4 @settitle T-gnus 6.16 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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294 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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303 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
305 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
311 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
333 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
334 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
336 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
337 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
338 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
339 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
340 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
341 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
342 License'' in the Emacs manual.
344 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
345 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
346 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
348 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
349 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
350 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
351 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
357 @title T-gnus 6.16 Manual
359 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
362 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
363 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
365 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
367 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
368 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
369 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
370 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
371 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
372 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
373 License'' in the Emacs manual.
375 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
376 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
377 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
379 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
380 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
381 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
382 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
391 @top The gnus Newsreader
395 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
396 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
397 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
400 T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
401 T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
402 or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
403 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
404 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
405 if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
407 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.16.
418 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
419 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
421 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
422 being accused of plagiarism:
424 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
425 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
426 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
427 can even read news with it!
429 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
430 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
431 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
432 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
433 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
439 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
440 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
441 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
442 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
443 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
444 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
445 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
446 * Various:: General purpose settings.
447 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
448 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
449 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
450 * Key Index:: Key Index.
452 Other related manuals
454 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
455 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
456 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
457 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
460 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
464 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
465 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
466 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
467 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
468 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
469 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
470 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
471 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
472 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
473 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
474 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
478 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
479 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
480 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
484 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
485 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
486 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
487 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
488 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
489 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
490 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
491 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
492 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
493 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
494 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
495 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
496 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
497 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
498 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
499 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
500 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
504 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
505 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
506 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
510 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
511 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
512 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
513 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
514 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
518 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
519 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
520 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
521 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
522 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
526 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
527 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
528 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
529 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
530 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
531 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
532 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
533 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
534 * Threading:: How threads are made.
535 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
536 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
537 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
538 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
539 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
540 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
541 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
542 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
543 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
544 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
545 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
546 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
547 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
548 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
549 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
550 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
551 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
552 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
553 or reselecting the current group.
554 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
555 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
556 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
557 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
559 Summary Buffer Format
561 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
562 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
563 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
564 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
568 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
569 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
571 Reply, Followup and Post
573 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
574 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
575 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
576 * Canceling and Superseding::
580 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
581 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
582 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
583 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
584 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
585 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
589 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
590 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
592 Customizing Threading
594 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
595 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
596 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
597 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
601 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
602 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
603 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
604 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
605 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
606 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
610 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
611 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
612 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
616 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
617 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
618 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
619 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
620 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
621 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
622 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
623 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
624 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
625 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
626 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
628 Alternative Approaches
630 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
631 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
633 Various Summary Stuff
635 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
636 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
637 * Summary Generation Commands::
638 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
642 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
643 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
644 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
645 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
646 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
650 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
651 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
652 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
653 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
654 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
655 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
656 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
657 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
661 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
662 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
663 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
664 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
665 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
666 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
667 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
668 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
672 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
673 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
674 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
675 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
676 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
677 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
678 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
682 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
683 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
687 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
688 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
689 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
693 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
694 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
695 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
696 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
697 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
698 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
699 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
700 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
701 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
702 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
703 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
704 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
705 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
709 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
710 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
711 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
713 Choosing a Mail Back End
715 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
716 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
717 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
718 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
719 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
720 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
721 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
726 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
727 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
728 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
729 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
730 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
731 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
735 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
736 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
737 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
738 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
739 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
743 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
744 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
745 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
746 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
747 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
751 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
755 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
756 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
757 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
761 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
762 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
766 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
767 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
768 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
769 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
770 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
771 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
772 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
773 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
774 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
775 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
776 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
777 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
778 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
782 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
783 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
784 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
788 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
789 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
790 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
794 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
795 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
796 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
797 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
798 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
799 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
800 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
801 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
802 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
803 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
804 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
805 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
806 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
807 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
808 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
809 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
810 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
814 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
815 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
816 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
817 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
821 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
822 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
823 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
827 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
828 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
829 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
830 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
831 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
832 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
833 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
834 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
835 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
836 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
837 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
838 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
839 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
840 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
841 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
842 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
843 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
844 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
845 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
849 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
850 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
851 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
852 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
853 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
854 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
855 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
856 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
860 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
861 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
862 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
863 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
864 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
868 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
869 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
870 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
871 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
872 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
873 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
875 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
877 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
879 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
880 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
882 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
884 * ifile spam filtering::
885 * spam-stat spam filtering::
887 * Extending the spam elisp package::
889 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
891 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
892 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
893 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
897 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
898 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
899 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
900 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
901 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
902 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
903 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
904 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
905 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ.
909 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
910 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
911 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
912 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
913 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
914 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
915 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
916 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
917 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
921 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
922 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
923 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
924 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
925 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
926 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
930 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
931 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
932 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
933 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
937 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
938 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
939 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
940 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
941 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
942 * Group Info:: The group info format.
943 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
944 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
945 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
949 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
950 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
951 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
952 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
953 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
954 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
958 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
959 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
963 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
964 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
970 @chapter Starting gnus
975 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
976 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
979 @findex gnus-other-frame
980 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
981 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
982 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
984 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
985 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
986 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
988 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
989 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
992 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
993 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
994 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
995 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
996 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
997 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
998 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
999 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
1000 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
1001 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1002 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1006 @node Finding the News
1007 @section Finding the News
1008 @cindex finding news
1010 @vindex gnus-select-method
1012 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
1013 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1014 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1015 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1018 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1019 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1022 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1025 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1028 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1031 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1032 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1033 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1035 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1037 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1038 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1039 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1040 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1041 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1042 If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1043 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1045 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1046 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1047 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1048 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1050 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1051 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1052 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1053 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1054 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1055 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1056 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1057 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1058 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1061 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1063 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1064 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1065 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1066 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1067 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1068 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1070 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1072 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1073 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1074 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1075 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1076 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1077 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1080 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1081 you would typically set this variable to
1084 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1088 @node The First Time
1089 @section The First Time
1090 @cindex first time usage
1092 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1093 be subscribed by default.
1095 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1096 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1097 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1098 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1101 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1102 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1103 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1105 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1106 help you with most common problems.
1108 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1109 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1113 @node The Server is Down
1114 @section The Server is Down
1115 @cindex server errors
1117 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1118 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1119 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1121 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1122 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1123 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1124 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1125 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1126 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1127 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1129 @findex gnus-no-server
1130 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1132 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1133 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1134 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1135 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1136 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1137 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1138 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1142 @section Slave Gnusae
1145 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1146 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1147 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1148 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1150 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1151 @file{.newsrc} file.
1153 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1154 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1155 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1156 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1157 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1158 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1159 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1162 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1163 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1164 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1165 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1166 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1167 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1168 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1169 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1171 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1172 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1174 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1175 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1176 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1177 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1178 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1180 @node Fetching a Group
1181 @section Fetching a Group
1182 @cindex fetching a group
1184 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1185 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1186 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1187 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1188 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1189 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1195 @cindex subscription
1197 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1198 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1199 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1200 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1201 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1202 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1203 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1204 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1205 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1208 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1209 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1210 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1214 @node Checking New Groups
1215 @subsection Checking New Groups
1217 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1218 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1219 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1220 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1221 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1222 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1223 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1224 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1225 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1226 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1228 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1229 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1230 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1231 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1232 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1233 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1234 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1235 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1236 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1237 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1238 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1240 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1241 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1242 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1243 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1244 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1245 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1248 @node Subscription Methods
1249 @subsection Subscription Methods
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1252 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1253 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1255 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1256 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1258 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1264 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1265 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1266 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1270 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1271 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1273 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1274 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1275 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1279 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1280 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1281 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1282 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1283 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1284 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1285 up. Or something like that.
1287 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1288 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1289 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1290 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1291 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1293 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1294 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1295 Kill all new groups.
1297 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1298 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1299 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1300 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1301 topic parameter that looks like
1307 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1310 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1315 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1316 A closely related variable is
1317 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1318 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1319 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1320 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1323 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1324 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1325 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1326 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1329 @node Filtering New Groups
1330 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1332 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1333 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1334 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1337 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1340 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1341 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1342 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1343 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1344 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1345 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1346 subscribing these groups.
1347 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1348 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1350 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1351 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1352 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1353 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1354 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1355 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1356 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1357 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1359 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1360 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1361 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1362 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1363 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1364 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1365 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1366 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1367 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1368 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1371 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1372 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1375 @node Changing Servers
1376 @section Changing Servers
1377 @cindex changing servers
1379 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1380 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1381 very flaky and you want to use another.
1383 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1384 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1388 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1389 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1390 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1391 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1394 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1395 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1396 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1397 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1399 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1400 @findex gnus-change-server
1401 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1402 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1403 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1404 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1405 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1407 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1408 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1409 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1410 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1411 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1413 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1414 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1415 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1416 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1417 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1418 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1420 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1421 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1422 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1423 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1425 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1426 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1427 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1428 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1429 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1430 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1431 cache for all groups).
1435 @section Startup Files
1436 @cindex startup files
1441 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1442 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1444 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1445 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1446 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1447 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1448 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1449 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1450 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1452 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1453 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1454 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1455 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1456 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1457 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1459 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1460 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1461 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1462 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1463 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1464 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1465 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1466 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1467 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1468 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1470 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1471 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1472 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1473 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1474 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1475 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1476 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1477 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1478 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1479 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1480 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1481 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1483 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1484 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1485 @vindex version-control
1486 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1487 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1488 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1489 If you want version control for this file, set
1490 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1491 @code{version-control} variable.
1493 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1494 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1495 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1496 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1497 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1498 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1499 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1500 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1501 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1502 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1505 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1506 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1508 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1509 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1512 @vindex gnus-init-file
1513 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1514 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1515 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1516 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1517 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1518 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1519 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1520 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1521 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1522 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1528 @cindex dribble file
1531 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1532 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1533 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1534 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1535 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1538 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1539 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1542 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1543 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1544 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1546 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1547 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1548 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1549 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1550 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1551 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1553 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1554 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1555 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1558 @node The Active File
1559 @section The Active File
1561 @cindex ignored groups
1563 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1564 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1565 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1567 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1568 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1569 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1570 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1571 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1572 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1573 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1576 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1577 @c if you set it to anything else.
1579 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1581 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1582 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1583 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1585 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1586 you actually subscribe to.
1588 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1589 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1590 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1591 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1593 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1594 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1595 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1596 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1597 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1598 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1600 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1601 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1602 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1605 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1606 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1607 @acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1608 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1609 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1610 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1612 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1613 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1615 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1616 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1618 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1619 secondary select methods.
1622 @node Startup Variables
1623 @section Startup Variables
1627 @item gnus-load-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1629 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1630 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1631 times you start gnus.
1633 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1634 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1635 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1637 @item gnus-startup-hook
1638 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1639 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1641 @item gnus-started-hook
1642 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1643 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1646 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1647 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1648 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1649 generating the group buffer.
1651 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1652 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1653 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1654 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1655 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1656 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1657 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1658 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1660 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1661 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1662 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1663 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1664 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1665 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1667 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1668 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1669 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1671 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1672 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1673 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1675 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1676 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1677 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1678 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1684 @chapter Group Buffer
1685 @cindex group buffer
1687 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1689 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1690 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1691 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1692 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1693 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1694 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1695 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1696 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1697 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1698 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1699 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1700 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1701 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1702 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1703 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1704 @c human rights at 9...
1707 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1708 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1709 long as gnus is active.
1713 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1714 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1715 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1716 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1717 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1718 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1719 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1720 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1726 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1727 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1728 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1729 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1730 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1731 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1732 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1733 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1734 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1735 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1736 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1737 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1738 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1739 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1740 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1741 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1742 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1746 @node Group Buffer Format
1747 @section Group Buffer Format
1750 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1751 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1752 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1756 @node Group Line Specification
1757 @subsection Group Line Specification
1758 @cindex group buffer format
1760 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1761 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1763 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1766 25: news.announce.newusers
1767 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1772 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1773 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1774 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1775 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1777 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1778 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1779 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1780 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1781 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1782 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1784 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1786 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1787 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1788 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1789 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1790 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1792 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1793 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1794 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1796 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1801 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1804 Whether the group is subscribed.
1807 Level of subscribedness.
1810 Number of unread articles.
1813 Number of dormant articles.
1816 Number of ticked articles.
1819 Number of read articles.
1822 Number of unseen articles.
1825 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1826 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1828 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1829 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1830 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1831 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1832 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1833 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1834 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1835 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1838 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1841 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1850 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1851 comment element in the group parameters.
1854 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1855 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1856 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1860 @samp{m} if moderated.
1863 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1869 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1875 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1879 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1882 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1883 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1884 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1885 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1886 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1889 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1891 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1895 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1898 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1902 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1903 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1904 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1905 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1906 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1907 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1912 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1913 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1914 group, or a bogus native group.
1917 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1918 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1919 @cindex group mode line
1921 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1922 The mode line can be changed by setting
1923 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1924 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1928 The native news server.
1930 The native select method.
1934 @node Group Highlighting
1935 @subsection Group Highlighting
1936 @cindex highlighting
1937 @cindex group highlighting
1939 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1940 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1941 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1942 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1943 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1945 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1949 (cond (window-system
1950 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1951 (defface my-group-face-1
1952 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1953 (defface my-group-face-2
1954 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1955 "Second group face")
1956 (defface my-group-face-3
1957 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1958 (defface my-group-face-4
1959 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1960 (defface my-group-face-5
1961 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1963 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1964 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1965 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1966 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1967 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1968 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1971 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1973 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1980 The number of unread articles in the group.
1984 Whether the group is a mail group.
1986 The level of the group.
1988 The score of the group.
1990 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1992 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1993 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1995 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1996 topic being inserted.
1999 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2000 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
2001 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2003 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2004 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2005 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2006 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2007 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2010 @node Group Maneuvering
2011 @section Group Maneuvering
2012 @cindex group movement
2014 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2015 expected, hopefully.
2021 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2022 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2023 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2029 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2030 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2031 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2035 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2036 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2040 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2041 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2045 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2046 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2047 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2051 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2052 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2053 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2056 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2062 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2063 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2064 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2069 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2070 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2071 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2075 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2076 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2077 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2080 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2081 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2082 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2083 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2087 @node Selecting a Group
2088 @section Selecting a Group
2089 @cindex group selection
2094 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2096 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2097 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2098 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2099 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2100 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2101 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2102 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2103 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2105 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2106 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2107 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2109 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2110 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2115 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2116 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2117 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2118 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2119 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2123 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2124 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2125 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2126 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2127 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2128 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2129 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2130 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2131 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2132 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2135 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2136 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2137 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2138 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2139 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2142 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2143 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2144 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2145 doing any processing of its contents
2146 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2147 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2148 manner will have no permanent effects.
2152 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2153 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2154 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2155 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2156 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2157 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2158 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2159 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2160 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2161 most recently will be fetched.
2163 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2164 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2165 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2168 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2169 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2170 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2171 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2172 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2173 Which article this is is controlled by the
2174 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2180 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2183 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2186 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2188 @item unseen-or-unread
2189 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2190 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2194 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2198 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2199 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2201 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2202 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2203 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2204 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2208 @node Subscription Commands
2209 @section Subscription Commands
2210 @cindex subscription
2218 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2219 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2220 Toggle subscription to the current group
2221 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2227 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2228 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2229 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2230 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2236 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2237 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2238 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2244 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2245 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2248 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2249 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2250 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2251 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2252 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2258 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2259 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2263 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2264 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2267 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2268 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2269 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2270 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2271 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2272 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2273 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2274 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2275 @file{.newsrc} file.
2279 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2289 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2290 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2291 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2292 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2293 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2294 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2299 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2300 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2301 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2305 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2306 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2307 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2309 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2310 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2311 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2312 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2313 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2314 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2321 @section Group Levels
2325 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2326 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2327 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2328 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2329 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2331 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2337 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2338 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2339 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2340 prompted for a level.
