache
15629 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15630 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15631 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
15632 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15633 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15634 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15637 @item gnus-save-score
15638 @vindex gnus-save-score
15639 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15640 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15641 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15643 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15644 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15645 across group visits.
15647 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15648 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15649 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15650 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15651 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15652 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15653 manually entered data.
15655 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15656 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15657 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15659 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15660 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15661 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15662 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15663 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15664 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15666 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15667 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15668 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15669 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15671 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15672 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15673 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15674 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15676 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15677 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15678 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15679 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15681 Predefined functions available are:
15684 @item gnus-score-find-single
15685 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15686 Only apply the group's own score file.
15688 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15689 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15690 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15691 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15692 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15693 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15694 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15695 then a regexp match is done.
15697 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15698 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15700 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15701 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15702 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15703 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15705 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15706 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15707 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15708 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15709 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
15713 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15714 functions will be called with the group name as argument, and all the
15715 returned lists of score files will be applied. These functions can also
15716 return lists of score alists directly. In that case, the functions that
15717 return these non-file score alists should probably be placed before the
15718 ``real'' score file functions, to ensure that the last score file
15719 returned is the local score file. Phu.
15721 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
15722 overall score file, you could use the value
15724 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE")) 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
15727 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15728 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15729 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15730 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15731 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15733 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15734 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15735 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15736 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15737 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15738 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15739 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15742 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15743 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15744 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15746 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15747 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15748 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15749 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15750 threading---according to the current value of
15751 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15752 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15753 simplified in this manner.
15758 @node Score File Format
15759 @section Score File Format
15760 @cindex score file format
15762 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15763 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15764 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15766 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15770 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15772 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15774 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15776 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15781 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15785 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15786 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15787 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15788 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15792 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15793 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15795 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15796 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15797 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15799 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15804 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15805 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15806 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15807 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15808 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15809 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15810 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15811 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15812 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15813 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15814 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15815 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15816 to articles that matches these score entries.
15818 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15819 score entry has one to four elements.
15823 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15824 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15828 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15829 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15830 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15831 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15832 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15833 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15836 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15837 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15838 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15839 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15840 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15843 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15844 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15845 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15846 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15849 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15850 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15851 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15852 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15853 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15854 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15855 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15856 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15857 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15858 instead, if you feel like.
15861 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15862 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15864 These predicates are true if
15867 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15870 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15871 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15878 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15879 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15880 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15881 it's not. I think.)
15883 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15884 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15885 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15886 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15889 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15890 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15891 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15892 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15893 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15894 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15895 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15899 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15900 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15901 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15902 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15903 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15904 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15905 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15906 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15909 @item Head, Body, All
15910 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15914 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15915 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15916 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15917 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15918 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15919 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15920 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15924 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15925 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15926 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15927 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15928 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15929 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15930 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15931 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15932 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15933 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15934 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15938 @cindex Score File Atoms
15940 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15941 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15944 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15945 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15947 @item mark-and-expunge
15948 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15949 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15952 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15953 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15954 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15955 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15956 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15959 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15960 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15963 @item exclude-files
15964 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15965 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15969 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15970 ignored when handling global score files.
15973 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15974 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15975 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15976 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15979 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15980 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15981 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15982 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15984 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15988 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15991 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15992 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15993 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15994 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15995 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15997 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15998 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15999 ordinary scoring rules.
16002 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16003 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16004 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16005 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16006 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16007 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16008 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16009 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16010 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16011 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16012 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16016 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16017 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16018 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16019 file for a number of groups.
16022 @cindex local variables
16023 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16024 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16025 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16026 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16027 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16031 @node Score File Editing
16032 @section Score File Editing
16034 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16035 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16036 with a mode for that.
16038 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16039 additional commands:
16044 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16045 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16046 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16047 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16050 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16051 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16052 Insert the current date in numerical format
16053 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16054 you were wondering.
16057 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16058 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16059 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16060 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16061 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16066 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16068 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16069 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16071 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16072 e} to begin editing score files.
16075 @node Adaptive Scoring
16076 @section Adaptive Scoring
16077 @cindex adaptive scoring
16079 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16080 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16081 stupidity, to be precise.
16083 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16084 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16085 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16086 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16087 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16088 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
16089 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
16090 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
16091 variable to @code{(word line)}.
16093 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16094 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
16095 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
16096 might look something like this:
16099 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16100 '((gnus-unread-mark)
16101 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
16102 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
16103 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
16104 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
16105 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
16106 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
16107 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
16108 (gnus-ancient-mark)
16109 (gnus-low-score-mark)
16110 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
16113 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
16114 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
16115 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
16116 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
16117 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
16118 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
16121 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
16122 will be applied to each article.
16124 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
16125 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
16126 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
16127 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
16129 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
16130 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
16131 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
16132 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
16134 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
16135 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
16136 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
16137 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
16139 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
16140 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
16141 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
16142 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
16143 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
16144 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
16146 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
16147 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
16148 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
16149 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
16150 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
16151 aspirins afterwards.)
16153 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
16154 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
16155 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
16157 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
16158 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
16159 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
16161 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
16162 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
16163 let you use different rules in different groups.
16165 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
16166 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
16167 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
16170 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
16171 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
16172 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
16173 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
16174 the length of the match is less than
16175 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
16176 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
16179 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16180 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
16181 headers. If you adapt on words, the
16182 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
16183 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
16186 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16187 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
16188 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
16189 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
16190 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
16193 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
16194 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
16195 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
16196 score with 30 points.
16198 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
16199 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
16200 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
16201 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
16202 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
16204 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
16205 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
16206 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
16207 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
16209 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
16210 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
16211 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
16212 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
16214 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
16215 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
16216 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
16217 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
16218 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
16220 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
16221 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
16222 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
16224 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
16225 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
16226 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
16227 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
16230 @node Home Score File
16231 @section Home Score File
16233 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
16234 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
16235 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
16236 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
16238 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
16239 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
16240 could perhaps use the same home score file.
16242 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
16243 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
16248 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
16252 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
16253 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
16257 A list. The elements in this list can be:
16261 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
16262 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
16265 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
16266 the home score file.
16269 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
16272 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
16277 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
16280 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16281 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
16284 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
16285 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
16287 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
16289 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16290 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
16293 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
16294 Other functions include
16297 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
16298 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
16299 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
16300 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
16304 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
16305 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
16306 their own home score files:
16309 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16310 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
16311 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
16312 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
16313 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
16316 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
16317 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
16318 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
16319 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
16320 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
16322 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
16323 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
16324 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
16325 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
16326 precedence over this variable.