2343 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2344 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2345 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2346 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2347 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2348 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2349 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2350 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2351 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2352 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2353 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2354 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2355 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2356 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2357 reasons of efficiency.
2359 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2360 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2362 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2363 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2364 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2365 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2366 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2367 groups are hidden, in a way.
2369 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2370 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2371 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2372 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2373 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2374 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2376 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2377 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2378 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2379 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2380 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2381 list of killed groups.)
2383 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2384 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2385 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2387 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2388 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2389 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2390 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2391 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2392 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2393 relevant valid ranges.
2395 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2396 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2397 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2398 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2399 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2400 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2403 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2404 one with the best level.
2406 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2407 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2408 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2411 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2412 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2413 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2414 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2417 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2418 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2419 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2420 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2422 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2423 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2424 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2425 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2426 to 5. The default is 6.
2430 @section Group Score
2435 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2436 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2437 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2440 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2441 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2442 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2443 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2444 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2445 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2446 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2447 least significant part.))
2449 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2450 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2451 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2452 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2453 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2454 action after each summary exit, you can add
2455 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2456 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2457 slow things down somewhat.
2460 @node Marking Groups
2461 @section Marking Groups
2462 @cindex marking groups
2464 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2465 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2466 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2467 bidding on those groups.
2469 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2470 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2471 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2479 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2480 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2486 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2487 Remove the mark from the current group
2488 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2492 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2493 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2497 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2498 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2502 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2503 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2507 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2508 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2509 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2512 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2514 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2515 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2516 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2517 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2518 the command to be executed.
2521 @node Foreign Groups
2522 @section Foreign Groups
2523 @cindex foreign groups
2525 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2526 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2527 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2528 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2536 @cindex making groups
2537 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2538 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2539 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2543 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2544 @cindex renaming groups
2545 Rename the current group to something else
2546 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2547 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2553 @findex gnus-group-customize
2554 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2558 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2559 @cindex renaming groups
2560 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2561 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2565 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2566 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2567 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2571 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2572 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2573 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2577 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2579 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2580 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2586 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2590 @cindex (ding) archive
2591 @cindex archive group
2592 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2593 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2594 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2595 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2596 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2597 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2598 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2604 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2605 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2606 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2607 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2611 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2613 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2614 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2615 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2619 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2620 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2622 Make a group based on some file or other
2623 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2624 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2625 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2626 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2627 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2628 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2629 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2630 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2631 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2635 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2636 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2637 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2638 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2642 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2646 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2647 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2648 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2649 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2650 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2651 @xref{Web Searches}.
2653 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2654 to a particular group by using a match string like
2655 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2658 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2659 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2660 This function will delete the current group
2661 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2662 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2663 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2664 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2665 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2670 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2671 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2675 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2676 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2677 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2680 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2683 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2684 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2685 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2686 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2687 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2688 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2692 @node Group Parameters
2693 @section Group Parameters
2694 @cindex group parameters
2696 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2697 Here's an example group parameter list:
2700 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2704 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2705 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2706 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2707 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2709 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2710 is an alist of regexps and values.
2712 The following group parameters can be used:
2717 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2720 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2723 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2724 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2725 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2726 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2727 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2729 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2730 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2731 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2732 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2733 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2734 list address instead.
2736 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2740 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2743 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2746 It is totally ignored
2747 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2748 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2750 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2751 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2752 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2753 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2754 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2756 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2757 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2758 sending the message.
2760 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2761 @cindex mail list groups
2762 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2763 entering summary buffer.
2765 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2770 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2771 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2772 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2773 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2774 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2775 headers for your posts to these lists. @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing
2776 Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for a complete treatment of
2777 available MFT support.
2779 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2780 directly uses this group parameter.
2784 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2785 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2786 of whether it has any unread articles.
2788 @item broken-reply-to
2789 @cindex broken-reply-to
2790 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2791 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2792 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2793 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2794 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2795 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2799 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2800 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2804 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2805 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2806 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2811 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2812 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2813 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2814 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2815 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2816 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2817 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2819 @strong{Caveat}: It yields an error putting @code{(gcc-self . t)} in
2820 groups of an @code{nntp} server or so, because an @code{nntp} server
2821 doesn't accept articles.
2825 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2826 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2827 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2829 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2832 @cindex total-expire
2833 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2834 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2835 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2836 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2839 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2843 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2844 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2845 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2846 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2847 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2848 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2849 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2852 @cindex expiry-target
2853 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2854 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2857 @cindex score file group parameter
2858 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2859 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2860 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2863 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2864 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2865 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2866 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2869 @cindex admin-address
2870 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2871 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2872 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2873 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2877 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2878 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2882 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2885 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2886 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2889 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2893 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2895 Here are some examples:
2899 Display only unread articles.
2902 Display everything except expirable articles.
2904 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2905 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2909 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2910 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2911 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2912 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2913 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2917 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2918 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2919 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2923 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2924 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2925 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2929 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2930 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2931 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2933 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2935 @item ignored-charsets
2936 @cindex ignored-charset
2937 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2938 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2939 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2941 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2944 @cindex posting-style
2945 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2946 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2947 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2948 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2949 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2951 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2952 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2953 like this in the group parameters:
2958 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2959 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2964 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2965 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2969 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2970 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2971 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2972 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2973 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2977 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2978 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2979 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2980 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2982 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2983 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2984 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2985 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2988 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2989 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2993 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
2994 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
2996 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2997 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2998 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2999 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3000 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3001 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3002 @code{eval}ed there.
3004 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3005 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3006 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3007 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3008 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3009 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3010 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3011 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3014 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3017 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3018 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3019 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3022 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3025 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3026 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3027 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3028 into the group parameters for the group.
3030 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3031 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3032 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3033 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3034 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3038 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3039 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3040 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3041 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3042 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3044 @vindex gnus-parameters
3045 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3046 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3050 (setq gnus-parameters
3052 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3053 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3054 (gnus-summary-line-format
3055 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3059 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3063 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3067 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3070 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3071 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3074 @node Listing Groups
3075 @section Listing Groups
3076 @cindex group listing
3078 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3086 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3087 List all groups that have unread articles
3088 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3089 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3090 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3091 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3098 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3099 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3100 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3101 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3102 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3103 unsubscribed groups).
3107 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3108 List all unread groups on a specific level
3109 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3110 with no unread articles.
3114 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3115 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3116 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3117 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3122 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3123 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3127 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3128 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3129 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3133 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3134 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3138 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3139 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3140 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3141 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3142 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3143 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3144 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3145 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3149 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3150 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3151 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3155 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3156 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3157 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3161 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3162 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3166 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3167 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3171 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3172 List groups limited within the current selection
3173 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3177 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3178 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3182 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3183 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3187 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3188 @cindex visible group parameter
3189 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3190 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3191 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3192 get the same effect.
3194 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3195 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3196 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3197 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3198 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3201 @node Sorting Groups
3202 @section Sorting Groups
3203 @cindex sorting groups
3205 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3206 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3207 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3208 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3209 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3210 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3215 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3216 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3217 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3219 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3221 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3223 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3224 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3225 Sort by group level.
3227 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3228 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3229 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3231 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3232 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3233 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3234 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3236 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3237 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3238 Sort by number of unread articles.
3240 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3242 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3244 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3245 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3246 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3251 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3252 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3256 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3257 some sorting criteria:
3261 @kindex G S a (Group)
3262 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3263 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3264 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3267 @kindex G S u (Group)
3268 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3269 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3270 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3273 @kindex G S l (Group)
3274 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3275 Sort the group buffer by group level
3276 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3279 @kindex G S v (Group)
3280 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3281 Sort the group buffer by group score
3282 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3285 @kindex G S r (Group)
3286 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3287 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3288 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3291 @kindex G S m (Group)
3292 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3293 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3294 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3297 @kindex G S n (Group)
3298 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3299 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3300 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3304 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3305 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3307 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3308 commands will sort in reverse order.
3310 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3314 @kindex G P a (Group)
3315 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3316 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3317 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3320 @kindex G P u (Group)
3321 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3322 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3323 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3326 @kindex G P l (Group)
3327 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3328 Sort the groups by group level
3329 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3332 @kindex G P v (Group)
3333 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3334 Sort the groups by group score
3335 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3338 @kindex G P r (Group)
3339 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3340 Sort the groups by group rank
3341 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3344 @kindex G P m (Group)
3345 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3346 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3347 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3350 @kindex G P n (Group)
3351 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3352 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3353 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3356 @kindex G P s (Group)
3357 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3358 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3362 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3366 @node Group Maintenance
3367 @section Group Maintenance
3368 @cindex bogus groups
3373 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3374 Find bogus groups and delete them
3375 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3379 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3380 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3381 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3382 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3383 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3387 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3388 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3389 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3390 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3391 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3392 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3395 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3396 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3397 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3398 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3403 @node Browse Foreign Server
3404 @section Browse Foreign Server
3405 @cindex foreign servers
3406 @cindex browsing servers
3411 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3412 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3413 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3414 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3417 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3418 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3419 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3420 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3422 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3427 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3428 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3432 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3433 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3436 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3437 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3438 Enter the current group and display the first article
3439 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3442 @kindex RET (Browse)
3443 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3444 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3448 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3449 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3450 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3456 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3457 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3461 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3462 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3466 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3467 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3468 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3473 @section Exiting gnus
3474 @cindex exiting gnus
3476 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3481 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3482 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3483 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3484 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3488 @findex gnus-group-exit
3489 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3490 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3494 @findex gnus-group-quit
3495 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3496 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3499 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3500 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3501 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3502 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3503 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3504 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3510 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3511 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3512 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3518 @section Group Topics
3521 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3522 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3523 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3524 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3525 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3526 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3530 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3531 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3542 2: alt.religion.emacs
3545 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3547 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3548 13: comp.sources.unix
3551 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3553 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3554 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3555 is a toggling command.)
3557 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3558 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3559 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3560 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3563 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3564 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3565 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3568 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3572 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3573 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3574 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3575 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3576 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3580 @node Topic Commands
3581 @subsection Topic Commands
3582 @cindex topic commands
3584 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3585 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3586 definitions slightly.
3588 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3589 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3590 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3591 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3592 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3593 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3595 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3602 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3603 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3604 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3608 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3610 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3611 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3612 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3613 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3616 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3617 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3618 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3619 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3623 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3624 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3625 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3626 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3632 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3633 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3634 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3638 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3639 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3640 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3643 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3644 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3645 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3646 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3647 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3649 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3650 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3654 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3655 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3662 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3664 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3665 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3666 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3667 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3668 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3669 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3673 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3679 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3680 Move the current group to some other topic
3681 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3682 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3686 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3687 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3691 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3692 Copy the current group to some other topic
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3694 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3698 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3699 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3700 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3704 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3705 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3706 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3710 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3711 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3712 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3713 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3714 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3715 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3716 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3719 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3720 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3724 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3725 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3726 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3730 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3731 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3732 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3736 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3737 Toggle hiding empty topics
3738 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3742 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3743 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3744 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3745 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3748 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3749 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3750 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3752 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3755 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3756 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3757 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3758 expiry process (if any)
3759 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3763 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3764 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3767 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3768 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3769 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3773 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3774 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3775 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3778 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3779 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3780 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3783 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3784 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3785 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3789 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3790 @cindex group parameters
3791 @cindex topic parameters
3793 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3794 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3799 @node Topic Variables
3800 @subsection Topic Variables
3801 @cindex topic variables
3803 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3804 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3806 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3807 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3808 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3821 Number of groups in the topic.
3823 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3825 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3828 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3829 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3830 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3833 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3834 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3836 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3837 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3838 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3842 @subsection Topic Sorting
3843 @cindex topic sorting
3845 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3851 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3852 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3853 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3854 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3857 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3858 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3859 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3860 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3863 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3864 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3865 Sort the current topic by group level
3866 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3869 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3870 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3871 Sort the current topic by group score
3872 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3875 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3876 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3877 Sort the current topic by group rank
3878 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3881 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3882 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3883 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3884 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3887 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3888 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3889 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3890 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3894 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3895 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3896 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3897 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3901 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3902 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3906 @node Topic Topology
3907 @subsection Topic Topology
3908 @cindex topic topology
3911 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3918 2: alt.religion.emacs
3921 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3923 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3924 13: comp.sources.unix
3928 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3929 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3930 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3935 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3936 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3940 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3941 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3942 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3943 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3944 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3945 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3947 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3948 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3949 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3952 @node Topic Parameters
3953 @subsection Topic Parameters
3954 @cindex topic parameters
3956 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3957 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3958 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3960 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3965 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3966 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3967 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3970 @item subscribe-level
3971 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3972 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3973 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3977 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3978 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3979 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3980 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3987 2: alt.religion.emacs
3991 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3993 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3994 13: comp.sources.unix
3999 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4000 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4001 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4002 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4003 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4004 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4006 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4007 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4008 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4009 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4010 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4012 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4013 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4014 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4015 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4016 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4017 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4018 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4019 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4022 @node Misc Group Stuff
4023 @section Misc Group Stuff
4026 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4027 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4028 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4029 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4030 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4037 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4038 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4039 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4043 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4044 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4045 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4046 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4047 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4048 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4049 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4053 @findex gnus-group-mail
4054 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4055 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4056 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4057 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4061 @findex gnus-group-news
4062 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4063 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4064 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4066 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4067 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4068 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4069 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4070 for this to work though.
4074 Variables for the group buffer:
4078 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4079 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4080 is called after the group buffer has been
4083 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4084 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4085 is called after the group buffer is
4086 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4089 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4090 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4091 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4092 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4094 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4095 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4096 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4097 whether they are empty or not.
4099 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4100 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4101 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4102 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4106 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4107 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4110 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4111 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4112 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4113 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4114 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4115 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4116 default is @code{nil}.
4120 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4121 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4126 @node Scanning New Messages
4127 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4128 @cindex new messages
4129 @cindex scanning new news
4135 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4136 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4137 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4138 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4139 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4140 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4145 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4146 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4147 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4148 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4149 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4150 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4151 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4153 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4154 @cindex activating groups
4156 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4157 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4162 @findex gnus-group-restart
4163 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4164 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4165 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4169 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4170 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4172 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4173 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4177 @node Group Information
4178 @subsection Group Information
4179 @cindex group information
4180 @cindex information on groups
4187 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4188 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4191 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4192 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4193 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4194 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4195 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4196 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4197 used for fetching the file.
4199 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4200 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4204 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4205 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4207 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4208 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4211 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4212 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4213 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4217 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4218 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4219 @cindex control message
4220 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4221 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4222 group if given a prefix argument.
4224 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4225 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4226 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4227 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4229 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4230 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4231 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4235 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4237 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4238 @cindex describing groups
4239 @cindex group description
4240 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4241 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4242 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4246 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4247 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4248 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4255 @findex gnus-version
4256 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4260 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4261 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4264 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4267 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4268 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4272 @node Group Timestamp
4273 @subsection Group Timestamp
4275 @cindex group timestamps
4277 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4278 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4279 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4282 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4285 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4287 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4288 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4291 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4292 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4295 This will result in lines looking like:
4298 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4299 0: custom 19961002T012713
4302 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4303 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4307 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4308 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4311 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4312 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4316 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4317 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4318 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4319 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4321 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4327 @subsection File Commands
4328 @cindex file commands
4334 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4335 @vindex gnus-init-file
4336 @cindex reading init file
4337 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4338 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4342 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4343 @cindex saving .newsrc
4344 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4345 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4346 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4349 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4350 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4351 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4356 @node Sieve Commands
4357 @subsection Sieve Commands
4358 @cindex group sieve commands
4360 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4361 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4362 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4363 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4364 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4366 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4367 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4368 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4369 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4370 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4371 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4372 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4373 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4374 regenerate the Sieve script.
4376 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4377 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4378 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4379 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4380 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4381 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4382 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4383 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4384 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4385 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4388 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4389 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4394 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4400 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4401 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4402 @cindex generating sieve script
4403 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4404 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4408 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4409 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4410 @cindex updating sieve script
4411 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4412 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4413 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4418 @node Summary Buffer
4419 @chapter Summary Buffer
4420 @cindex summary buffer
4422 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4423 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4425 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4426 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4428 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4431 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4432 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4433 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4434 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4435 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4436 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4437 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4438 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4439 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4440 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4441 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4442 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4443 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4444 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4445 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4446 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4447 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4448 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4449 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4450 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4451 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4452 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4453 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4454 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4455 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4456 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4457 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4458 or reselecting the current group.
4459 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4460 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4461 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4462 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4466 @node Summary Buffer Format
4467 @section Summary Buffer Format
4468 @cindex summary buffer format
4472 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4473 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4474 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4480 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4481 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4482 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4483 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4486 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4487 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4488 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4489 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4490 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4491 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4492 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4493 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4494 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4495 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4496 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4497 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4498 other function instead:
4501 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4502 'mail-extract-address-components)
4505 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4506 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4507 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4508 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4511 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4512 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4514 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4515 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4516 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4517 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4518 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4520 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4521 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4522 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4523 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4524 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4525 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4527 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4529 The following format specification characters and extended format
4530 specification(s) are understood:
4536 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4537 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4539 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4540 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4541 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4543 Full @code{From} header.
4545 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4547 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4550 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4551 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4552 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4553 may be more thorough.
4555 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4558 Number of lines in the article.
4560 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4561 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4563 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4564 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4566 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4568 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4569 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4582 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4583 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4584 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4585 line-drawing glyphs.
4587 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4588 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4589 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4590 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4592 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4593 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4594 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4595 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4597 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4598 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4599 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4600 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4602 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4603 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4604 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4606 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4607 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4608 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4610 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4611 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4612 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4614 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4615 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4616 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4621 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4622 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4624 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4625 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4627 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4628 for adopted articles.
4630 One space for each thread level.
4632 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4634 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4637 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4638 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4639 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4642 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4644 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4645 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4646 default level. If the difference between
4647 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4648 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4656 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4658 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4664 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4665 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4667 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4668 article has any children.
4674 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4675 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4677 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4678 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4679 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4680 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4681 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4682 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4685 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4686 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4687 There can only be one such area.
4689 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4690 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4691 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4692 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4693 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4694 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4696 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4697 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4699 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4702 @node To From Newsgroups
4703 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4707 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4708 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4709 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4710 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4711 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4715 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4716 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4717 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4721 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4722 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4725 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4726 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4729 @findex gnus-extra-header
4730 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4731 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4732 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4735 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4739 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4740 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4741 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4742 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4743 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4744 headers are used instead.
4748 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4749 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4750 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4751 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4752 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4753 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4756 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4757 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4758 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4759 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4761 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4765 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4767 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4768 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4769 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4770 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4774 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4777 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4778 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4781 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4782 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4783 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4789 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4790 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4793 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4794 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4796 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4797 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4798 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4799 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4801 Here are the elements you can play with:
4807 Unprefixed group name.
4809 Current article number.
4811 Current article score.
4815 Number of unread articles in this group.
4817 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4820 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4821 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4822 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4823 and no unselected ones.
4825 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4826 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4828 Subject of the current article.
4830 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4832 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4834 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4836 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4838 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4840 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4844 @node Summary Highlighting
4845 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4849 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4850 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4851 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4852 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4853 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4855 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4856 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4857 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4858 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4860 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4861 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4862 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4863 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4865 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4866 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4867 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4868 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4869 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4870 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4873 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4874 ((> score default) . bold))
4876 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4877 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4881 @node Summary Maneuvering
4882 @section Summary Maneuvering
4883 @cindex summary movement
4885 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4886 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4888 None of these commands select articles.
4893 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4894 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4895 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4896 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4897 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4901 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4902 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4903 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4904 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4905 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4908 @kindex G g (Summary)
4909 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4910 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4911 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4914 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4915 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4916 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4917 to the group buffer.
4919 Variables related to summary movement:
4923 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4924 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4925 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4926 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4927 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4928 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4929 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4930 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4931 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4932 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4933 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4934 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4935 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4936 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4938 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4939 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4940 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4941 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4942 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4943 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4944 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4946 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4948 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4949 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4950 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4951 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4952 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4954 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4955 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4956 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4957 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4958 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4959 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4960 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4961 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4964 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4965 the given number of lines from the top.
4970 @node Choosing Articles
4971 @section Choosing Articles
4972 @cindex selecting articles
4975 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4976 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4980 @node Choosing Commands
4981 @subsection Choosing Commands
4983 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4984 and they all select and display an article.
4986 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4987 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4991 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4993 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4994 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4996 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4997 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4998 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5003 @kindex G n (Summary)
5004 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5005 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5006 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5011 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5012 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5013 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5018 @kindex G N (Summary)
5019 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5020 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5025 @kindex G P (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5027 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5030 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5031 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5032 Go to the next article with the same subject
5033 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5036 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5038 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5039 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5043 @kindex G f (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5046 Go to the first unread article
5047 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5051 @kindex G b (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5054 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5055 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5056 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5061 @kindex G l (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5063 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5066 @kindex G o (Summary)
5067 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5069 @cindex article history
5070 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5071 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5072 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5073 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5074 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5075 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5080 @kindex G j (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5082 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5083 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5088 @node Choosing Variables
5089 @subsection Choosing Variables
5091 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5094 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5095 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5096 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5097 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5098 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5099 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5101 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5102 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5103 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5104 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5105 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5106 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5108 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5109 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5110 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5111 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5112 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5113 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5114 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5115 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5116 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5117 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5118 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5119 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5120 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5121 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5126 @node Paging the Article
5127 @section Scrolling the Article
5128 @cindex article scrolling
5133 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5134 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5135 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5136 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5137 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5139 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5140 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5141 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5142 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5143 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5144 what is considered uninteresting with
5145 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5146 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5149 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5150 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5151 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5154 @kindex RET (Summary)
5155 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5156 Scroll the current article one line forward
5157 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5160 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5162 Scroll the current article one line backward
5163 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5167 @kindex A g (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5170 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5171 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5172 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5173 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5174 the way it came from the server.
5176 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5177 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5178 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5181 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5186 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5191 @kindex A < (Summary)
5192 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5193 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5194 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5199 @kindex A > (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5201 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5205 @kindex A s (Summary)
5207 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5208 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5209 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5213 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5214 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5219 @node Reply Followup and Post
5220 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5223 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5224 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5225 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5226 * Canceling and Superseding::
5230 @node Summary Mail Commands
5231 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5233 @cindex composing mail
5235 Commands for composing a mail message:
5241 @kindex S r (Summary)
5243 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5244 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5245 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5246 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5247 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5252 @kindex S R (Summary)
5253 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5254 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5255 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5256 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5257 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5260 @kindex S w (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5262 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5263 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5264 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5265 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5266 present, that's used instead.
5269 @kindex S W (Summary)
5270 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5271 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5272 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5273 the process/prefix convention.
5276 @kindex S v (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5278 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5280 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5281 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5282 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5285 @kindex S V (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5287 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5288 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5289 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5292 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5294 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5295 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5296 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5297 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5298 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5299 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5302 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5303 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5304 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5305 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5306 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5310 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5311 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5313 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5314 Forward the current article to some other person
5315 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5316 headers of the forwarded article.
5321 @kindex S m (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5323 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5324 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5325 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5326 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5331 @kindex S i (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5333 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5334 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5335 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5337 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5338 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5339 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5340 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5341 for this to work though.
5344 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5346 @cindex bouncing mail
5347 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5348 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5349 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5350 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5351 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5352 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5353 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5354 very well fail, though.
5357 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5359 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5360 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5361 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5362 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5363 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5364 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5365 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5366 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5368 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5369 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5370 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5371 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5372 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5374 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5375 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5378 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5379 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5380 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5381 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5382 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5385 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5386 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5387 @cindex crossposting
5388 @cindex excessive crossposting
5389 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5390 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5392 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5393 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5394 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5395 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5396 command understands the process/prefix convention
5397 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5401 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5402 Manual}, for more information.
5405 @node Summary Post Commands
5406 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5408 @cindex composing news
5410 Commands for posting a news article:
5416 @kindex S p (Summary)
5417 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5418 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5419 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5420 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5421 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5426 @kindex S f (Summary)
5427 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5428 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5429 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5433 @kindex S F (Summary)
5435 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5436 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5437 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5438 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5439 process/prefix convention.
5442 @kindex S n (Summary)
5443 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5444 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5445 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5448 @kindex S N (Summary)
5449 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5450 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5451 message through mail and include the original message
5452 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5453 the process/prefix convention.
5456 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5458 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5459 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5460 headers of the forwarded article.
5463 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5464 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5466 @cindex making digests
5467 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5468 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5469 process/prefix convention.
5472 @kindex S u (Summary)
5473 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5474 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5475 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5476 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5479 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5480 Manual}, for more information.
5483 @node Summary Message Commands
5484 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5488 @kindex S y (Summary)
5489 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5490 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5491 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5492 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5493 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5498 @node Canceling and Superseding
5499 @subsection Canceling Articles
5500 @cindex canceling articles
5501 @cindex superseding articles
5503 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5504 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5506 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5508 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5510 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5511 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5512 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5513 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5514 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5515 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5517 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5518 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5521 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5522 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5523 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5525 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5526 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5527 your original article.
5529 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5531 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5532 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5533 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5536 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5537 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5538 have posted almost the same article twice.
5540 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5541 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5542 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5543 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5544 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5545 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5546 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5547 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5548 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5549 canceled/superseded.
5551 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5553 @node Delayed Articles
5554 @section Delayed Articles
5555 @cindex delayed sending
5556 @cindex send delayed
5558 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5559 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5560 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5561 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5564 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5567 @findex gnus-delay-article
5568 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5569 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5570 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5571 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5575 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5576 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5577 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5578 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5581 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5582 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5583 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5586 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5587 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5588 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5589 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5590 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5591 that means a time tomorrow.
5594 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5595 couple of variables:
5598 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5599 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5600 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5601 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5603 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5604 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5605 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5606 formats described above.
5608 @item gnus-delay-group
5609 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5610 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5611 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5612 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5614 @item gnus-delay-header
5615 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5616 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5617 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5618 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5621 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5622 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5623 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5624 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5625 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5627 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5628 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5629 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5630 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5631 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5632 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5633 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5636 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5637 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5639 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5640 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5641 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5642 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5643 argument is ignored.
5645 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5646 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5647 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5651 @node Marking Articles
5652 @section Marking Articles
5653 @cindex article marking
5654 @cindex article ticking
5657 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5659 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5660 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5661 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5663 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5666 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5667 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5668 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5672 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5676 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5677 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5678 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5682 @node Unread Articles
5683 @subsection Unread Articles
5685 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5690 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5691 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5693 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5694 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5695 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5696 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5697 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5698 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5699 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5702 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5703 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5705 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5706 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5707 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5708 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5712 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5713 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5715 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5720 @subsection Read Articles
5721 @cindex expirable mark
5723 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5728 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5729 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5730 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5733 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5734 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5737 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5738 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5739 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5742 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5743 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5746 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5747 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5750 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5751 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5754 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5755 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5758 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5759 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5762 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5763 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5766 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5767 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5771 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5772 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5773 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5777 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5778 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5780 One more special mark, though:
5784 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5785 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5787 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5788 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5789 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5790 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5796 @subsection Other Marks
5797 @cindex process mark
5800 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5806 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5807 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5808 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5809 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5810 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5813 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5814 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5815 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5816 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5819 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5820 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5821 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5824 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5825 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5826 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5829 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5830 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5831 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5832 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5835 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5836 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5837 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5838 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5839 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5840 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5843 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5844 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5845 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5846 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5849 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5850 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5851 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5852 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5853 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5857 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5858 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5859 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5860 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5861 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5862 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5865 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5866 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5867 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5868 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5869 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5870 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5874 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5875 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5876 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5877 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5878 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5881 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5882 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5883 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5884 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5885 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5886 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5890 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5891 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5892 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5894 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5895 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5896 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5900 @subsection Setting Marks
5901 @cindex setting marks
5903 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5908 @kindex M c (Summary)
5909 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5911 @cindex mark as unread
5912 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5913 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5919 @kindex M t (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5921 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5922 @xref{Article Caching}.
5927 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5929 Mark the current article as dormant
5930 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5934 @kindex M d (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5937 Mark the current article as read
5938 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5942 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5943 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5944 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5949 @kindex M k (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5951 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5952 and then select the next unread article
5953 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5957 @kindex M K (Summary)
5958 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5960 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5961 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5964 @kindex M C (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5966 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5967 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5970 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5971 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5972 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5973 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5976 @kindex M H (Summary)
5977 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5978 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5979 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5982 @kindex M h (Summary)
5983 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5984 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5985 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5988 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5989 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5990 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5991 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5994 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5995 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5996 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5997 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6001 @kindex M e (Summary)
6003 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6004 Mark the current article as expirable
6005 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6008 @kindex M b (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6010 Set a bookmark in the current article
6011 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6014 @kindex M B (Summary)
6015 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6016 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6017 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6020 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6021 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6022 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6023 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6026 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6028 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6029 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6032 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6034 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6035 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6036 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6039 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6040 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6041 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6042 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6043 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6044 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6045 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6046 The default is @code{t}.
6049 @node Generic Marking Commands
6050 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6052 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6053 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6054 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6055 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6056 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6059 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6060 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6063 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6064 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6065 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6066 to list in this manual.
6068 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6069 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6070 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6071 article, you could say something like:
6075 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6076 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6077 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6085 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6086 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6090 @node Setting Process Marks
6091 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6092 @cindex setting process marks
6094 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6095 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6096 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6097 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6098 commands into the cache. For more information,
6099 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6106 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6108 Mark the current article with the process mark
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6110 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6114 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6115 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6116 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6117 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6120 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6122 Remove the process mark from all articles
6123 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6126 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6127 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6128 Invert the list of process marked articles
6129 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6132 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6133 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6134 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6135 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6138 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6139 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6140 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6141 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6144 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6145 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6146 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6150 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6151 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6154 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6155 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6156 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6157 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6160 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6161 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6162 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6163 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6166 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6168 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6169 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6172 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6173 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6174 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6177 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6178 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6179 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6180 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6183 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6185 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6188 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6189 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6190 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6191 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6194 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6196 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6197 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6200 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6202 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6203 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6206 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6207 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6208 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6209 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6213 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6214 set process marks based on article body contents.
6221 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6222 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6223 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6226 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6227 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6228 additional articles.
6234 @kindex / / (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6236 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6237 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6241 @kindex / a (Summary)
6242 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6243 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6244 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6248 @kindex / x (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6250 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6251 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6252 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6257 @kindex / u (Summary)
6259 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6260 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6261 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6262 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6263 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6266 @kindex / m (Summary)
6267 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6268 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6269 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6272 @kindex / t (Summary)
6273 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6274 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6275 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6276 articles younger than that number of days.
6279 @kindex / n (Summary)
6280 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6281 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6282 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6283 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6286 @kindex / w (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6288 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6289 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6293 @kindex / . (Summary)
6294 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6295 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6299 @kindex / v (Summary)
6300 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6301 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6302 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6305 @kindex / p (Summary)
6306 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6307 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6308 group parameter predicate
6309 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6310 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6314 @kindex M S (Summary)
6315 @kindex / E (Summary)
6316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6317 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6318 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6321 @kindex / D (Summary)
6322 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6323 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6324 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6327 @kindex / * (Summary)
6328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6329 Include all cached articles in the limit
6330 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6333 @kindex / d (Summary)
6334 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6335 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6336 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6339 @kindex / M (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6341 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6344 @kindex / T (Summary)
6345 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6346 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6349 @kindex / c (Summary)
6350 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6351 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6352 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6355 @kindex / C (Summary)
6356 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6357 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6358 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6359 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6362 @kindex / N (Summary)
6363 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6364 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6365 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6368 @kindex / o (Summary)
6369 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6370 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6371 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6379 @cindex article threading
6381 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6382 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6383 hierarchical fashion.