16329 @node Followups To Yourself
16330 @section Followups To Yourself
16332 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
16333 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
16334 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
16335 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
16336 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
16337 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
16341 @item gnus-score-followup-article
16342 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
16343 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
16346 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
16347 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
16348 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
16352 @vindex message-sent-hook
16353 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
16354 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
16356 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
16360 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
16361 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
16365 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16366 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16369 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
16370 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
16375 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
16379 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
16380 is system-dependent.
16384 @section Scoring Tips
16385 @cindex scoring tips
16391 @cindex scoring crossposts
16392 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
16393 the @code{Xref} header.
16395 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
16398 @item Multiple crossposts
16399 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
16400 more than, say, 3 groups:
16402 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
16405 @item Matching on the body
16406 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
16407 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
16408 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
16409 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
16410 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
16411 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
16412 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
16415 @item Marking as read
16416 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
16417 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
16418 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
16422 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
16424 @item Negated character classes
16425 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
16426 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
16427 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
16431 @node Reverse Scoring
16432 @section Reverse Scoring
16433 @cindex reverse scoring
16435 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
16436 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
16437 like this in your score file:
16441 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
16446 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
16447 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16450 @node Global Score Files
16451 @section Global Score Files
16452 @cindex global score files
16454 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16455 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16456 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16458 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16459 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16460 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16462 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16463 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16464 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16465 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16466 files are applicable to which group.
16468 Say you want to use the score file
16469 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16470 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
16473 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16474 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16475 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16478 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16479 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16480 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16481 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16482 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16484 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16485 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16487 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16488 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16489 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16490 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16491 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16492 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16494 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16500 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16502 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16504 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16506 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16507 lowered out of existence.
16509 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16510 articles completely.
16513 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16514 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16515 old articles for a long time.
16518 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16519 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16520 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16521 holding our breath yet?
16525 @section Kill Files
16528 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16529 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16530 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16532 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16533 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16534 files into score files.
16536 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16537 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16538 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16539 that isn't a very good idea.
16541 Normal kill files look like this:
16544 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16545 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16549 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16550 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16552 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16553 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16556 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16561 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16562 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16563 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16566 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16567 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16568 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16571 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16576 @kindex M-k (Group)
16577 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16578 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16581 @kindex M-K (Group)
16582 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16583 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16586 Kill file variables:
16589 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16590 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16591 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16592 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16593 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16594 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16595 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16597 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16598 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16599 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16600 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16603 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16604 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16605 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16606 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16607 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16608 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16609 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16610 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16611 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16613 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16614 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16615 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16620 @node Converting Kill Files
16621 @section Converting Kill Files
16623 @cindex converting kill files
16625 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16626 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16627 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16630 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16631 You can fetch it from
16632 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
16634 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16635 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16636 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16644 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16645 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16646 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16648 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16649 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16650 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16651 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16652 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16653 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16654 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16655 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16659 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16660 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16661 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16662 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16666 @node Using GroupLens
16667 @subsection Using GroupLens
16669 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16671 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16672 better bit in town at the moment.
16674 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16678 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16679 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16680 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16681 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16683 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16684 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16685 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16686 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16688 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16689 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16690 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16694 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16695 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16696 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16697 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16698 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16699 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16702 @node Rating Articles
16703 @subsection Rating Articles
16705 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16706 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16707 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16708 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16711 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16716 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16717 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16718 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16721 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16722 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16723 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16724 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16725 threads in rec.humor.
16729 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16730 the score of the article you're reading.
16735 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16736 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16737 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16740 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16741 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16742 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16746 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16747 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16750 @node Displaying Predictions
16751 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16753 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16754 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16755 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16756 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16757 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16759 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16760 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16761 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16762 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16763 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16764 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16765 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16766 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16767 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16768 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16769 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16770 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16771 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16773 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16774 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16775 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16776 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16778 The following are valid values for that variable.
16781 @item prediction-spot
16782 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16785 @item confidence-interval
16786 A numeric confidence interval.
16788 @item prediction-bar
16789 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16791 @item confidence-bar
16792 Numerical confidence.
16794 @item confidence-spot
16795 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16797 @item prediction-num
16798 Plain-old numeric value.
16800 @item confidence-plus-minus
16801 Prediction +/- confidence.
16806 @node GroupLens Variables
16807 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16811 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16812 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16813 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16814 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16817 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16818 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16821 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16822 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16824 @item grouplens-score-offset
16825 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16826 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16829 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16830 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16831 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16836 @node Advanced Scoring
16837 @section Advanced Scoring
16839 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16840 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16841 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16842 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16843 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16845 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16849 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16850 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16851 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16855 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16856 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16858 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16859 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16860 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16861 non-@code{nil} value.
16863 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16864 operator, and various match operators.
16871 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16872 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16873 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16878 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16879 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16880 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16885 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16886 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16890 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16891 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16892 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16893 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16894 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16895 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16896 the ancestry you want to go.
16898 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16899 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16900 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16901 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16902 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16905 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16906 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16908 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16909 when he's talking about Gnus:
16913 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16914 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16920 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16924 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16931 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16932 really don't want to read what he's written:
16936 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16937 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16941 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16942 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16943 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16950 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16951 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16952 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16953 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16957 The possibilities are endless.
16960 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16961 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16963 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16964 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16965 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16966 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16967 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16968 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16969 @samp{subject}) first.
16971 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16972 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16983 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16984 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16990 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16997 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16998 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17003 @section Score Decays
17004 @cindex score decays
17007 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17008 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17009 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17010 use them in any sensible way.
17012 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17013 @findex gnus-decay-score
17014 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17015 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17016 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17017 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17018 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17019 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17020 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17021 definition of that function:
17024 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17026 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17027 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17030 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17032 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17034 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17037 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17038 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17039 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17040 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
17044 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
17047 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
17050 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
17054 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
17055 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
17056 the new score, which should be an integer.
17058 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
17059 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
17066 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
17067 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
17068 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
17069 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
17070 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
17071 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
17072 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
17073 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
17074 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
17075 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
17076 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
17077 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
17078 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
17079 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
17080 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
17081 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
17082 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
17083 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
17087 @node Process/Prefix
17088 @section Process/Prefix
17089 @cindex process/prefix convention
17091 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
17092 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
17094 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
17095 command to be performed on.
17099 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
17100 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
17101 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
17102 with the current one.
17104 @vindex transient-mark-mode
17105 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
17106 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
17108 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
17109 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
17112 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
17113 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
17115 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
17118 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
17119 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
17120 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
17121 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17123 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
17124 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
17125 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
17126 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
17127 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
17128 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
17129 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
17130 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
17132 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
17133 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
17134 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
17135 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
17136 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
17140 @section Interactive
17141 @cindex interaction
17145 @item gnus-novice-user
17146 @vindex gnus-novice-user
17147 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
17148 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
17149 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
17150 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
17153 @item gnus-expert-user
17154 @vindex gnus-expert-user
17155 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
17156 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
17157 matter how strange.
17159 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
17160 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
17161 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
17162 is @code{t} by default.
17164 @item gnus-interactive-exit
17165 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
17166 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17171 @node Symbolic Prefixes
17172 @section Symbolic Prefixes
17173 @cindex symbolic prefixes
17175 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
17176 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
17177 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
17178 rule of 900 to the current article.
17180 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
17181 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
17182 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
17183 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
17184 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
17185 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
17186 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
17188 @kindex M-i (Summary)
17189 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
17190 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
17191 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
17192 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
17193 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
17194 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
17195 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
17196 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
17198 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
17199 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
17200 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
17202 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
17206 @node Formatting Variables
17207 @section Formatting Variables
17208 @cindex formatting variables
17210 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
17211 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
17212 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
17213 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
17214 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
17217 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
17218 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
17219 lots of percentages everywhere.
17222 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
17223 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
17224 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
17225 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
17226 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
17229 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
17230 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
17231 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
17232 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
17233 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
17234 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
17235 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
17236 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
17238 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
17239 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
17241 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
17242 @findex gnus-update-format
17243 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
17244 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
17245 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
17246 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
17250 @node Formatting Basics
17251 @subsection Formatting Basics
17253 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
17254 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
17255 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
17257 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
17258 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
17259 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
17260 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
17261 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
17264 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
17265 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
17266 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
17267 less than 4 characters wide.
17270 @node Mode Line Formatting
17271 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
17273 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
17274 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
17275 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
17276 with the following two differences:
17281 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
17284 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
17285 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
17286 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
17287 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
17288 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
17289 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
17290 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
17295 @node Advanced Formatting
17296 @subsection Advanced Formatting
17298 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
17299 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
17300 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
17301 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
17303 These are the valid modifiers:
17308 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
17312 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
17317 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
17320 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
17325 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
17328 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
17331 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
17334 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
17338 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
17339 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
17340 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
17341 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
17342 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
17343 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
17344 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
17346 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
17347 last operation, padding.
17349 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
17350 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
17351 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
17352 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
17353 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
17354 the look of your lines.
17355 @xref{Compilation}.
17358 @node User-Defined Specs
17359 @subsection User-Defined Specs
17361 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
17362 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
17363 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
17364 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
17365 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
17366 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
17367 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
17368 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
17369 should protect against that.
17371 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
17372 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
17373 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
17374 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
17378 @node Formatting Fonts
17379 @subsection Formatting Fonts
17381 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
17382 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
17383 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
17384 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
17387 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
17388 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
17389 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
17390 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
17391 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
17392 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
17394 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
17395 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
17396 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
17397 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
17398 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
17399 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
17400 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
17401 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
17403 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
17406 ;; Create three face types.
17407 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
17408 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
17410 ;; We want the article count to be in
17411 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
17412 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
17413 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
17415 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
17416 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
17418 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
17419 (setq gnus-group-line-format
17420 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
17423 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
17424 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
17426 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
17427 mode-line variables.
17430 @node Windows Configuration
17431 @section Windows Configuration
17432 @cindex windows configuration
17434 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
17436 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
17437 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
17438 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
17439 @code{t} by default.
17441 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
17442 glitches. Use at your own peril.
17444 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
17445 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
17446 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
17449 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
17450 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
17451 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17455 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17456 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17457 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17458 possible names is listed below.
17460 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17461 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17464 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17468 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17469 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17470 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17471 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17472 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17473 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17474 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17475 size spec per split.
17477 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17478 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17479 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17480 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17481 present) gets focus.
17483 Here's a more complicated example:
17486 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17487 (summary 0.25 point)
17488 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17492 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17493 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17494 occupy, not a percentage.
17496 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17497 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17498 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17499 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17500 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17503 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17506 (article (horizontal 1.0
17511 (summary 0.25 point)
17516 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17517 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17519 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17520 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17521 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17522 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17523 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17525 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17526 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17527 lines from the splits.
17529 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17533 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17534 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17535 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17536 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17537 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17538 size = number | frame-params
17539 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
17542 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17543 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17544 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17545 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17547 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17548 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17549 @cindex window height
17550 @cindex window width
17551 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17552 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17553 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17554 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17555 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17556 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17558 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17559 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17560 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17561 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17563 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17564 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17565 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17566 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17567 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17568 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17569 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17570 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17571 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17572 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17573 configuration list.
17576 (gnus-configure-frame
17580 (article 0.3 point))
17588 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17589 @code{frame} split:
17592 (gnus-configure-frame
17595 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17597 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17598 (user-position . t)
17599 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17604 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17605 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17606 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17607 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17608 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17609 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17610 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17611 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17613 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17614 be found in its default value.
17616 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17617 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17618 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17622 (message (horizontal 1.0
17623 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17625 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17630 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17631 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17632 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17635 (message (frame 1.0
17636 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17637 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17638 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17639 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17640 (name . "Message"))
17641 (message 1.0 point))))
17644 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17645 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17646 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17647 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17648 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17651 (gnus-add-configuration
17652 '(article (vertical 1.0
17654 (summary .25 point)
17658 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17659 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17660 Gnus has been loaded.
17662 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17663 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17664 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17665 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17666 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17668 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17669 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17670 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17673 @subsection Example Window Configurations
17677 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
17678 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
17693 (gnus-add-configuration
17696 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17698 (summary 0.16 point)
17701 (gnus-add-configuration
17704 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17705 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
17711 @node Faces and Fonts
17712 @section Faces and Fonts
17717 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17718 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17719 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17724 @section Compilation
17725 @cindex compilation
17726 @cindex byte-compilation
17728 @findex gnus-compile
17730 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17731 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17732 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
17733 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
17734 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
17735 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17736 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17737 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17740 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17741 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17742 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17743 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
17744 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17747 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
17748 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
17749 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
17750 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
17751 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
17756 @section Mode Lines
17759 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17760 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17761 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17762 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17763 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17764 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17765 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17768 @cindex display-time
17770 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17771 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17772 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17773 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17774 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17775 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17776 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17777 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17780 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17782 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17783 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17785 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17786 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17787 (length display-time-string)))))
17790 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17791 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17792 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17793 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17794 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17797 @node Highlighting and Menus
17798 @section Highlighting and Menus
17800 @cindex highlighting
17803 @vindex gnus-visual
17804 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17805 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17806 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17809 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17810 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17813 @item group-highlight
17814 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17815 @item summary-highlight
17816 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17817 @item article-highlight
17818 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17820 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17822 Create menus in the group buffer.
17824 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17826 Create menus in the article buffer.
17828 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17830 Create menus in the server buffer.