6385 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6386 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6387 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6388 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6389 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6390 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6391 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6393 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6397 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6400 A tree-like article structure.
6403 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6406 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6407 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6408 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6409 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6410 called loose threads.
6412 @item thread gathering
6413 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6415 @item sparse threads
6416 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6417 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6423 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6424 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6428 @node Customizing Threading
6429 @subsection Customizing Threading
6430 @cindex customizing threading
6433 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6434 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6435 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6436 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6441 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6444 @cindex loose threads
6447 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6448 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6449 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6450 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6451 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6452 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6454 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6455 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6456 There are four possible values:
6460 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6461 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6462 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6463 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6464 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6469 @cindex adopting articles
6474 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6475 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6476 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6477 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6480 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6481 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6482 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6483 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6484 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6485 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6486 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6487 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6488 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6489 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6492 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6493 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6494 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6498 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6499 display them after one another.
6502 Don't gather loose threads.
6505 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6506 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6507 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6508 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6509 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6510 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6511 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6512 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6513 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6514 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6515 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6517 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6518 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6519 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6522 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6523 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6524 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6525 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6526 simplification is used.
6528 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6529 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6530 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6531 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6533 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6535 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6541 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6542 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6543 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6544 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6549 (mapconcat 'identity
6550 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6552 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6555 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6558 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6559 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6560 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6561 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6562 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6563 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6565 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6568 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6569 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6570 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6572 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6573 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6576 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6577 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6578 Remove excessive whitespace.
6580 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6581 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6582 Remove all whitespace.
6585 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6588 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6589 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6590 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6591 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6592 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6593 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6594 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6595 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6597 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6598 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6599 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6600 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6601 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6602 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6603 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6604 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6605 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6609 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6610 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6611 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6612 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6614 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6615 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6616 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6619 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6623 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6624 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6630 @node Filling In Threads
6631 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6634 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6635 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6636 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6637 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6638 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6639 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6640 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6641 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6642 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6643 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6644 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6645 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6648 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6649 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6650 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6652 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6653 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6654 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6657 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6658 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6659 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6660 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6661 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6662 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6663 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6664 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6665 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6666 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6667 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6668 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6669 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6670 @code{nil} by default.
6672 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6673 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6674 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6675 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6676 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6677 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6678 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6680 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6681 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6682 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6687 @node More Threading
6688 @subsubsection More Threading
6691 @item gnus-show-threads
6692 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6693 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6694 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6695 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6696 slower and more awkward.
6698 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6699 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6700 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6703 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6704 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6705 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6710 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6711 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6712 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6715 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6716 unread, but you get my drift.)
6719 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6720 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6721 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6722 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6723 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6724 threads are expunged.
6726 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6727 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6728 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6731 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6732 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6733 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6734 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6735 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6736 result in a new thread.
6738 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6739 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6740 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6743 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6744 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6745 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6746 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6747 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6748 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6749 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6750 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6751 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6752 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6753 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6758 @node Low-Level Threading
6759 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6763 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6764 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6765 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6766 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6767 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6768 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6770 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6771 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6772 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6773 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6774 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6775 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6776 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6777 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6778 meaningful. Here's one example:
6781 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6783 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6784 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6786 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6788 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6795 @node Thread Commands
6796 @subsection Thread Commands
6797 @cindex thread commands
6803 @kindex T k (Summary)
6804 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6805 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6806 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6807 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6808 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6813 @kindex T l (Summary)
6814 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6815 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6816 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6817 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6820 @kindex T i (Summary)
6821 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6822 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6823 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6826 @kindex T # (Summary)
6827 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6828 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6829 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6832 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6833 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6834 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6835 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6838 @kindex T T (Summary)
6839 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6840 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6843 @kindex T s (Summary)
6844 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6845 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6846 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6849 @kindex T h (Summary)
6850 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6851 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6854 @kindex T S (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6856 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6859 @kindex T H (Summary)
6860 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6861 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6864 @kindex T t (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6866 Re-thread the current article's thread
6867 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6868 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6871 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6872 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6873 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6874 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6878 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6879 understand the numeric prefix.
6884 @kindex T n (Summary)
6886 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6888 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6889 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6890 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6893 @kindex T p (Summary)
6895 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6897 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6899 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6902 @kindex T d (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6904 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6907 @kindex T u (Summary)
6908 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6909 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6912 @kindex T o (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6914 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6917 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6918 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6919 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6920 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6921 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6922 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6923 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6924 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6925 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6926 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6927 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6928 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6932 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6933 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6935 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6936 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6937 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6938 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6939 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6940 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6941 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6942 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6943 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6944 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6945 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6946 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6947 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6948 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6950 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6951 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6952 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6953 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6954 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6955 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6956 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6957 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6959 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6960 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6961 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6963 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6964 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6965 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6966 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6967 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6968 ascending article order.
6970 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6971 by number, you could do something like:
6974 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6975 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6976 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6977 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6980 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6981 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6982 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6983 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6984 which the articles arrived.
6986 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6990 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6992 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6993 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6996 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6997 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6998 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6999 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7002 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7003 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7004 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7005 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7006 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7007 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7008 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7009 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7010 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7011 variable. It is very similar to the
7012 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7013 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7014 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7015 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7016 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7017 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7018 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7020 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7024 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7025 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7026 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7031 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7032 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7033 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7034 @cindex article pre-fetch
7037 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7038 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7039 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7040 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7041 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7043 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7044 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
7046 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7047 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7048 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7049 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7050 connection is blocked.
7052 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7053 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7054 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7055 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
7057 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7058 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7059 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7060 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7063 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7066 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7067 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7068 happen automatically.
7070 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7071 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7072 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7073 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7074 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7075 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7076 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7078 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7079 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7080 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7081 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7082 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7083 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7084 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7085 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7086 article data structure as the only parameter.
7088 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7089 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7092 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7093 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7094 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7095 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7098 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7101 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7102 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7103 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7105 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7106 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7107 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7108 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7112 Remove articles when they are read.
7115 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7118 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7120 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7121 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7122 @c from the next group.
7125 @node Article Caching
7126 @section Article Caching
7127 @cindex article caching
7130 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7131 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7132 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7133 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7134 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7136 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7138 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7139 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7140 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7141 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7142 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7143 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7144 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7145 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7147 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7148 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7149 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7150 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7151 as dormant, and don't worry.
7153 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7155 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7156 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7157 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7158 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7159 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7160 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7161 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7162 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7163 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7164 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7166 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7167 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7168 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7169 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7170 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7171 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7172 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7173 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7174 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7175 not then be downloaded by this command.
7177 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7178 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7179 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7180 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7181 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7182 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7184 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7185 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7186 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7187 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7188 variables, the group is not cached.
7190 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7191 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7192 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7193 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7194 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7195 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7196 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7197 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7198 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7201 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7202 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7203 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7204 where, isn't that cool?
7206 @node Persistent Articles
7207 @section Persistent Articles
7208 @cindex persistent articles
7210 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7211 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7212 useful in my opinion.
7214 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7215 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7216 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7217 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7218 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7219 the expiry going on at the news server.
7221 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7222 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7223 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7229 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7230 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7233 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7235 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7236 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7240 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7242 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7243 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7244 interested in persistent articles:
7247 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7251 @node Article Backlog
7252 @section Article Backlog
7254 @cindex article backlog
7256 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7257 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7258 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7259 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7260 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7261 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7262 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7263 increase memory usage some.
7265 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7266 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7267 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7268 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7269 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7270 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7271 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7273 The default value is 20.
7276 @node Saving Articles
7277 @section Saving Articles
7278 @cindex saving articles
7280 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7281 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7282 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7283 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7284 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7286 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7287 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7288 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7290 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7291 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7292 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7294 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7295 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7296 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7297 deleted before saving.
7303 @kindex O o (Summary)
7305 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7306 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7307 Save the current article using the default article saver
7308 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7311 @kindex O m (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7313 Save the current article in mail format
7314 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7317 @kindex O r (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7319 Save the current article in Rmail format
7320 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7323 @kindex O f (Summary)
7324 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7325 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7326 Save the current article in plain file format
7327 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7330 @kindex O F (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7332 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7333 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7336 @kindex O b (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7338 Save the current article body in plain file format
7339 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7342 @kindex O h (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7344 Save the current article in mh folder format
7345 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7348 @kindex O v (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7350 Save the current article in a VM folder
7351 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7355 @kindex O p (Summary)
7357 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7358 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7359 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7360 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7361 complete headers in the piped output.
7364 @kindex O P (Summary)
7365 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7366 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7367 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7368 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7369 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7370 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7371 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7375 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7376 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7377 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7378 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7379 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7380 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7381 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7382 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7383 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7384 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7385 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7386 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7390 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7391 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7392 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7393 functions below, or you can create your own.
7397 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7398 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7399 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7400 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7401 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7402 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7403 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7405 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7406 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7407 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7408 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7409 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7410 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7412 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7413 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7414 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7415 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7416 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7417 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7418 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7420 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7421 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7422 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7423 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7424 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7425 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7427 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7428 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7429 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7430 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7431 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7433 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7434 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7435 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7436 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7437 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7440 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7441 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7442 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7443 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7444 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7446 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7447 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7448 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7449 reader to use this setting.
7452 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7453 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7454 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7455 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7458 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7459 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7460 available functions that generate names:
7464 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7465 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7466 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7468 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7469 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7470 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7472 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7473 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7474 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7476 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7477 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7478 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7480 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7481 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7482 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7485 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7486 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7487 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7488 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7489 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7493 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7494 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7495 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7496 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7499 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7500 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7501 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7502 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7503 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7504 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7505 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7506 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7507 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7509 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7510 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7511 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7512 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7514 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7515 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7516 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7519 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7520 lots of mail groups called things like
7521 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7522 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7523 following will do just that:
7526 (defun my-save-name (group)
7527 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7528 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7530 (setq gnus-split-methods
7531 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7536 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7537 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7538 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7539 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7540 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7541 all the files in the top level directory
7542 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7543 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7544 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7545 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7547 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7548 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7549 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7550 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7551 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7554 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7558 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7559 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7560 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7563 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7564 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7565 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7566 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7569 @node Decoding Articles
7570 @section Decoding Articles
7571 @cindex decoding articles
7573 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7574 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7577 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7578 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7579 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7580 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7581 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7582 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7586 @cindex article series
7587 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7588 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7589 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7590 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7591 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7593 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7594 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7595 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7597 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7598 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7599 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7601 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7602 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7603 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7606 @node Uuencoded Articles
7607 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7609 @cindex uuencoded articles
7614 @kindex X u (Summary)
7615 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7616 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7617 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7620 @kindex X U (Summary)
7621 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7622 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7623 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7626 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7627 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7628 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7631 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7633 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7634 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7638 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7639 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7640 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7641 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7642 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7644 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7645 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7646 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7647 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7650 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7651 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7652 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7653 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7654 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7655 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7659 @node Shell Archives
7660 @subsection Shell Archives
7662 @cindex shell archives
7663 @cindex shared articles
7665 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7666 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7667 some commands to deal with these:
7672 @kindex X s (Summary)
7673 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7674 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7677 @kindex X S (Summary)
7678 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7679 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7682 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7683 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7684 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7687 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7688 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7689 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7690 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7694 @node PostScript Files
7695 @subsection PostScript Files
7701 @kindex X p (Summary)
7702 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7703 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7706 @kindex X P (Summary)
7707 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7708 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7709 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7712 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7713 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7714 View the current PostScript series
7715 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7718 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7719 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7720 View and save the current PostScript series
7721 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7726 @subsection Other Files
7730 @kindex X o (Summary)
7731 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7732 Save the current series
7733 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7736 @kindex X b (Summary)
7737 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7738 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7739 doesn't really work yet.
7743 @node Decoding Variables
7744 @subsection Decoding Variables
7746 Adjective, not verb.
7749 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7750 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7751 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7755 @node Rule Variables
7756 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7757 @cindex rule variables
7759 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7760 variables are of the form
7763 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7770 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7771 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7773 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7774 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7777 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7778 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7781 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7782 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7783 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7784 user and default view rules.
7786 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7787 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7788 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7793 @node Other Decode Variables
7794 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7797 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7799 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7800 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7801 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7802 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7803 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7807 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7808 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7811 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7812 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7813 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7816 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7817 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7818 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7819 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7820 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7823 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7824 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7825 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7827 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7828 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7829 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7830 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7831 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7834 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7835 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7836 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7838 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7839 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7840 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7841 looking for files to display.
7843 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7844 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7845 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7848 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7849 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7850 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7853 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7854 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7855 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7858 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7859 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7860 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7863 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7864 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7865 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7866 decoded articles as unread.
7868 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7869 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7870 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7871 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7873 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7874 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7875 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7877 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7878 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7880 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7881 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7882 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7883 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7885 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7886 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7887 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7888 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7889 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7890 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7891 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7892 simply dropped them.
7897 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7898 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7902 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7903 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7904 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7905 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7906 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7907 for you when you post the article.
7909 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7910 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7911 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7912 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7914 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7915 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7916 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7917 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7918 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7919 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7920 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7922 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7923 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7924 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7925 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7926 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7927 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7928 Default is @code{t}.
7934 @subsection Viewing Files
7935 @cindex viewing files
7936 @cindex pseudo-articles
7938 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7939 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7940 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7941 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7942 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7943 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7944 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7946 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7947 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7948 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7949 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7951 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7952 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7953 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7955 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7956 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7957 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7958 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7959 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7961 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7962 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7963 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7964 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7965 a list of parameters to that command.
7967 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7968 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7969 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7971 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7972 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7973 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7976 @node Article Treatment
7977 @section Article Treatment
7979 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7980 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7981 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7982 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7983 these articles easier.
7986 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7987 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7988 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7989 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7990 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7991 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7992 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
7993 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7994 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7995 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7996 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8000 @node Article Highlighting
8001 @subsection Article Highlighting
8002 @cindex highlighting
8004 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8005 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8010 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8012 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8013 Do much highlighting of the current article
8014 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8015 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8018 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8019 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8020 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8021 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8022 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8023 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8024 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8025 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8026 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8027 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8028 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8029 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8032 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8033 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8034 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8036 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8039 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8041 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8042 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8043 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8045 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8046 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8047 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8049 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8050 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8051 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8052 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8053 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8054 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8056 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8057 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8058 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8060 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8061 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8062 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8064 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8065 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8066 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8067 that it's a citation.
8069 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8070 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8071 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8073 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8074 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8075 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8077 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8078 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8079 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8080 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8086 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8087 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8088 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8089 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8090 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8091 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8092 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8093 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8098 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8101 @node Article Fontisizing
8102 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8104 @cindex article emphasis
8106 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8107 @kindex W e (Summary)
8108 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8109 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8110 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8111 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8113 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8114 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8115 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8116 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8117 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8118 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8119 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8120 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8124 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8125 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8126 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8135 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8136 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8137 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8138 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8139 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8140 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8141 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8142 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8143 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8144 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8145 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8146 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8147 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8149 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8150 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8151 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8155 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8158 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8160 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8161 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8162 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8163 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8165 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8168 @node Article Hiding
8169 @subsection Article Hiding
8170 @cindex article hiding
8172 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8173 too much cruft in most articles.
8178 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8179 @findex gnus-article-hide
8180 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8181 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8182 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8185 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8186 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8187 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8191 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8192 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8193 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8194 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8197 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8198 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8199 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8203 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8204 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8205 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8206 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8207 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8208 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8209 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8210 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8214 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8215 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8216 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8217 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8222 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8223 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8224 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8225 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8228 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8229 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8230 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8231 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8234 @cindex stripping advertisements
8235 @cindex advertisements
8236 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8237 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8238 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8239 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8240 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8241 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8242 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8243 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8244 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8245 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8248 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8249 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8250 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8254 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8255 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8256 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8257 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8258 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8259 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8260 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8261 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8262 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8263 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8264 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8267 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8268 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8274 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8275 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8276 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8277 customizing the hiding:
8281 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8282 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8283 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8284 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8285 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8286 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8287 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8292 Starting point of the hidden text.
8294 Ending point of the hidden text.
8296 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8298 Number of lines of hidden text.
8301 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8302 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8303 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8304 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8305 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8310 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8311 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8313 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8314 following two variables:
8317 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8318 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8319 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8320 50), hide the cited text.
8322 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8323 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8324 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8329 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8330 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8331 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8332 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8333 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8334 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8338 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8339 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8340 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8342 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8343 citation customization.
8345 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8349 @node Article Washing
8350 @subsection Article Washing
8352 @cindex article washing
8354 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8355 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8357 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8358 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8361 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8362 articles by default.
8367 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8368 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8372 Force redisplaying of the current article
8373 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8374 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8375 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8376 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8379 @kindex W l (Summary)
8380 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8381 Remove page breaks from the current article
8382 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8386 @kindex W r (Summary)
8387 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8388 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8389 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8390 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8391 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8392 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8394 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8395 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8396 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8397 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8400 @kindex W m (Summary)
8401 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8402 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8406 @kindex W t (Summary)
8408 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8409 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8410 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8413 @kindex W v (Summary)
8414 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8415 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8416 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8419 @kindex W m (Summary)
8420 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8421 Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
8422 displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8425 @kindex W o (Summary)
8426 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8427 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8430 @kindex W d (Summary)
8431 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8432 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8434 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8436 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8437 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8438 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8439 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8442 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8443 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8444 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8445 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8448 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8450 @cindex Outlook Express
8451 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8452 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8453 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8456 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8457 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8458 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8459 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8460 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8461 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8462 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8463 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8464 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8465 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8468 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8469 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8470 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8471 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8474 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8475 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8476 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8477 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8480 @kindex W w (Summary)
8481 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8482 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8484 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8488 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8489 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8490 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8493 @kindex W C (Summary)
8494 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8495 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8496 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8499 @kindex W c (Summary)
8500 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8501 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8502 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8503 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8504 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8506 @kindex W q (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8508 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8509 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8510 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8511 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8512 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8513 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8514 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8515 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8518 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8520 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8521 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8522 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8523 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8524 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8525 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8528 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8529 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8530 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8531 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8532 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8535 @kindex W u (Summary)
8536 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8537 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8538 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8539 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8540 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8543 @kindex W h (Summary)
8544 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8545 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8546 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8547 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8549 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8551 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8552 The default is to use the function specified by
8553 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8554 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8555 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8556 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8564 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8567 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8570 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8573 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8578 @kindex W b (Summary)
8579 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8580 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8581 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8584 @kindex W B (Summary)
8585 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8586 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8587 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8590 @kindex W p (Summary)
8591 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8592 Verify a signed control message
8593 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8594 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8595 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8596 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8597 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8598 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8601 @kindex W s (Summary)
8602 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8603 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8604 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8605 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8608 @kindex W a (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8610 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8611 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8614 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8615 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8616 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8617 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8620 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8621 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8622 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8623 lines with a single empty line.
8624 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8627 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8628 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8629 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8630 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8633 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8634 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8635 Do all the three commands above
8636 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8639 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8640 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8641 Remove all blank lines
8642 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8645 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8646 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8647 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8648 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8651 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8652 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8653 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8654 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8658 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8661 @node Article Header
8662 @subsection Article Header
8664 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8669 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8670 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8671 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8674 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8675 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8676 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8677 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8680 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8681 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8682 Fold all the message headers
8683 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8687 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8688 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8689 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8694 @node Article Buttons
8695 @subsection Article Buttons
8698 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8699 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8700 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8701 button on these references.
8703 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8704 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8705 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8706 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8707 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8711 @item gnus-button-alist
8712 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8713 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8716 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8722 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8723 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8724 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8725 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8726 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8729 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8730 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8731 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8734 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8735 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8736 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8737 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8738 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8740 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8743 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8746 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8747 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8751 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8754 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8757 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8758 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8759 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8760 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8761 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8764 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8767 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8770 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8773 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8774 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8776 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8778 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8779 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8780 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8781 default values of the variables above.
8783 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8785 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8786 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8787 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8788 argument with a string naming the man page.
8790 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8792 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8793 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8794 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8796 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8797 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8798 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8799 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8800 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8801 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8802 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8803 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8804 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8805 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8806 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8807 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8809 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8810 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8811 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8812 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8813 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8816 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8817 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8818 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8819 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8821 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8823 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8824 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8825 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8826 argument, the string naming the URL.
8829 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8830 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8831 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8835 @item gnus-article-button-face
8836 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8837 Face used on buttons.
8839 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8840 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8841 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8845 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8848 @node Article Button Levels
8849 @subsection Article button levels
8850 @cindex button levels
8851 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8852 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8853 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8854 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8855 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8856 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8857 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8858 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8861 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8862 (setq gnus-parameters
8863 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8864 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8865 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8870 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8871 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8872 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8873 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8874 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8875 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8877 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8878 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8879 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8880 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8881 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8882 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8883 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8884 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8885 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8886 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8887 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8888 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8889 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8891 @item gnus-button-man-level
8892 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8893 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8894 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8896 @item gnus-button-message-level
8897 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8898 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8899 Related variables and functions include
8900 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8901 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8902 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8903 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8905 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8906 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8907 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8908 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8909 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8910 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8911 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8917 @subsection Article Date
8919 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8920 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8921 when the article was sent.
8926 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8927 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8928 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8929 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8932 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8933 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8935 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8936 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8939 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8941 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8944 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8945 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8946 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8947 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8950 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8951 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8952 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8953 @findex format-time-string
8954 Display the date using a user-defined format
8955 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8956 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8957 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8958 for a list of possible format specs.
8961 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8962 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8963 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8964 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8965 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8966 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8969 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8972 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8973 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8974 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8977 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8978 into wonderful absurdities.
8980 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8983 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8986 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8987 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8991 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8992 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8993 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8994 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8995 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8996 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8997 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9001 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9002 preferred format automatically.
9005 @node Article Display
9006 @subsection Article Display
9011 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9012 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9014 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9015 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9017 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9018 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9020 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9021 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9023 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9024 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9026 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9031 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9032 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9033 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9034 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9037 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9038 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9039 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9040 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9043 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9044 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9045 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9048 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9049 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9050 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9053 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9054 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9055 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9056 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9059 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9060 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9061 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9062 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9065 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9066 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9067 Remove all images from the article buffer
9068 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9074 @node Article Signature
9075 @subsection Article Signature
9077 @cindex article signature
9079 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9080 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9081 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9082 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9083 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9084 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9085 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9086 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9087 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9090 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9091 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9092 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9093 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9094 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9095 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9096 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9097 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9100 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9103 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9104 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9105 signature when displaying articles.
9109 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9112 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9115 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9116 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9118 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9119 in question is not a signature.
9122 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9123 listed above. Here's an example:
9126 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9127 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9130 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9131 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9132 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9133 signature after all.
9136 @node Article Miscellanea
9137 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9141 @kindex A t (Summary)
9142 @findex gnus-article-babel
9143 Translate the article from one language to another
9144 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9150 @section MIME Commands
9151 @cindex MIME decoding
9153 @cindex viewing attachments
9155 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9156 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9162 @kindex K v (Summary)
9163 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9166 @kindex K o (Summary)
9167 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9170 @kindex K c (Summary)
9171 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9174 @kindex K e (Summary)
9175 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9178 @kindex K i (Summary)
9179 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9182 @kindex K | (Summary)
9183 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9186 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9191 @kindex K b (Summary)
9192 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9193 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9197 @kindex K m (Summary)
9198 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9199 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9200 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9201 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9202 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9205 @kindex X m (Summary)
9206 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9207 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9208 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9209 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9212 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9213 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9214 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9215 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9218 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9219 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9220 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9221 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9224 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9225 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9226 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9227 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9229 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9230 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9231 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9232 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9233 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9234 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9237 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9238 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9239 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9240 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9247 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9248 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9249 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9250 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9253 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9256 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9260 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9261 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9262 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9263 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9264 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9265 default is @code{nil}.
9267 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9268 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9269 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9270 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9271 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9272 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9273 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9275 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9276 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9277 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9278 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9279 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9280 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9281 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9282 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9284 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9285 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9286 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9287 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9288 displayed. This variable overrides
9289 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9290 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9293 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9294 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9295 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9297 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9298 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9299 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9300 default value is @code{nil}.
9302 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9303 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9304 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9305 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9306 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9307 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9308 save all jpegs into some directory).
9310 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9313 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9314 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9316 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9317 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9318 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9319 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9320 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9323 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9324 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9325 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9327 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9328 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9329 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9330 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9332 Ready-made functions include@*
9333 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9334 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9335 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9336 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9337 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9338 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9339 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9340 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9341 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9342 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9343 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9344 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9346 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9347 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9349 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9350 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9351 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9354 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9355 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9356 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9357 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9361 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9370 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9371 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9372 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9373 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9374 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9375 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9376 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9378 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9379 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9380 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9381 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9383 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9384 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9385 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9386 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9387 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9388 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9389 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9390 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9391 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9393 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9394 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9395 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9396 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9397 quoted-printable header encoding.
9399 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9400 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9401 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9405 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9408 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9409 means encode all charsets),
9411 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9412 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9413 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9420 @cindex coding system aliases
9421 @cindex preferred charset
9423 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9425 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9426 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9429 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9430 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9433 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9434 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9436 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9439 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9442 This will almost do the right thing.
9444 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9448 (codepage-setup 1251)
9449 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9453 @node Article Commands
9454 @section Article Commands
9461 @kindex A P (Summary)
9462 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9463 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9464 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9465 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9466 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9467 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9472 @node Summary Sorting
9473 @section Summary Sorting
9474 @cindex summary sorting
9476 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9477 can't really see why you'd want that.
9482 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9483 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9484 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9487 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9488 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9489 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9492 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9493 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9494 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9497 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9498 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9499 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9502 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9503 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9504 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9507 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9508 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9509 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9512 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9513 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9514 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9517 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9518 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9519 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9522 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9523 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9524 Sort using the default sorting method
9525 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9528 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9529 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9530 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9531 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9532 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9536 @node Finding the Parent
9537 @section Finding the Parent
9538 @cindex parent articles
9539 @cindex referring articles
9544 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9545 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9546 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9547 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9548 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9549 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9550 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9551 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9552 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9554 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9555 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9556 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9557 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9558 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9562 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9563 @kindex A R (Summary)
9564 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9565 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9568 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9569 @kindex A T (Summary)
9570 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9571 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9572 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9573 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9574 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9575 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9576 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9578 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9579 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9580 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9581 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9582 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9583 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9586 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9587 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9589 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9590 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9591 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9592 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9593 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9594 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9595 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9598 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9599 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9600 by giving this command a prefix.
9602 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9603 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9604 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9605 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9606 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9607 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9610 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9611 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9612 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9615 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9616 then ask Google if that fails:
9619 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9621 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9624 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9625 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9626 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9627 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9628 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9629 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9630 support this at all.
9633 @node Alternative Approaches
9634 @section Alternative Approaches
9636 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9637 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9640 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9641 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9646 @subsection Pick and Read
9647 @cindex pick and read
9649 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9650 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9651 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9652 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9654 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9655 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9656 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9657 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9658 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9659 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9661 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9666 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9667 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9668 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9669 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9670 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9671 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9672 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9673 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9676 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9677 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9678 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9679 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9683 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9684 Unpick the thread or article
9685 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9686 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9687 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9688 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9689 the thread or article at that line.
9693 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9694 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9695 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9696 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9697 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9698 will still be visible when you are reading.
9702 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9703 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9704 which is mapped to the same function
9705 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9707 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9710 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9713 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9714 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9716 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9717 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9718 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9720 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9721 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9722 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9723 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9724 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9725 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9726 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9730 @subsection Binary Groups
9731 @cindex binary groups
9733 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9734 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9735 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9736 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9737 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9738 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9739 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9742 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9743 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9744 command, when you have turned on this mode
9745 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9747 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9748 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9752 @section Tree Display
9755 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9756 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9757 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9758 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9761 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9764 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9765 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9766 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9768 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9769 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9770 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9771 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9772 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9774 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9775 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9776 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9777 default is @code{modeline}.
9779 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9780 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9781 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9782 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9783 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9784 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9785 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9791 The name of the poster.
9793 The @code{From} header.
9795 The number of the article.
9797 The opening bracket.
9799 The closing bracket.
9804 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9806 Variables related to the display are:
9809 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9810 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9811 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9812 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9814 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9815 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9816 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9818 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9820 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9821 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9822 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9823 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9827 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9828 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9829 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9830 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9831 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9832 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9833 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9834 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9835 other windows displayed next to it.
9837 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9841 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9842 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9845 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9846 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9847 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9848 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9849 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9850 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9851 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9855 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9858 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9868 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9873 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9874 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9876 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9878 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9884 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9885 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9886 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9889 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9890 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9891 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9892 (gnus-add-configuration
9896 (summary 0.75 point)
9901 @xref{Window Layout}.
9904 @node Mail Group Commands
9905 @section Mail Group Commands
9906 @cindex mail group commands
9908 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9909 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9911 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9912 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9917 @kindex B e (Summary)
9918 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9919 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9920 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9921 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9922 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9925 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9927 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9928 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9929 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9930 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9933 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9934 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9935 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9936 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9937 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9938 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9941 @kindex B m (Summary)
9943 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9944 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9945 Move the article from one mail group to another
9946 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9947 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9950 @kindex B c (Summary)
9952 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9953 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9954 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9955 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9956 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9959 @kindex B B (Summary)
9960 @cindex crosspost mail
9961 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9962 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9963 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9964 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9965 be properly updated.
9968 @kindex B i (Summary)
9969 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9970 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9971 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9972 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9975 @kindex B I (Summary)
9976 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9977 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9978 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9979 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9982 @kindex B r (Summary)
9983 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9984 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9985 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9986 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9987 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9988 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9989 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9990 (which is the default).
9994 @kindex B w (Summary)
9996 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9997 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9998 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9999 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10000 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10001 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10002 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10005 @kindex B q (Summary)
10006 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10007 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10008 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10009 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10012 @kindex B t (Summary)
10013 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10014 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10015 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10018 @kindex B p (Summary)
10019 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10020 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10021 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10022 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10023 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10024 article from your news server (or rather, from
10025 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10026 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10027 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10028 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10029 just not have arrived yet.
10032 @kindex K E (Summary)
10033 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10034 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10035 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10036 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10037 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10041 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10042 @cindex moving articles
10043 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
10044 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10045 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10046 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10047 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10048 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10049 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10052 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10053 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10054 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10055 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10059 @node Various Summary Stuff
10060 @section Various Summary Stuff
10063 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10064 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10065 * Summary Generation Commands::
10066 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10070 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10071 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10072 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10073 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10074 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10075 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10077 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10078 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10079 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10082 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10083 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10084 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10086 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10087 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10088 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10089 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10090 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10091 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10094 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10095 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10096 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10097 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10098 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10100 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10101 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10102 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10105 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10106 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10107 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10108 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10109 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10110 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10111 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10112 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10113 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10114 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10116 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10117 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10118 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10119 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10120 list of articles to be selected.
10122 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10123 the list in one particular group:
10126 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10127 (if (string= group "some.group")
10128 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10132 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10133 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10134 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10135 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10136 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10137 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10138 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10139 other buffers. For example:
10142 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10143 '(message-use-followup-to
10144 (gnus-visible-headers .