17832 Create menus in the score buffers.
17834 Create menus in all buffers.
17837 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17838 buffers, you could say something like:
17841 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17844 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17847 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17850 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17851 in all Gnus buffers.
17853 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17856 @item gnus-mouse-face
17857 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17858 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17859 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17863 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17867 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17868 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17869 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17871 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17872 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17873 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17875 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17876 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17877 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17879 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17880 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17881 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17883 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17884 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17885 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17887 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17888 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17889 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17900 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17901 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17902 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17903 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17904 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17908 @vindex gnus-carpal
17909 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17910 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17911 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17916 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17917 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17918 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17920 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17921 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17922 Face used on buttons.
17924 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17925 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17926 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17928 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17929 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17930 Buttons in the group buffer.
17932 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17933 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17934 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17936 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17937 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17938 Buttons in the server buffer.
17940 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17941 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17942 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17945 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17946 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17947 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17955 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17956 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17957 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17958 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17959 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17961 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17962 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17963 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17965 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17966 been idle for thirty minutes:
17969 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17972 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17976 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17979 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17980 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17981 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17983 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17984 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17985 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17986 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17988 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17989 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17990 @var{idle} minutes.
17992 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17993 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17996 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17997 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17998 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
18000 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
18001 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
18002 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
18003 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
18005 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
18006 your @file{.gnus} file:
18008 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
18010 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
18013 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
18014 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
18015 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
18016 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
18017 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
18018 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
18019 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
18020 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
18021 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
18022 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
18023 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
18025 @findex gnus-demon-init
18026 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
18027 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
18028 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
18029 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
18030 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
18032 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
18033 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
18034 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
18043 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
18044 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
18046 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
18047 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
18048 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
18049 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
18052 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
18053 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
18054 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
18055 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
18057 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
18058 this will make spam disappear.
18060 There are some variables to customize, of course:
18063 @item gnus-use-nocem
18064 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
18065 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
18068 @item gnus-nocem-groups
18069 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
18070 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
18071 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
18072 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
18074 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
18075 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
18076 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
18077 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
18078 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
18079 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
18081 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
18082 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
18084 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
18085 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
18086 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
18087 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
18088 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
18089 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
18090 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
18091 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
18092 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
18093 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
18095 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
18096 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
18099 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
18102 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
18103 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
18106 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
18109 The specs are applied left-to-right.
18112 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
18113 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
18115 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
18116 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
18117 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
18118 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
18120 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
18121 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
18124 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
18126 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
18134 This might be dangerous, though.
18136 @item gnus-nocem-directory
18137 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
18138 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
18139 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
18141 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18142 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18143 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
18144 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
18145 might then see old spam.
18147 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
18148 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
18149 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
18150 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
18151 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
18154 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18155 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18156 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
18157 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
18161 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
18162 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
18163 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
18164 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
18171 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
18172 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
18173 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
18175 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
18176 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
18177 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
18178 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
18179 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
18180 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
18181 @code{undo} function.
18183 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
18184 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
18185 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
18186 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
18187 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
18188 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
18189 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
18190 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
18191 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
18192 never be totally undoable.
18194 @findex gnus-undo-mode
18195 @vindex gnus-use-undo
18197 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
18198 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
18199 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
18200 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
18205 @section Moderation
18208 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
18209 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
18210 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
18213 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
18217 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
18220 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18222 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
18227 You split your incoming mail by matching on
18228 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
18229 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
18232 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
18233 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
18236 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
18237 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
18241 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
18244 (setq gnus-moderated-list
18245 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
18249 @node XEmacs Enhancements
18250 @section XEmacs Enhancements
18253 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
18257 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
18258 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
18259 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
18260 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
18273 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
18274 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
18275 over your shoulder as you read news.
18278 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
18279 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
18280 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
18281 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
18282 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
18287 @subsubsection Picon Basics
18289 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
18298 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
18299 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
18300 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
18301 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
18302 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
18303 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
18304 @code{GIF} formats.
18307 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18308 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
18309 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
18310 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
18311 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
18313 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18314 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
18315 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
18316 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
18317 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
18318 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18321 @node Picon Requirements
18322 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
18324 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
18325 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
18328 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
18329 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
18330 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
18332 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18333 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
18334 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
18335 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
18336 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
18340 @subsubsection Easy Picons
18342 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
18343 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
18346 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
18347 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
18350 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
18351 containing the Picons databases.
18353 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
18356 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18357 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
18362 @subsubsection Hard Picons
18370 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
18371 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
18372 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
18373 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
18374 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
18379 @item gnus-picons-database
18380 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18381 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
18382 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
18383 subdirectories. This is only useful if
18384 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
18385 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
18387 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18388 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18389 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
18390 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
18391 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
18392 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
18393 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18395 @item gnus-picons-display-where
18396 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18397 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
18398 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
18399 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
18400 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
18401 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
18402 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
18404 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18405 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18406 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
18411 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
18412 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
18414 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
18415 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
18418 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18420 @item gnus-article-display-picons
18421 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18422 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
18423 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
18425 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
18426 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18427 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
18433 @node Picon Useless Configuration
18434 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
18442 The following variables offer further control over how things are
18443 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
18444 don't need to worry about.
18448 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
18449 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
18450 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18451 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
18453 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
18454 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
18455 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
18456 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
18458 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
18459 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
18460 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18461 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
18462 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
18464 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18465 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18466 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
18467 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
18468 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
18469 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
18470 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
18472 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18473 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18474 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
18475 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
18477 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18478 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18479 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
18480 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
18481 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
18482 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
18483 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
18485 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18486 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18487 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18488 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18490 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18491 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18492 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18493 Defaults to @code{t}.
18495 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18496 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18497 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18498 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18500 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18501 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18502 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18504 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18505 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18506 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18507 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18509 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18510 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
18512 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18513 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18514 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18515 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18516 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18517 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18518 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18519 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18530 @subsection Smileys
18535 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18540 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18541 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18543 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18544 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18547 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18550 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18551 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18552 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18553 text and maps that to file names.
18555 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18556 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18557 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18558 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18559 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18560 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18562 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18563 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18565 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18566 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18567 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18569 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18570 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18574 @item smiley-data-directory
18575 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18576 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18578 @item smiley-flesh-color
18579 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18580 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18582 @item smiley-features-color
18583 @vindex smiley-features-color
18584 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18586 @item smiley-tongue-color
18587 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18588 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18590 @item smiley-circle-color
18591 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18592 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18594 @item smiley-mouse-face
18595 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18596 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18602 @subsection Toolbar
18612 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18613 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18614 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18615 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18616 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18618 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18619 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18620 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18622 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18623 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18624 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18626 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18627 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18628 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18634 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18637 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18638 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18639 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18640 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18641 unusual directory structure.