10145 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10151 @node Summary Group Information
10152 @subsection Summary Group Information
10157 @kindex H f (Summary)
10158 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10159 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10160 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10161 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10162 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10163 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10164 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10165 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10166 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10169 @kindex H d (Summary)
10170 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10171 Give a brief description of the current group
10172 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10173 rereading the description from the server.
10176 @kindex H h (Summary)
10177 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10178 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10179 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10182 @kindex H i (Summary)
10183 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10184 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10188 @node Searching for Articles
10189 @subsection Searching for Articles
10194 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10195 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10196 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10197 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10200 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10201 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10202 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10203 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10206 @kindex & (Summary)
10207 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10208 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10209 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10210 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10211 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10212 search backward instead.
10214 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10215 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10218 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10219 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10220 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10221 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10224 @node Summary Generation Commands
10225 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10230 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10231 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10232 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10235 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10236 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10237 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10238 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10241 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10242 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10243 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10244 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10249 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10250 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10256 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10257 @kindex A D (Summary)
10258 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10259 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10260 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10261 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10262 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10263 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10264 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10265 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10269 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10270 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10271 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10272 several documents into one biiig group
10273 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10274 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10275 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10276 command understands the process/prefix convention
10277 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10280 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10281 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10282 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10283 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10284 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10285 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10288 @kindex = (Summary)
10289 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10290 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10291 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10294 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10295 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10296 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10297 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10300 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10301 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10302 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10303 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10308 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10309 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10310 @cindex summary exit
10311 @cindex exiting groups
10313 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10314 group and return you to the group buffer.
10321 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10322 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10323 @kindex q (Summary)
10324 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10325 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10326 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10327 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10328 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10329 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10330 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10331 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10332 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10333 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10334 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10335 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10339 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10340 @kindex Q (Summary)
10341 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10342 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10343 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10347 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10348 @kindex c (Summary)
10349 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10350 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10351 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10352 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10355 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10356 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10357 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10358 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10361 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10362 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10363 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10364 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10368 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10369 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10370 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10371 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10372 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10373 all articles, both read and unread.
10377 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10378 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10379 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10380 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10381 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10382 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10383 articles, both read and unread.
10386 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10387 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10388 Exit the group and go to the next group
10389 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10392 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10393 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10394 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10395 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10398 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10399 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10400 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10401 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10402 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10403 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10406 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10407 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10408 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10409 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10411 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10412 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10413 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10414 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10415 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10416 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10417 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10418 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10419 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10420 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10421 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10422 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10424 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10426 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10427 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10428 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10429 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10430 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10431 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10432 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10433 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10434 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10437 @node Crosspost Handling
10438 @section Crosspost Handling
10442 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10443 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10444 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10445 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10446 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10447 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10450 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10451 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10452 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10453 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10454 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10456 @cindex cross-posting
10458 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10459 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10460 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10461 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10462 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10463 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10464 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10465 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10466 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10467 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10468 the cross reference mechanism.
10470 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10471 @cindex overview.fmt
10472 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10473 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10474 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10475 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10476 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10477 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10480 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10481 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10482 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10487 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10490 @node Duplicate Suppression
10491 @section Duplicate Suppression
10493 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10494 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10495 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10496 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10501 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10502 is evil and not very common.
10505 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10506 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10509 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10510 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10513 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10516 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10517 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10519 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10520 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10521 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10522 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10523 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10524 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10525 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10528 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10529 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10530 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10531 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10532 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10533 saw the article in.
10536 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10537 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10538 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10540 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10541 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10542 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10543 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10544 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10545 session are suppressed.
10547 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10548 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10549 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10550 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10552 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10553 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10554 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10555 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10558 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10559 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10560 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10561 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10562 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10563 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10564 to you to figure out, I think.
10569 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10570 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10571 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10576 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10577 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10578 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10579 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10582 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10583 or newer is recommended.
10587 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10588 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10591 @item mm-verify-option
10592 @vindex mm-verify-option
10593 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10594 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10595 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10597 @item mm-decrypt-option
10598 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10599 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10600 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10601 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10604 @vindex mml1991-use
10605 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10606 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10607 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10611 @vindex mml2015-use
10612 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10613 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10614 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10619 @cindex snarfing keys
10620 @cindex importing PGP keys
10621 @cindex PGP key ring import
10622 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10623 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10624 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10625 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10626 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10627 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10628 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10629 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10630 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10633 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10636 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10637 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10640 @section Mailing List
10641 @cindex mailing list
10644 @kindex A M (summary)
10645 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10646 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10647 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10648 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10651 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10656 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10657 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10658 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10661 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10662 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10663 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10666 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10667 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10668 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10672 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10673 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10674 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10677 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10678 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10679 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10682 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10683 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10684 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10689 @node Article Buffer
10690 @chapter Article Buffer
10691 @cindex article buffer
10693 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10694 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10695 tell gnus otherwise.
10698 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10699 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10700 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10701 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10702 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10706 @node Hiding Headers
10707 @section Hiding Headers
10708 @cindex hiding headers
10709 @cindex deleting headers
10711 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10712 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10714 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10715 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10716 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10717 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10718 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10719 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10720 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10721 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10722 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10724 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10728 @item gnus-visible-headers
10729 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10730 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10731 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10732 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10734 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10735 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10738 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10741 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10744 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10745 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10746 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10747 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10748 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10749 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10751 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10752 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10755 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10758 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10761 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10762 variable will have no effect.
10766 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10767 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10768 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10769 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10770 the headers are to be displayed.
10772 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10773 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10776 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10779 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10780 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10782 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10783 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10784 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10785 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10786 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10787 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10788 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10791 These conditions are:
10794 Remove all empty headers.
10796 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10797 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10799 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10800 @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter is
10803 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10806 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10807 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10809 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10810 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10812 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10813 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10815 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10818 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10820 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10823 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10826 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10827 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10830 This is also the default value for this variable.
10834 @section Using MIME
10835 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10837 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10838 while people stand around yawning.
10840 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10841 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10843 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10844 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10845 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10847 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10848 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10849 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10850 gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
10851 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10852 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10853 calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
10854 more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
10855 (however it is not existed yet, sorry).
10857 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10858 @acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
10859 then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10860 These can't be avoided.
10862 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10863 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10864 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10865 @acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
10866 horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
10867 can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
10868 starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
10869 and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
10870 in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
10871 feel rather stupid.)
10873 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10875 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10876 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10877 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10878 buffer when there are nobody else.
10880 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10883 @node Customizing Articles
10884 @section Customizing Articles
10885 @cindex article customization
10887 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10888 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10889 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10890 called automatically when you select the articles.
10892 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10893 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10894 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10895 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10897 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10898 for sensible values.
10902 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10905 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10908 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10911 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10914 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10918 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10919 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10920 regexps in the list.
10923 A list where the first element is not a string:
10925 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10926 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10927 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10931 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10935 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10940 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10941 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
10942 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10943 considered to contain just a single part.
10945 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10946 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10947 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10948 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10949 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10950 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10951 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10953 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10954 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10955 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10956 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10959 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10960 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10962 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10964 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10965 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10966 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10967 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10968 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10969 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10970 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10971 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10972 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10973 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10974 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10976 @xref{Article Washing}.
10978 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10979 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10980 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10981 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10982 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10983 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10984 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10986 @xref{Article Date}.
10988 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10989 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10990 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10994 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10996 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10998 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10999 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11000 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11004 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11008 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11012 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11013 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11014 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11015 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11016 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11017 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11018 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11019 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11020 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11021 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11023 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11025 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11026 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11027 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11029 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11031 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11032 @item gnus-treat-translate
11033 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11035 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11036 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11037 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11038 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11040 @xref{Article Header}.
11045 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11046 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11047 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11048 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11049 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11053 @node Article Keymap
11054 @section Article Keymap
11056 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11057 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11058 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11059 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11062 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11067 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11068 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11069 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11070 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11073 @kindex DEL (Article)
11074 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11075 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11076 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11079 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11080 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11081 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11082 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11083 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11086 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11087 @findex gnus-article-mail
11088 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11089 given a prefix, include the mail.
11092 @kindex s (Article)
11093 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11094 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11095 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11098 @kindex ? (Article)
11099 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11100 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11101 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11104 @kindex TAB (Article)
11105 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11106 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11107 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11110 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11111 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11112 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11115 @kindex R (Article)
11116 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11117 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11118 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11119 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11123 @kindex F (Article)
11124 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11125 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11126 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11127 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11135 @section Misc Article
11139 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11140 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11141 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11142 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11145 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11146 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11147 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11148 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11149 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11151 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11152 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11153 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11154 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11155 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11156 the contents of the article buffer.
11158 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11159 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11160 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11162 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11163 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11164 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11165 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11167 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11168 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11169 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11170 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11172 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11173 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11174 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11175 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11176 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11182 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11183 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11184 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11189 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11192 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11195 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11196 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11197 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11200 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11203 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11206 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11211 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11215 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11217 @item gnus-break-pages
11218 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11219 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11220 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11221 paging will not be done.
11223 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11224 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11225 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11229 @cindex internationalized domain names
11230 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11231 @item gnus-use-idna
11232 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11233 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11234 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11235 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11236 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11241 @node Composing Messages
11242 @chapter Composing Messages
11243 @cindex composing messages
11246 @cindex sending mail
11251 @cindex using s/mime
11252 @cindex using smime
11254 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11255 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11256 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11257 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11258 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11259 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11262 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11263 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11264 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11265 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11266 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11267 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11268 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11269 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11272 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11273 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11279 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11282 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11283 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11284 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11285 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11286 @code{nil} include all headers.
11288 @item gnus-add-to-list
11289 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11290 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11291 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11293 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11294 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11295 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11296 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11297 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11298 confirmation is should be asked for.
11300 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11301 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11303 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11304 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11305 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11306 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11307 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11312 @node Posting Server
11313 @section Posting Server
11315 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11316 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11318 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11320 It can be quite complicated.
11322 @vindex gnus-post-method
11323 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11324 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11325 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11326 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11327 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11328 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11329 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11330 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11331 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11334 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11337 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11338 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11339 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11340 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11342 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11343 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11345 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11346 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11349 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11350 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11352 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11353 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11354 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11355 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11356 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11357 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11358 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11359 package correctly. An example:
11362 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11363 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11364 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11365 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11366 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11369 To the thing similar to this, there is
11370 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11371 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11372 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11374 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11375 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11376 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11378 @node Mail and Post
11379 @section Mail and Post
11381 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11385 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11386 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11387 @cindex mailing lists
11389 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11390 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11391 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11392 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11393 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11394 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11395 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11396 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11397 still a pain, though.
11399 @item gnus-user-agent
11400 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11403 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11404 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11405 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11406 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11407 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11408 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11409 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11413 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11414 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11415 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11418 @findex ispell-message
11420 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11423 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11424 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11427 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11431 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11432 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11434 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11437 Modify to suit your needs.
11440 @node Archived Messages
11441 @section Archived Messages
11442 @cindex archived messages
11443 @cindex sent messages
11445 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11446 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11447 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11448 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11451 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11452 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11455 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11456 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11457 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11460 (nnfolder "archive"
11461 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11462 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11463 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11464 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11467 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11468 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11469 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11470 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11473 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11474 '(nnfolder "archive"
11475 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11476 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11477 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11480 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11482 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11483 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11484 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11486 This variable can be used to do the following:
11490 Messages will be saved in that group.
11492 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11493 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11494 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11495 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11496 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11497 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11498 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11499 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11502 @item a list of strings
11503 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11505 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11506 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11509 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11514 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11516 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11519 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11521 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11524 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11526 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11527 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11528 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11529 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11532 More complex stuff:
11534 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11535 '((if (message-news-p)
11540 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11541 messages in one file per month:
11544 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11545 '((if (message-news-p)
11547 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11550 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11551 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11553 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11554 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11555 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11556 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11557 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11558 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11559 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11560 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11561 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11562 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11564 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11565 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11566 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11567 this will disable archiving.
11570 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11571 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11572 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11573 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11574 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11577 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11578 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11579 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11582 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11583 but the latter is the preferred method.
11585 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11586 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11587 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11589 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11590 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11591 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11592 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11593 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11594 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11595 changed in the future.
11600 @node Posting Styles
11601 @section Posting Styles
11602 @cindex posting styles
11605 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11607 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11608 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11609 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11612 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11613 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11614 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11615 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11616 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11621 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11622 (organization "What me?"))
11624 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11625 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11626 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11629 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11630 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11631 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11632 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11633 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11634 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11635 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11636 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11638 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11639 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11640 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11641 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11642 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11643 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11644 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11645 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11646 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11647 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11648 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11649 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11650 said to @dfn{match}.
11652 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11653 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11654 attribute name can be one of:
11657 @item @code{signature}
11658 @item @code{signature-file}
11659 @item @code{x-face-file}
11660 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11661 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11665 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11666 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11667 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11668 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11669 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11671 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11672 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11673 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11674 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11675 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11676 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11677 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11678 references chars lines xref extra.
11680 @vindex message-reply-headers
11682 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11683 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11684 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11686 @findex message-mail-p
11687 @findex message-news-p
11689 So here's a new example:
11692 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11694 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11696 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11697 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11699 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11700 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11701 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11702 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11703 (signature my-news-signature))
11704 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11705 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11706 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11707 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11708 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11709 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11710 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11711 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11712 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11713 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11715 (From (save-excursion
11716 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11717 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11719 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11722 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11723 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11724 if you fill many roles.
11726 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11727 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11728 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11729 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11730 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11731 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11732 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11733 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11738 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11740 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11742 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11743 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11746 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11749 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11750 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11757 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11758 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11759 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11760 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11761 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11763 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11764 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11765 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11766 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11767 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11771 @vindex nndraft-directory
11772 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11773 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11774 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11775 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11776 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11777 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11779 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11780 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11781 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11782 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11783 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11784 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11785 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11786 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11787 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11789 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11790 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11791 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11792 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11793 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11794 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11795 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11796 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11797 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11798 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11799 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11800 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11801 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11802 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11804 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11805 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11806 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11808 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11809 @kindex D e (Draft)
11810 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11811 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11812 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11814 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11817 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11818 @kindex D s (Draft)
11819 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11820 @kindex D S (Draft)
11821 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11822 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11823 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11824 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11825 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11828 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11829 @kindex D t (Draft)
11830 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11831 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11832 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11835 @node Rejected Articles
11836 @section Rejected Articles
11837 @cindex rejected articles
11839 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11840 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11841 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11842 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11844 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11845 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11846 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11847 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11848 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11850 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11851 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11852 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11854 @node Signing and encrypting
11855 @section Signing and encrypting
11857 @cindex using s/mime
11858 @cindex using smime
11860 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11861 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11862 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11863 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11865 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11866 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11867 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11868 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11869 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11870 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11871 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11872 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11873 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11874 automatically encrypted messages.
11876 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11877 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11878 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11883 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11884 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11886 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11889 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11890 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11892 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11895 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11896 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11898 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11901 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11902 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11904 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11907 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11908 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11910 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11913 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11914 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11916 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11919 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11920 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11921 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
11925 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11927 @node Select Methods
11928 @chapter Select Methods
11929 @cindex foreign groups
11930 @cindex select methods
11932 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11933 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11934 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11935 personal mail group.
11937 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11938 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11939 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11940 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11941 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11942 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11944 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11945 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11947 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11950 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
11951 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11952 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11953 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11954 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11956 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11959 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11960 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11961 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11962 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11963 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
11964 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11965 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11966 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11970 @node Server Buffer
11971 @section Server Buffer
11973 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11974 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11975 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11976 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11977 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11978 back end represents a virtual server.
11980 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11981 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11982 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11983 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11985 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11986 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11987 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11988 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11989 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11990 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11991 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11993 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11994 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11997 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11998 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11999 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12000 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12001 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12002 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12003 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12006 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12007 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12010 @node Server Buffer Format
12011 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12012 @cindex server buffer format
12014 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12015 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12016 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12017 variable, with some simple extensions:
12022 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12025 The name of this server.