18643 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18644 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18645 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18646 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18648 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18649 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18650 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18651 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18652 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18653 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18655 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18656 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18657 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18671 @node Fuzzy Matching
18672 @section Fuzzy Matching
18673 @cindex fuzzy matching
18675 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18676 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18678 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18679 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18680 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18682 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18683 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18684 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18685 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18686 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18689 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18690 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18694 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18696 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18697 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18698 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18699 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18700 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18701 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18702 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18703 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18706 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18707 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18708 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18709 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18710 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18711 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18715 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18716 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18718 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18719 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18720 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18721 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18722 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18723 part of the mail address.)
18726 (setq message-default-news-headers
18727 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18730 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18731 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18736 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18737 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18738 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18744 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18745 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18746 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18747 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18749 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18750 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18751 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18752 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18753 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18754 your fancy split rule in this way:
18759 (to "larsi" "misc")
18763 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18764 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18765 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18766 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18767 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18769 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18770 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18771 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
18772 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18773 cosmic balance somewhat.
18775 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18776 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18777 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18778 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18781 @node Various Various
18782 @section Various Various
18788 @item gnus-home-directory
18789 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18790 defaults to @file{~/}.
18792 @item gnus-directory
18793 @vindex gnus-directory
18794 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18795 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18796 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18798 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18799 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18800 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18801 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18803 @item gnus-default-directory
18804 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18805 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18806 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18807 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18808 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18809 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18810 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18813 @vindex gnus-verbose
18814 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18815 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18816 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18817 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18818 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18820 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18821 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18822 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18823 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18825 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18826 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18827 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18828 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18829 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18830 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18831 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18832 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18833 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18834 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18836 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18837 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18838 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18839 read when doing the operation described above.
18841 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18842 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18844 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18845 @cindex characters in file names
18846 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18847 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18848 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18851 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18855 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18856 Windows (phooey) systems.
18858 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18859 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18860 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18861 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18862 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18864 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18865 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18866 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18867 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18868 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18870 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18871 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18872 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18874 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18875 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18877 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
18878 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
18879 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
18880 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
18883 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
18892 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18893 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18895 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18897 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18903 Not because of victories @*
18906 but for the common sunshine,@*
18908 the largess of the spring.
18912 but for the day's work done@*
18913 as well as I was able;@*
18914 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18915 but at the common table.@*
18920 @chapter Appendices
18923 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18924 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18925 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18926 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18927 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18928 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18929 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18930 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18938 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18939 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18941 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18942 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18943 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
18944 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18945 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18947 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18948 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18949 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18950 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18951 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18952 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18954 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18955 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18956 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18957 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18960 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18961 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18962 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18963 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18964 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18965 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18966 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18967 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18968 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18972 @node Gnus Versions
18973 @subsection Gnus Versions
18974 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18976 @cindex September Gnus
18977 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18979 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18980 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18981 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18983 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18984 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18986 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18987 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18989 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18990 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18992 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18993 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18996 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
18998 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18999 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
19000 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
19001 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
19002 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
19003 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
19006 @node Other Gnus Versions
19007 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
19010 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
19011 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
19012 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
19013 @sc{mime} capabilities.
19015 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
19016 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
19017 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
19018 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
19025 What's the point of Gnus?
19027 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
19028 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
19029 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
19030 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
19031 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
19032 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
19033 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
19034 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
19035 keep track of millions of people who post?
19037 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
19038 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
19039 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
19040 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
19041 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
19042 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
19043 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
19044 every one of you to explore and invent.
19046 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
19047 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
19050 @node Compatibility
19051 @subsection Compatibility
19053 @cindex compatibility
19054 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
19055 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
19056 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
19061 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
19065 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
19068 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
19071 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
19072 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
19073 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
19074 important variables have their values copied into their global
19075 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
19076 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
19078 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
19079 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
19080 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
19081 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
19082 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
19086 @cindex highlighting
19087 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
19088 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
19089 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
19090 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
19091 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
19092 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
19095 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
19096 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
19097 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
19098 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
19100 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
19101 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
19102 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
19103 to stop doing it the old way.
19105 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
19107 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19109 @cindex reporting bugs
19111 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
19112 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
19113 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
19115 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
19116 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
19117 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
19118 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
19123 @subsection Conformity
19125 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
19126 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
19133 There are no known breaches of this standard.
19137 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
19139 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
19140 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
19141 We do have some breaches to this one.
19147 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
19148 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
19149 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
19150 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
19151 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
19156 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
19157 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
19158 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
19159 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
19163 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
19164 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
19169 @subsection Emacsen
19175 Gnus should work on :
19183 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
19187 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
19188 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
19189 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
19190 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
19191 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
19193 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
19194 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
19195 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
19199 @node Gnus Development
19200 @subsection Gnus Development
19202 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
19203 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
19204 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
19205 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
19206 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
19207 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
19208 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
19209 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
19211 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
19212 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
19213 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
19214 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
19215 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
19218 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
19219 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
19220 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
19221 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
19222 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
19224 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
19225 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
19226 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
19227 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
19228 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
19229 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
19230 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
19231 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
19232 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
19233 can't be assumed to do so.
19238 @subsection Contributors
19239 @cindex contributors
19241 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
19242 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
19243 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
19244 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
19245 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
19246 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
19247 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
19248 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
19249 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
19250 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
19252 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
19258 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
19261 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
19262 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
19263 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
19264 functionality and stuff.
19267 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
19268 well as numerous other things).
19271 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
19274 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
19277 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
19280 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
19281 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
19284 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
19287 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
19288 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19291 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
19294 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
19297 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
19300 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
19303 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
19304 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
19307 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
19310 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
19313 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
19316 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
19320 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
19323 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
19326 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
19329 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
19330 well as autoconf support.
19334 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
19335 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
19337 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
19346 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
19350 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
19360 Alexei V. Barantsev,
19375 Massimo Campostrini,
19380 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
19381 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
19385 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
19388 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
19394 Michael Welsh Duggan,
19399 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
19403 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
19411 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
19413 Michelangelo Grigni,
19417 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
19419 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
19421 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
19428 François Felix Ingrand,
19429 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
19430 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
19432 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
19443 Peter Skov Knudsen,
19444 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
19446 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
19447 Thor Kristoffersen,
19450 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
19468 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
19469 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
19476 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
19481 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
19485 John McClary Prevost,
19491 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19496 Christian von Roques,
19499 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19506 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19508 Randal L. Schwartz,
19522 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19527 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19543 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19548 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19549 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19550 (550kB and counting).
19552 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19555 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19556 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19560 @subsection New Features
19561 @cindex new features
19564 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19565 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
19566 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19567 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19568 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
19571 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19572 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19573 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19576 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19578 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19583 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19584 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19587 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19588 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19591 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19594 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19595 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19596 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19599 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19600 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19601 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19602 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19605 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19606 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19609 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19610 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19611 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19614 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19615 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19618 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19619 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19620 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19623 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19624 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19625 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19628 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19629 the @file{.emacs} file.
19632 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19633 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19636 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19637 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19640 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19641 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19644 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19645 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19648 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19649 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19652 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19655 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19656 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19659 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19660 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19663 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19664 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19667 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19670 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19671 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19674 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19678 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19682 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19683 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19686 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19692 @node September Gnus
19693 @subsubsection September Gnus
19697 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19701 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19706 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19707 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19711 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19712 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19716 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19720 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19721 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19724 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19728 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19731 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19734 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19737 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19741 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19742 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19745 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19749 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19753 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19757 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19761 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19764 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19765 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19768 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19772 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19773 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19776 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19779 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19780 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19781 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19784 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19788 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19791 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19795 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19796 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19799 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19800 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19803 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19804 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19807 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19808 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19809 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19812 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19813 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19816 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19819 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19822 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19825 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19828 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19829 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19832 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19836 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19839 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19844 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19847 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19851 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19854 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19858 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19861 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19864 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19865 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19868 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19869 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19873 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19874 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19877 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19881 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19882 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19885 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19888 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19892 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19896 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19897 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19900 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19904 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19905 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19908 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19909 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19912 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19916 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19919 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19922 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19928 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19930 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19934 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19941 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19944 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19945 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19948 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19949 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19953 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19954 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19957 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19960 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19961 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19964 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19968 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19969 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19973 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19974 Server Internals}).
19977 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19981 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19984 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19985 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19988 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19989 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19990 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19993 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19994 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19997 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19998 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
20001 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
20005 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
20006 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20009 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
20010 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20013 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
20017 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
20020 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
20024 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
20025 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20028 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
20029 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20032 A new command for reading collections of documents
20033 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
20034 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
20037 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
20041 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
20042 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
20045 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
20046 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
20047 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
20050 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
20051 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
20055 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
20059 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
20063 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
20068 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
20072 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
20076 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
20077 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
20080 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
20086 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
20088 New features in Gnus 5.6:
20093 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
20094 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
20095 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
20098 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
20099 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
20100 group, which is created automatically.
20103 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
20107 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
20110 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
20111 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
20114 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
20118 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
20121 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
20122 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
20125 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
20128 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
20129 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
20132 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
20133 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
20136 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
20137 control over simplification.
20140 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
20143 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
20147 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
20150 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
20153 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
20154 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
20155 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
20158 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
20159 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
20162 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
20166 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
20167 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
20170 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
20171 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
20174 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
20178 A history of where mails have been split is available.
20181 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
20184 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
20185 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
20188 A new function for citing in Message has been
20189 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
20192 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
20195 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
20199 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
20200 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
20203 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
20204 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
20207 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
20210 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
20214 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
20215 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
20217 New features in Gnus 5.8:
20221 @item The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
20222 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
20224 If you used procmail like in
20227 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
20228 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
20229 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
20230 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
20233 this now has changed to
20237 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
20241 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
20242 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
20244 @item Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
20245 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
20247 @item Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
20248 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
20250 @item @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
20251 called to position point.
20253 @item The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
20254 summary buffers and NOV files.
20256 @item @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
20257 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
20259 @item The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
20260 subtly different manner.
20262 @item New web-based backends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
20263 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
20264 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
20266 @item Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
20274 @section The Manual
20278 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20279 either @code{texi2dvi}
20281 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20282 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20284 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20286 The following conventions have been used:
20291 This is a @samp{string}
20294 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20297 This is a @file{file}
20300 This is a @code{symbol}
20304 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20308 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20311 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20314 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20317 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20318 ever get them confused.
20322 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20323 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20324 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20325 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20326 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20327 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20328 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20334 @node On Writing Manuals
20335 @section On Writing Manuals
20337 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20338 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20339 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20340 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20341 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20342 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20345 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20346 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20347 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20350 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20351 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20356 @section Terminology
20358 @cindex terminology
20363 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20364 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20365 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20366 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20367 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20371 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20372 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20373 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20374 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20378 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20382 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20387 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20388 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20389 is all done by the backends.
20393 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20394 default, way of getting news.
20398 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20399 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20404 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20405 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20409 A message that has been posted as news.
20412 @cindex mail message
20413 A message that has been mailed.
20417 A mail message or news article
20421 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20426 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20431 A line from the head of an article.
20435 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20436 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20440 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20441 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20442 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20443 normal @sc{head} format.
20447 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20448 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20449 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20450 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20451 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20452 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20454 @item killed groups
20455 @cindex killed groups
20456 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20457 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20459 @item zombie groups
20460 @cindex zombie groups
20461 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20464 @cindex active file
20465 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20466 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20467 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20470 @cindex bogus groups
20471 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20472 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20473 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20476 @cindex activating groups
20477 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20478 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20479 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20483 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20485 @item select method
20486 @cindex select method
20487 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20490 @item virtual server
20491 @cindex virtual server
20492 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20493 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20494 whole is a virtual server.
20498 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20499 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20502 @item ephemeral groups
20503 @cindex ephemeral groups
20504 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20505 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20506 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20509 @cindex solid groups
20510 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20511 group buffer are solid groups.
20513 @item sparse articles
20514 @cindex sparse articles
20515 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20516 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20520 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20521 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20525 @cindex thread root
20526 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20527 articles in the thread.
20531 An article that has responses.
20535 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20539 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20540 specified by RFC 1153.
20546 @node Customization
20547 @section Customization
20548 @cindex general customization
20550 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20551 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20552 for some quite common situations.
20555 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20556 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20557 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20558 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20562 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20563 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20565 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20566 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20567 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20571 @item gnus-read-active-file
20572 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20573 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20574 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20575 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20576 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20578 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20579 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20580 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20581 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20585 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20586 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20588 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20589 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20590 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20594 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20595 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20596 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20597 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20598 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20600 @item gnus-visible-headers
20601 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20602 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20603 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20604 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20606 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20608 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20609 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20610 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20613 @item gnus-use-full-window
20614 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20615 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20616 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20617 want to read them anyway.
20619 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20620 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20623 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20624 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20625 lines, which might save some time.
20629 @node Little Disk Space
20630 @subsection Little Disk Space
20633 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20634 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20638 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20639 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20640 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20641 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20644 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20645 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20646 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20647 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20650 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20651 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20652 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20653 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20654 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20660 @subsection Slow Machine
20661 @cindex slow machine
20663 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20664 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20666 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20667 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20669 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20670 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20671 summary buffer faster.
20675 @node Troubleshooting
20676 @section Troubleshooting
20677 @cindex troubleshooting
20679 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20687 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20690 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20691 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20695 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20696 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
20697 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
20698 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
20699 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20702 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20706 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20707 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20708 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20709 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20710 something like that.