12028 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12031 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12034 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12035 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12036 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12037 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12047 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12050 @node Server Commands
12051 @subsection Server Commands
12052 @cindex server commands
12058 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12059 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12063 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12064 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12067 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12068 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12069 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12073 @findex gnus-server-exit
12074 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12078 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12079 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12083 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12084 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12088 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12089 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12093 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12094 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12098 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12099 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12100 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12105 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12106 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12107 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12108 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12113 @node Example Methods
12114 @subsection Example Methods
12116 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12119 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12122 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12128 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12129 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12132 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12133 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12135 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12136 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12140 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12143 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12144 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12146 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12147 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12148 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12152 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12155 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12158 Here's the method for a public spool:
12162 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12163 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12169 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12170 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12171 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12172 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12173 should probably look something like this:
12177 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12178 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12179 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12180 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12183 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12184 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12185 configuration to the example above:
12188 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12191 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12193 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12194 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12195 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12199 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12200 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12201 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12202 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12205 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12206 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12207 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12208 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12211 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12212 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12214 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12215 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12217 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12218 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12219 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12221 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12223 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12224 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12225 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12226 will contain the following:
12236 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12237 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12240 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12241 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12242 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12245 @node Server Variables
12246 @subsection Server Variables
12247 @cindex server variables
12248 @cindex server parameters
12250 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12251 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12252 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12253 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12254 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12256 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12257 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12258 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12259 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12260 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12261 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12262 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12263 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12264 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12268 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12269 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12270 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12273 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12275 @node Servers and Methods
12276 @subsection Servers and Methods
12278 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12279 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12280 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12281 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12285 @node Unavailable Servers
12286 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12288 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12289 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12290 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12291 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12292 actually the case or not.
12294 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12295 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12296 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12297 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12298 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12299 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12300 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12301 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12303 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12304 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12306 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12307 with the following commands:
12313 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12314 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12315 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12319 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12320 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12321 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12325 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12326 Mark the current server as unreachable
12327 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12330 @kindex M-o (Server)
12331 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12332 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12333 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12336 @kindex M-c (Server)
12337 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12338 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12339 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12343 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12344 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12345 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12349 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12350 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12356 @section Getting News
12357 @cindex reading news
12358 @cindex news back ends
12360 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12361 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12362 or it can read from a local spool.
12365 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12366 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12374 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12375 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12376 server as the, uhm, address.
12378 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12379 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12380 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12381 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12383 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12384 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12385 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12387 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12392 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12393 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12394 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12396 @cindex authentification
12397 @cindex nntp authentification
12398 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12399 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12400 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12401 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12402 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12403 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12404 present in this hook.
12406 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12407 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12408 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12409 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12410 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12411 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12412 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12413 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12414 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12415 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12416 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12417 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12421 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12424 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12426 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12427 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12428 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12429 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12430 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12431 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12432 @samp{force} is explained below.
12436 Here's an example file:
12439 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12440 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12443 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12444 have to be first, for instance.
12446 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12447 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12448 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12449 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12450 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12451 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12452 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12454 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12455 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12461 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12462 previously mentioned.
12464 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12466 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12467 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12468 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12469 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12470 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12473 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12474 '(("innd" (ding))))
12477 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12479 The default value is
12482 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12483 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12484 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12487 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12488 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12490 @item nntp-maximum-request
12491 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12492 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12493 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12494 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12495 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12496 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12497 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12499 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12500 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12501 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12502 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12503 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12504 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12505 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12506 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12507 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12508 no timeouts are done.
12510 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12511 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12512 @c @cindex PPP connections
12513 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12514 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12515 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12516 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12517 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12518 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12519 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12520 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12521 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12522 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12524 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12525 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12526 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12527 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12528 @c described above.
12530 @item nntp-server-hook
12531 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12532 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12535 @item nntp-buggy-select
12536 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12537 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12539 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12540 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12541 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12542 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12545 @item nntp-xover-commands
12546 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12547 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12549 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12550 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12554 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12555 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12556 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12557 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12558 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12559 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12560 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12561 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12562 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12563 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12564 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12566 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12567 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12568 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12570 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12571 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12572 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12573 server closes connection.
12575 @item nntp-record-commands
12576 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12577 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12578 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12579 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12580 that doesn't seem to work.
12582 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12583 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12584 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12585 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12586 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12587 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12588 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12589 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12591 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12592 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12593 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12594 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12595 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12596 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12597 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12600 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12603 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12604 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12606 @item nntp-read-timeout
12607 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12608 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12609 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12610 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12611 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12614 @item nntp-list-options
12615 @vindex nntp-list-options
12616 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12617 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12618 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12619 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12620 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12624 (setq gnus-select-method
12625 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12626 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12629 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12630 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12631 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12632 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12633 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12634 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12635 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12638 (setq gnus-select-method
12639 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12640 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12643 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12644 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12645 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12646 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12647 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12648 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12649 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12652 (setq gnus-select-method
12653 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12654 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12659 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12660 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12661 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12665 @node Direct Functions
12666 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12667 @cindex direct connection functions
12669 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12670 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12671 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12672 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12675 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12676 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12677 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12680 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12681 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12682 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12683 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12684 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12687 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12688 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12690 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12691 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12692 (nntp-port-number )
12693 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12696 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12697 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12698 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12699 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12700 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12701 then define a server as follows:
12704 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12705 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12707 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12708 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12709 (nntp-port-number 563)
12710 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12713 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12714 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12715 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12716 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12717 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12718 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12719 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12720 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12724 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12725 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12726 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12729 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12730 session, which is not a good idea.
12734 @node Indirect Functions
12735 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12736 @cindex indirect connection functions
12738 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12739 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12740 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12741 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12742 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12743 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12746 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12747 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12748 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12749 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12750 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12752 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12755 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12756 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12757 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12758 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12760 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12761 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12762 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12763 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12764 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12765 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12766 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12767 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12771 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12772 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12773 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12774 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12776 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12779 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12780 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12781 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12784 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12785 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12786 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12787 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12789 @item nntp-via-user-password
12790 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12791 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12793 @item nntp-via-envuser
12794 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12795 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12796 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12797 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12799 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12800 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12801 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12802 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12809 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12814 @item nntp-via-user-name
12815 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12816 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12818 @item nntp-via-address
12819 @vindex nntp-via-address
12820 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12825 @node Common Variables
12826 @subsubsection Common Variables
12828 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12829 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12834 @item nntp-pre-command
12835 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12836 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12837 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12838 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12839 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12842 @vindex nntp-address
12843 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12845 @item nntp-port-number
12846 @vindex nntp-port-number
12847 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12848 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12849 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12850 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12851 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12852 not work with named ports.
12854 @item nntp-end-of-line
12855 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12856 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12857 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12858 using a non native connection function.
12860 @item nntp-telnet-command
12861 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12862 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12863 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12864 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12867 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12868 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12869 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12876 @subsection News Spool
12880 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12881 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12882 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12885 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12886 anything else) as the address.
12888 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12889 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12890 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12891 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12895 @item nnspool-inews-program
12896 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12897 Program used to post an article.
12899 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12900 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12901 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12903 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12904 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12905 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12906 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12908 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12909 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12910 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12911 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12913 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12914 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12915 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12917 @item nnspool-active-file
12918 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12919 The name of the active file.
12921 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12922 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12923 The name of the group descriptions file.
12925 @item nnspool-history-file
12926 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12927 The name of the news history file.
12929 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12930 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12931 The name of the active date file.
12933 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12934 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12935 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12938 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12939 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12941 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12942 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12943 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
12950 @section Getting Mail
12951 @cindex reading mail
12954 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12958 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12959 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12960 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12961 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12962 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12963 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12964 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12965 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12966 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12967 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
12968 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12969 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12970 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12974 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12975 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12977 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12978 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12979 of a culture shock.
12981 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12982 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12984 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12985 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12986 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12987 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12989 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12991 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12992 deleted? How awful!
12994 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12995 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12996 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12997 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13000 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13001 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13002 they want to treat a message.
13004 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13005 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13006 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13007 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13008 archived somewhere else.
13010 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13011 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13012 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13013 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13014 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13016 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13017 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13018 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13020 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13021 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13024 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13025 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13026 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13027 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13028 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13030 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13031 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13032 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13033 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13034 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13035 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13039 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13040 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13042 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13043 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13044 and things will happen automatically.
13046 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13047 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13050 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13053 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13054 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13055 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13056 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13057 like any other group.
13059 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13062 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13063 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13064 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13068 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13069 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13070 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13073 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13074 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13075 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13078 @node Splitting Mail
13079 @subsection Splitting Mail
13080 @cindex splitting mail
13081 @cindex mail splitting
13082 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13084 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13085 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13086 to be split into groups.
13089 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13090 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13091 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13092 ("mail.other" "")))
13095 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13096 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13097 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13098 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13099 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13100 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13101 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13104 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13107 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13108 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13109 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13110 mail belongs in that group.
13112 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13113 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13114 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13115 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13116 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13117 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13119 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13120 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13121 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13122 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13123 thinks should carry this mail message.
13125 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13126 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13127 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13128 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13130 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13131 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13132 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13133 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13134 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13136 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13139 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13140 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13141 links. If that's the case for you, set
13142 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13143 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13145 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13146 @findex nnmail-split-history
13147 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13148 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13149 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13150 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13153 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13154 Header lines longer than the value of
13155 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13158 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13159 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13160 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13161 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13162 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13163 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13164 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13165 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13167 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13168 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13169 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13170 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13171 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13172 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13173 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13174 other kinds of entries.)
13176 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13177 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13178 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13179 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13180 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13181 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13182 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13183 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13184 month's rent money.
13188 @subsection Mail Sources
13190 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13191 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13192 maildir, for instance.
13195 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13196 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13197 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13201 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13202 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13204 @cindex mail server
13207 @cindex mail source
13209 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13210 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13215 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13218 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13219 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13220 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13223 The following mail source types are available:
13227 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13233 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13234 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13235 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13239 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13242 An example file mail source:
13245 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13248 Or using the default file name:
13254 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13255 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13256 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13257 mail spool while moving the mail.
13259 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13263 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13266 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13270 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13273 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13275 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13278 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13282 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13283 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13284 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13285 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13286 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13287 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13288 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13289 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13290 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13291 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13293 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13294 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13295 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13296 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13302 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13306 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13310 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13311 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13312 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13313 predicate are considered.
13317 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13321 An example directory mail source:
13324 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13329 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13335 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13336 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13339 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13340 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13341 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13342 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13343 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13346 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13350 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13351 the user is prompted.
13354 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13355 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13358 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13361 The valid format specifier characters are:
13365 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13366 included in this string.
13369 The name of the server.
13372 The port number of the server.
13375 The user name to use.
13378 The password to use.
13381 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13382 corresponding keywords.
13385 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13386 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13389 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13390 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13393 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13394 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13395 mail should be moved to.
13397 @item :authentication
13398 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13399 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13403 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13404 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13405 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13406 programs and libraries:
13410 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13411 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13412 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13414 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13415 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13420 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13421 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13425 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13426 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13428 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13429 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13435 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13438 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13439 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13442 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13445 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13449 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13450 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13451 contains exactly one mail.
13457 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13458 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13461 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13462 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13464 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13465 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13466 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13469 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13470 from locking problems).
13474 Two example maildir mail sources:
13477 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13478 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13482 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13487 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13488 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13489 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13490 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13491 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13493 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13494 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13500 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13501 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13504 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13505 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13508 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13512 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13516 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13517 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13518 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13519 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13521 @item :authentication
13522 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13523 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13524 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13525 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13528 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13529 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13530 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13536 The valid format specifier characters are:
13540 The name of the server.
13543 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13546 The port number of the server.
13549 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13550 corresponding keywords.
13553 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13554 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13557 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13558 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13559 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13560 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13561 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13562 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13565 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13566 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13567 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13568 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13571 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13572 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13576 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13579 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13581 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13585 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13586 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13587 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13589 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13590 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13592 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13598 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13599 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13602 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13606 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13610 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13611 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13615 An example webmail source:
13618 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13620 :password "secret")
13625 @item Common Keywords
13626 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13632 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13633 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13638 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13643 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13644 useful when you use local mail and news.
13649 @subsubsection Function Interface
13651 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13652 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13653 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13654 consider the following mail-source setting:
13657 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13658 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13661 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13662 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13663 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13664 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13665 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13667 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13670 @node Mail Source Customization
13671 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13673 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13674 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13678 @item mail-source-crash-box
13679 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13680 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13681 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13683 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13684 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13685 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13686 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13687 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13688 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13689 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13690 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13692 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13693 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13694 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13695 files. This variable only applies when
13696 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13698 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13699 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13700 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13702 @item mail-source-directory
13703 @vindex mail-source-directory
13704 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13705 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13706 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13709 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13710 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13711 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13712 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13713 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13714 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13716 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13717 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13718 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13720 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13721 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13722 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13723 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13728 @node Fetching Mail
13729 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13731 @vindex mail-sources
13732 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13733 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13734 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13735 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13737 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13738 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13741 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13742 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13747 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13748 :password "secret")))
13751 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13755 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13756 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13759 :password "secret")))
13763 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13764 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13765 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13766 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13767 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13768 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13772 @node Mail Back End Variables
13773 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13775 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13779 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13780 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13781 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13782 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13784 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13785 @item nnmail-split-hook
13786 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13787 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13788 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13789 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13790 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13791 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13792 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13793 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13794 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13797 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13798 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13799 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13800 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13801 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13802 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13803 starting to handle the new mail) and
13804 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13805 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13806 default file modes the new mail files get:
13809 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13810 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13812 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13813 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13816 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13817 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13818 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13819 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13820 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13821 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13822 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13824 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13825 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13826 @findex delete-file
13827 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13829 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13830 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13831 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13832 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13833 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13835 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13836 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13837 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13838 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13839 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13841 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13842 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13843 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13848 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13849 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13850 @cindex mail splitting
13851 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13853 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13854 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13855 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13856 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13857 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13858 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13860 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13863 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13864 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13865 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13866 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13868 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13869 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13870 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13871 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13872 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13873 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13874 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13875 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13876 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13877 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13878 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13879 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13880 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13881 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13882 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13883 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13884 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13888 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13889 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13890 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13895 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13896 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13898 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13899 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13900 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13901 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13902 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13903 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13904 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13906 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13907 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13908 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13909 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13910 stored in one or more groups.
13912 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13913 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13914 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13917 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13918 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13920 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13921 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13922 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13923 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13926 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13927 body of the messages:
13930 (defun split-on-body ()
13933 (goto-char (point-min))
13934 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13938 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13939 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13940 @code{save-excursion} in the example above. Also note that with the
13941 nnimap backend, message bodies will not be downloaded by default. You
13942 need to set @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that
13943 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
13945 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
13946 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
13947 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
13948 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
13949 should return a split.
13952 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13956 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13957 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13958 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13959 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13960 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13962 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13963 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
13964 they are expanded as specified by the variable
13965 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
13966 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
13967 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
13968 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
13972 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
13974 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
13975 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
13977 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
13980 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13981 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13982 when all this splitting is performed.
13984 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13985 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13986 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13989 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13992 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13993 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13995 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13996 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13997 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13998 groupings 1 through 9.
14000 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14001 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14002 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14004 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14005 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14006 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14007 surrounded by anything.
14010 (any "joe" "joemail")
14013 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14014 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14015 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14016 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14017 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14019 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14020 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14021 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14022 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14023 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14024 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14025 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14026 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14027 it once per thread.
14029 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14030 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14031 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14032 using the colon feature, like so:
14034 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14035 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14037 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14038 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14042 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14043 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14044 in the file specified by the variable
14045 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14046 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14047 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14048 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14049 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14050 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14051 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14052 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14053 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14054 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14055 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14056 300 kBytes in size.)
14057 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14058 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14059 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14060 messages goes into the new group.
14062 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14063 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14064 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14065 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14066 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14067 ``outgoing'' group.
14070 @node Group Mail Splitting
14071 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14072 @cindex mail splitting
14073 @cindex group mail splitting
14075 @findex gnus-group-split
14076 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14077 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14078 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14079 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14080 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14081 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14082 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14083 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14085 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14086 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14087 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14088 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14090 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14091 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14092 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14093 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14094 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14095 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14096 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14098 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14099 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14100 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14101 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14102 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14103 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14104 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14106 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14107 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14108 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14109 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14110 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14111 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14112 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14113 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14114 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14115 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14116 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14117 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14118 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14120 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14125 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14126 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14128 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14129 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14130 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14131 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14133 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14136 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14137 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14138 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14141 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14142 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14143 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14147 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14148 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14149 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14153 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14156 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14157 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14158 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14159 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14160 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14161 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14162 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14163 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14164 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14166 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14167 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14168 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14169 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14170 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14171 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14172 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14173 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14174 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14176 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14177 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14178 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14179 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14180 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14181 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14184 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14187 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14188 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14189 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14190 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14191 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14194 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14195 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14196 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14197 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14199 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14200 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14201 @cindex incorporating old mail
14202 @cindex import old mail
14204 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14205 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14206 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14209 Doing so can be quite easy.
14211 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14212 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14213 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14214 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14215 your @code{nnml} groups.
14221 Go to the group buffer.
14224 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14225 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14228 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14231 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14232 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14235 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14236 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14239 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14240 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14241 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14242 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14243 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14245 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14246 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14247 using the new mail back end.
14250 @node Expiring Mail
14251 @subsection Expiring Mail
14252 @cindex article expiry
14254 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14255 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14256 different approach to mail reading.
14258 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14259 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14260 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14261 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14262 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14263 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14266 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14267 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14268 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14269 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14270 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14271 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14272 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14273 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14274 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14276 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14277 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14278 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14279 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14280 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14281 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14282 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14285 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14286 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14287 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14288 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14289 into its own group.)
14291 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14292 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14293 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14294 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14295 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14296 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14297 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14298 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14301 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14302 Groups that match the regular expression
14303 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14304 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14305 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14307 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14308 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14309 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14310 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14311 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14313 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14315 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14316 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14317 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14320 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14321 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14322 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14323 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14324 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14326 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14327 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14330 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14331 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14334 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14335 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14337 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14338 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14339 don't really mix very well.
14341 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14342 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14343 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14344 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14347 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14348 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14349 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14350 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14353 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14355 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14357 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14359 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14361 ((string= group "important")
14367 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14368 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14370 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14371 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14372 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14375 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14376 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14378 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14379 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14380 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14381 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14382 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14383 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14384 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14385 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14386 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14387 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14388 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14389 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14390 name or @code{delete}.
14392 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14394 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14397 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14398 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14399 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14400 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14401 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14404 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14405 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14406 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14407 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14408 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14411 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14412 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14413 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14414 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14415 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14416 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14418 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14419 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14420 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14421 easier for procmail users.
14423 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14424 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14425 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14426 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14427 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14428 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14429 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14430 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14431 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14432 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14433 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14434 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14435 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14438 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14440 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14441 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14442 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14443 auto-expire turned on.
14447 @subsection Washing Mail
14448 @cindex mail washing
14449 @cindex list server brain damage
14450 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14452 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14453 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14454 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14455 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14456 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14457 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14459 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14460 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14461 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14464 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14465 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14466 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14467 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14470 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14471 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14472 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14473 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14474 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14477 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14478 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14479 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14480 Emacs running on MS machines.
14484 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14485 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14486 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14487 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14490 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14491 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14492 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14493 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14495 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14496 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14497 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14498 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14499 into a feature by documenting it.)
14501 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14502 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14503 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14504 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14505 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14506 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14507 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14510 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14511 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14514 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14515 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14518 This can also be done non-destructively with
14519 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14521 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14522 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14523 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14525 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14526 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14528 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14529 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14530 @code{References} headers.
14534 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14535 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14536 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14540 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14541 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14542 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14549 @subsection Duplicates
14551 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14552 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14553 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14554 @cindex duplicate mails
14555 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14556 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14557 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14558 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14559 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14560 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14561 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14562 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14563 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14564 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14565 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14566 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14567 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14569 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14570 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14571 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14572 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14574 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14577 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14578 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14582 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14583 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14584 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14585 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14586 (any mail "mail.misc")
14587 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14593 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14594 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14595 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14599 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14600 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14601 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14602 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14603 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14606 @node Not Reading Mail
14607 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14609 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14610 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14611 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14613 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14614 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14615 mail, which should help.
14617 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14618 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14619 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14620 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14621 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14622 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14623 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14624 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14625 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14626 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14627 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14629 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14630 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14634 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14635 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14637 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14638 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14639 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14641 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14642 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14643 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14647 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14648 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14649 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14650 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14651 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14652 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14653 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14657 @node Unix Mail Box
14658 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14660 @cindex unix mail box
14662 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14663 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14664 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14665 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14666 which group it belongs in.
14668 Virtual server settings:
14671 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14672 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14673 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14676 @item nnmbox-active-file
14677 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14678 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14679 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14681 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14682 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14683 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14684 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14689 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14693 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14694 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14695 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14696 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14697 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14699 Virtual server settings:
14702 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14703 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14704 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14706 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14707 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14708 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14709 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14711 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14712 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14713 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14719 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14721 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14723 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14724 format. It should be used with some caution.
14726 @vindex nnml-directory
14727 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14728 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14729 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14730 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14732 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14735 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14736 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14737 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14738 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14739 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14740 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14741 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14742 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14744 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14745 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14746 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14747 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14749 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14751 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14752 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14753 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14754 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14755 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14756 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14757 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14758 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14761 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14762 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14763 them next time it starts.
14765 Virtual server settings:
14768 @item nnml-directory
14769 @vindex nnml-directory
14770 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14771 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14774 @item nnml-active-file
14775 @vindex nnml-active-file
14776 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14777 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14779 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14780 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14781 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14782 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14784 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14785 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14786 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14789 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14790 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14791 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14792 default is @code{nil}.
14794 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14795 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14796 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14798 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14799 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14800 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14802 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14803 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14804 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14805 default is @code{nil}.
14807 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14808 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14809 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14811 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14812 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14813 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14818 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14819 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of whack,
14820 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14821 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14822 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14823 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14824 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14829 @subsubsection MH Spool
14831 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14833 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14834 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14835 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14836 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14838 Virtual server settings:
14841 @item nnmh-directory
14842 @vindex nnmh-directory
14843 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14844 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14847 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14848 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14849 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14853 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14854 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14855 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14856 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14857 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14858 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14859 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14864 @subsubsection Maildir
14868 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14869 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14870 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14871 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14872 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14875 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14876 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14877 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14878 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14879 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14880 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14883 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14884 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14885 data in the filesystem.
14887 nnmaildir stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each maildir. So you
14888 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14891 Virtual server settings:
14895 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14896 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14897 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14898 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14899 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14900 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14901 starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14902 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14903 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14906 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14907 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14908 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14909 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14910 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14911 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14912 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14913 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14914 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14915 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14917 @item target-prefix
14918 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14919 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14920 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14923 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14924 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14925 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14926 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14927 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14928 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14929 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14930 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14931 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14933 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14934 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14935 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14936 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14937 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14939 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14940 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14941 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14942 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14943 @code{force} argument.
14945 @item directory-files
14946 This should be a function with the same interface as
14947 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14948 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14949 parameter is optional; the default is
14950 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14951 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14952 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14953 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14954 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14955 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14958 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14959 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14960 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14961 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14962 value is @code{nil}.
14964 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14965 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14966 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14967 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14968 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14971 @subsubsection Group parameters
14973 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14974 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14975 behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after one week,
14976 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14977 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14978 duplicate the behavior you already have with another back end.
14980 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14981 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14982 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14983 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14984 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14985 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14986 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14987 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14988 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14992 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14993 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14994 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14995 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14996 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
14997 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14998 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14999 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
15000 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15001 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15002 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15003 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15006 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15008 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15010 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15011 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15012 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
15013 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
15014 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15015 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15016 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15017 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15018 article. So that form can refer to
15019 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15020 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
15021 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15022 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15025 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
15026 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
15027 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
15028 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
15029 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
15030 directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
15031 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
15032 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
15033 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
15034 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
15035 extra copies of the articles.
15037 @item directory-files
15038 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15039 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15040 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15041 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15043 @item distrust-Lines:
15044 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
15045 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15046 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15049 A list of mark symbols, such as
15050 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
15051 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
15052 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
15053 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
15054 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15055 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15058 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15059 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
15060 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
15061 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15062 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15063 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15064 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15066 @item nov-cache-size
15067 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To speed
15068 things up, nnmaildir keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory for a limited number of
15069 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
15070 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
15071 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened---i.e.,
15072 when you first start Gnus, typically. The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized
15073 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
15074 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
15075 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
15076 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15079 @subsubsection Article identification
15080 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15081 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15082 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
15083 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15084 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15085 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15086 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15087 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15088 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15089 request the article in the summary buffer.
15091 @subsubsection NOV data
15092 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used to
15093 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15094 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15095 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15096 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically when the
15097 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
15098 nnmaildir to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a single article simply by
15099 deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV} file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
15100 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
15101 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15103 @subsubsection Article marks
15104 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15105 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15106 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
15107 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
15108 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
15109 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
15110 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
15111 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15113 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15114 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15115 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15116 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15117 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
15118 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
15119 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
15120 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
15121 changes, and might undo them.
15125 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15127 @cindex mbox folders
15128 @cindex mail folders
15130 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
15131 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
15132 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
15135 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15137 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15138 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15139 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15140 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15141 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15142 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15143 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
15144 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
15145 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
15146 @code{nnfolder} directory).
15148 Virtual server settings:
15151 @item nnfolder-directory
15152 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15153 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
15154 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15157 @item nnfolder-active-file
15158 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15159 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15161 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15162 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15163 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15164 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15166 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15167 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15168 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
15171 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15172 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15173 @cindex backup files
15174 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15175 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
15176 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
15177 your @file{.emacs} file:
15180 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15181 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15183 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15186 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15187 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15188 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15189 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15190 extract some information from it before removing it.
15192 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15193 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15194 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15195 default is @code{nil}.
15197 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15198 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15199 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15201 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15202 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15203 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15204 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15206 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15207 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15208 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15209 default is @code{nil}.
15211 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15212 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15213 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15215 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15216 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15217 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15218 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15223 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15224 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15225 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15226 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15227 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15228 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15231 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15232 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15234 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15235 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15236 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15237 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15238 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15240 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15241 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15242 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15243 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15244 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15245 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15246 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15247 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15250 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15251 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15252 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15253 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15258 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15259 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15260 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15261 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15262 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15263 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15264 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15265 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15266 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15267 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15268 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15269 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15270 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15275 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15276 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15277 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15278 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15279 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15280 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15281 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15282 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15283 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15284 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15285 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15286 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15287 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15288 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15290 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15291 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15296 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15297 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15298 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15299 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15300 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15301 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15302 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15303 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15304 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15305 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15306 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15307 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15308 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15309 provided by the active file and overviews.
15311 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15312 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15313 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15314 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15315 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15318 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15319 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15324 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15325 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15326 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15327 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15328 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15329 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15330 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15334 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15335 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15336 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15337 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15338 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15339 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15340 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15341 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15342 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15344 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15345 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15346 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15347 friendly mail back end all over.
15351 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15352 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15355 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15356 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15357 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15358 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15359 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15360 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15361 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15362 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15365 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15366 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15367 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15368 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15369 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15370 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15371 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15372 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15373 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15374 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15375 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15377 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15378 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15379 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15380 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15381 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15384 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15385 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15386 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15387 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15388 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15389 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15390 removed in the future.
15392 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15393 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15394 on your file system.
15396 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15397 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15402 @node Browsing the Web
15403 @section Browsing the Web
15405 @cindex browsing the web
15409 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15410 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15411 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15412 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15413 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15414 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15415 even know what a news group is.
15417 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15418 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15419 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15420 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15421 you mad in the end.
15423 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15426 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15427 interfaces to these sources.
15431 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15432 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15433 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15434 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15435 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15436 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15439 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15441 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15442 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15443 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15444 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15445 though, you should be ok.
15447 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15448 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15449 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15450 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15451 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15453 @node Archiving Mail
15454 @subsection Archiving Mail
15455 @cindex archiving mail
15456 @cindex backup of mail
15458 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15459 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15460 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15461 marks is fairly simple.
15463 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15464 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15467 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15468 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15469 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15470 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15471 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15472 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15473 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15474 before you restore the data.
15476 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15477 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15478 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15479 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15480 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15481 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15482 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15483 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15484 is unnecessary in that case.
15487 @subsection Web Searches
15492 @cindex Usenet searches
15493 @cindex searching the Usenet
15495 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15496 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15497 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15498 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15499 searches without having to use a browser.
15501 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15502 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15503 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15504 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15505 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15507 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15508 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15509 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15510 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15511 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15512 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15513 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15514 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15515 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15516 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15519 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15520 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15521 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15522 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15523 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15524 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15526 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15527 to use @code{nnweb}.
15529 Virtual server variables:
15534 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15535 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15536 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15539 @vindex nnweb-search
15540 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15542 @item nnweb-max-hits
15543 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15544 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15547 @item nnweb-type-definition
15548 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15549 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15550 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15555 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15559 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15562 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15565 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15569 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15576 @subsection Slashdot
15580 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15581 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15582 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15584 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15585 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15588 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15589 '((nnslashdot "")))
15592 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15593 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15594 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15595 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15596 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15599 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15600 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15602 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15603 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15604 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15605 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15606 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15607 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15608 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15610 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15613 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15614 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15615 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15616 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15617 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15618 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15619 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15621 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15622 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15623 The login name to use when posting.
15625 @item nnslashdot-password
15626 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15627 The password to use when posting.
15629 @item nnslashdot-directory
15630 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15631 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15632 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15634 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15635 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15636 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15637 news articles and comments. The default is@*
15638 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15640 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15641 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15642 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15644 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15645 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15646 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15648 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15650 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15651 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15652 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15654 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15655 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15656 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15657 updated. The default is 0.
15664 @subsection Ultimate
15666 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15668 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15669 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15670 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15671 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15673 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15674 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15675 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15676 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15677 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15678 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15679 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15681 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15684 @item nnultimate-directory
15685 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15686 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15687 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15692 @subsection Web Archive
15694 @cindex Web Archive
15696 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15697 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15698 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15699 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15702 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15703 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15704 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15705 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15706 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15707 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15708 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15709 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15711 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15714 @item nnwarchive-directory
15715 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15716 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15717 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15719 @item nnwarchive-login
15720 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15721 The account name on the web server.
15723 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15724 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15725 The password for your account on the web server.
15733 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15734 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15735 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15738 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15739 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15742 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15745 @item nnrss-directory
15746 @vindex nnrss-directory
15747 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15748 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15752 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15753 the summary buffer.
15756 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15757 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15759 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15761 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15762 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15765 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15768 (require 'browse-url)
15770 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15772 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15775 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15776 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15779 (browse-url (cdr url))
15780 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15781 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15783 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15784 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15785 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15786 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15789 @node Customizing w3
15790 @subsection Customizing w3
15796 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15797 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15798 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15800 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15801 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15802 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15805 (eval-after-load "w3"
15807 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15808 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15809 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15810 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15812 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15815 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15816 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15823 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15825 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15826 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15827 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15828 specify the network address of the server.
15830 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15831 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15832 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15833 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15834 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15835 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15837 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15838 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15839 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15840 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15842 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15843 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15844 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15845 usage explained in this section.
15847 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15848 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15849 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15853 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15854 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15855 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15857 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15858 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15859 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15861 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15862 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15863 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15864 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15865 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15866 