20713 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20716 @cindex reporting bugs
20718 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20720 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20721 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20722 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20723 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20725 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20726 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20727 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20728 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20731 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20732 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20733 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20734 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20735 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20736 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20738 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20739 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20740 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20743 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20744 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20746 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20747 @cindex ding mailing list
20748 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20749 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20753 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20754 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20756 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20757 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20758 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20759 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20762 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20763 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20764 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20765 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20766 and general methods of operation.
20769 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20770 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20771 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20772 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20773 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20774 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20775 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20776 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20777 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20781 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20782 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20783 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20784 @cindex utility functions
20786 @cindex internal variables
20788 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20789 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20790 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20794 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20795 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20796 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20798 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20799 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20800 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20802 @item gnus-group-real-name
20803 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20804 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20807 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20808 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20809 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20810 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20812 @item gnus-get-info
20813 @findex gnus-get-info
20814 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20816 @item gnus-group-unread
20817 @findex gnus-group-unread
20818 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20822 @findex gnus-active
20823 The active entry for @var{group}.
20825 @item gnus-set-active
20826 @findex gnus-set-active
20827 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20829 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20830 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20831 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20834 @item gnus-continuum-version
20835 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20836 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20837 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20840 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20841 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20842 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20844 @item gnus-news-group-p
20845 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20846 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20848 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20849 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20850 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20852 @item gnus-server-to-method
20853 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20854 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20856 @item gnus-server-equal
20857 @findex gnus-server-equal
20858 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20860 @item gnus-group-native-p
20861 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20862 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20864 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20865 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20866 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20868 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20869 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20870 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20872 @item group-group-find-parameter
20873 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20874 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20875 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20877 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20878 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20879 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20881 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20882 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20883 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20885 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20886 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20887 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20888 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20891 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20895 @item gnus-read-method
20896 @findex gnus-read-method
20897 Prompts the user for a select method.
20902 @node Backend Interface
20903 @subsection Backend Interface
20905 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20906 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20907 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20908 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20909 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20910 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20912 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20913 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20914 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20915 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20916 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20917 been opened, the function should fail.
20919 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20920 name. Take this example:
20924 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20925 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20928 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20929 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20931 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20932 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20933 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20935 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20936 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20937 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20939 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20940 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20941 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20942 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20943 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20944 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20947 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20948 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20949 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20950 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20953 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20956 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20959 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20960 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20961 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20962 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20963 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20964 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20968 @node Required Backend Functions
20969 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20973 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20975 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20976 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20977 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20978 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20980 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20981 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20982 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20983 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20985 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20986 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20987 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20988 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20989 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20990 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20991 number, do maximum fetches.
20993 Here's an example HEAD:
20996 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20997 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20998 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20999 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21000 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21001 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21002 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21004 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21005 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21006 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21010 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21011 these in the data buffer.
21013 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21017 head = error / valid-head
21018 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21019 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21020 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21021 header = <text> eol
21024 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21025 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21029 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21030 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21031 field = <text except TAB>
21034 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21038 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21040 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21041 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21043 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21044 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21045 server. In fact, it should do so.
21047 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21048 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21051 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21053 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21054 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21057 There should be no data returned.
21060 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21062 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21063 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21064 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21065 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21067 There should be no data returned.
21070 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21072 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21073 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21074 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21075 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21077 There should be no data returned.
21080 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21082 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21084 There should be no data returned.
21087 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21089 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21090 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21091 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21092 it would be nice if that were possible.
21094 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21095 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21096 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21097 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21098 into its article buffer.
21100 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21101 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21102 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21103 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21104 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21105 on successful article retrieval.
21108 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21110 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21111 making @var{group} the current group.
21113 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21116 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21119 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21122 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21123 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21124 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21125 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21126 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21127 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21128 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21129 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21132 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21133 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21134 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21138 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21140 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21141 a no-op on most backends.
21143 There should be no data returned.
21146 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21148 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21151 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21154 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21155 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21158 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21159 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21162 active-file = *active-line
21163 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21165 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21168 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21169 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21170 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21173 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21175 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21176 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21177 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21178 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21179 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21180 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21182 There should be no result data from this function.
21187 @node Optional Backend Functions
21188 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21192 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21194 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21195 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21196 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21198 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21199 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21200 former is in the same format as the data from
21201 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21202 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21205 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21209 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21211 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21212 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21213 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21214 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21215 should return the (altered) group info.
21217 There should be no result data from this function.
21220 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21222 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21223 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21224 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21225 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21226 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21227 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21228 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21229 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21231 There should be no result data from this function.
21234 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21236 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21237 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21238 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21239 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21240 propagate the mark information to the server.
21242 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21245 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21248 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21249 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21250 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21251 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21252 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21253 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21254 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21255 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21256 not limit itself to these.
21258 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21259 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21260 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21261 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21263 An example action list:
21266 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21267 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21268 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21271 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21272 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21274 There should be no result data from this function.
21276 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21278 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21279 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21280 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21281 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21282 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21284 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21285 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21286 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21289 There should be no result data from this function.
21292 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21294 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21295 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21296 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21297 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21298 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21299 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21300 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21302 There should be no result data from this function.
21305 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21307 The result data from this function should be a description of
21311 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21313 description = <text>
21316 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21318 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21319 groups available on the server.
21322 description-buffer = *description-line
21326 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21328 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21329 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21330 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21333 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21335 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21337 There should be no return data.
21340 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21342 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21343 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21344 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21345 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21346 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21349 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21352 There should be no result data returned.
21355 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21358 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21359 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21361 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21362 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21363 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21364 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21365 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21366 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21368 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21369 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21372 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21373 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21375 There should be no data returned.
21378 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21380 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21381 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21382 this function in short order.
21384 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21385 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21387 There should be no data returned.
21390 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21392 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21393 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21395 There should be no data returned.
21398 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21400 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21401 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21402 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21404 There should be no data returned.
21407 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21409 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21410 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21412 There should be no data returned.
21417 @node Error Messaging
21418 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21420 @findex nnheader-report
21421 @findex nnheader-get-report
21422 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21423 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21424 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21425 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21426 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21427 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21430 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21432 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21435 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21436 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21437 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21438 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21440 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21441 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21442 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21445 @node Writing New Backends
21446 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21448 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21449 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21450 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21451 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21452 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21455 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21456 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21457 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21459 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21460 package called @code{nnoo}.
21462 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21463 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21469 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21470 parameters. For instance:
21473 (nnoo-declare nndir
21477 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21478 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21481 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21482 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21483 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21485 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21486 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21487 a function in those backends.
21490 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21491 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21492 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21495 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21496 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21497 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21499 @item nnoo-define-basics
21500 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21504 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21508 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21509 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21510 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21512 @item nnoo-map-functions
21513 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21514 functions from the parent backends.
21517 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21518 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21519 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21522 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21523 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21524 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21525 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21528 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21529 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21530 haven't already been defined.
21536 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21540 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21541 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21542 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21547 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21550 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21551 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21555 (require 'nnheader)
21559 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21561 (nnoo-declare nndir
21564 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21565 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21566 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21568 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21569 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21572 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21573 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21574 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21576 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21577 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21579 ;;; Interface functions.
21581 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21583 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21584 (setq nndir-directory
21585 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21587 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21588 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21589 (push `(nndir-current-group
21590 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21592 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21593 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21595 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21597 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21598 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21599 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21600 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21601 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21605 nnmh-status-message
21607 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21613 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21614 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21616 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21617 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21618 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21619 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21621 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21622 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21627 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21630 The abilities can be:
21634 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21636 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21638 This backend supports both mail and news.
21640 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21643 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21644 articles and groups.
21646 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21647 true for almost all backends.
21648 @item prompt-address
21649 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21650 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21651 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21655 @node Mail-like Backends
21656 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21658 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21659 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21660 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21661 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21664 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21665 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21666 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21669 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21670 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21673 This function takes four parameters.
21677 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21680 @item exit-function
21681 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21683 @item temp-directory
21684 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21687 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21688 performed for one group only.
21691 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21692 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21693 find the article number assigned to this article.
21695 The function also uses the following variables:
21696 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21697 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21698 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21699 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21703 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21704 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21708 @node Score File Syntax
21709 @subsection Score File Syntax
21711 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21712 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21713 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21715 Here's a typical score file:
21719 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21726 BNF definition of a score file:
21729 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21730 element = rule / atom
21731 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21732 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21733 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21734 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21736 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21737 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21738 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21739 date-header = "date"
21740 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21741 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21742 score = "nil" / <integer>
21743 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21744 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21745 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21746 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21747 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21748 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21749 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21750 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21751 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21752 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21753 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21754 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21755 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21756 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21757 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21758 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21759 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21760 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21761 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21762 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21763 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21764 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21765 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21766 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21767 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21768 eval = "eval" space <form>
21769 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21772 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21775 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21776 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21777 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21778 one looong line, then that's ok.
21780 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21781 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21785 @subsection Headers
21787 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21788 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21789 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21790 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21792 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21793 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21794 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21795 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21796 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21797 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21798 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21800 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21801 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21802 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21803 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21804 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21806 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21807 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21813 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21814 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21816 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21817 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21818 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21819 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21821 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21825 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21828 is transformed into
21831 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21834 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21835 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21838 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21841 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21842 is slightly tricky:
21845 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21851 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21854 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21860 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21867 and is equal to the previous range.
21869 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21870 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21871 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21875 range = simple-range / normal-range
21876 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21877 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21878 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21879 number *[ " " contents ]
21882 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21883 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21884 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21885 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21886 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21891 @subsection Group Info
21893 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21894 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21895 describes the group.
21897 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21898 second is a more complex one:
21901 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21903 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21904 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21906 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21909 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21910 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21911 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21912 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21913 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21914 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21915 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21916 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21917 this section is about.
21919 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21920 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21921 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21923 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21926 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21927 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21928 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21929 group = quote <string> quote
21930 ralevel = rank / level
21931 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21932 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21933 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21935 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21936 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21937 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21938 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21941 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21942 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21945 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21946 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21949 @item gnus-info-group
21950 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21951 @findex gnus-info-group
21952 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21953 Get/set the group name.
21955 @item gnus-info-rank
21956 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21957 @findex gnus-info-rank
21958 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21959 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21961 @item gnus-info-level
21962 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21963 @findex gnus-info-level
21964 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21965 Get/set the group level.
21967 @item gnus-info-score
21968 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21969 @findex gnus-info-score
21970 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21971 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21973 @item gnus-info-read
21974 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21975 @findex gnus-info-read
21976 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21977 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21979 @item gnus-info-marks
21980 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21981 @findex gnus-info-marks
21982 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21983 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21985 @item gnus-info-method
21986 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21987 @findex gnus-info-method
21988 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21989 Get/set the group select method.
21991 @item gnus-info-params
21992 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21993 @findex gnus-info-params
21994 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21995 Get/set the group parameters.
21998 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21999 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22001 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22002 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22003 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22004 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22007 @node Extended Interactive
22008 @subsection Extended Interactive
22009 @cindex interactive
22010 @findex gnus-interactive
22012 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22013 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22014 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22017 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22018 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22023 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22024 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22025 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22026 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22027 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22028 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22029 @code{interactive}.
22031 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22036 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22037 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22041 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22042 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22043 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22046 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22050 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22054 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22060 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22061 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22065 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22066 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22067 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22069 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22070 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22071 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22072 Gnus, that's very useful.
22074 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22075 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22076 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22077 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22078 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22079 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22080 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22081 following function:
22084 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22088 (,function ,@@args))
22092 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22093 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22094 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22097 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22098 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22099 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22101 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22102 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22103 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22106 @node Various File Formats
22107 @subsection Various File Formats
22110 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22111 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22115 @node Active File Format
22116 @subsubsection Active File Format
22118 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22119 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22122 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22125 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22126 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22127 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22128 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22129 no.general 1000 900 y
22132 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22135 active = *group-line
22136 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22137 group = <non-white-space string>
22139 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22140 low-number = <positive integer>
22141 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22144 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22145 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22148 @node Newsgroups File Format
22149 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22151 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22152 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22153 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22156 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22157 Here's the definition:
22161 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22162 group = <non-white-space string>
22164 description = <string>
22169 @node Emacs for Heathens
22170 @section Emacs for Heathens
22172 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22173 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22174 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22175 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22176 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22177 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22178 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22182 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22183 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22188 @subsection Keystrokes
22192 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22195 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22198 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22199 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22200 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22201 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22202 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22203 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22205 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22206 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22207 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22208 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22209 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22210 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22211 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22213 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22214 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22215 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22216 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22217 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22218 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22219 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22221 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22222 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22223 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22224 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22225 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22231 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22233 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22234 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22235 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22236 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22238 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22239 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22240 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22241 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22242 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22243 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22244 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22247 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22248 write the following:
22251 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22254 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22255 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22256 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22259 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22260 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22261 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22262 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22263 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22265 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22266 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22267 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22271 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22275 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22278 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22279 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22282 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22285 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22286 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22289 @include gnus-faq.texi
22310 % LocalWords: Backend BNF mucho Backends backends detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
22311 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
22312 % LocalWords: nnmbox backend newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
22313 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
22314 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref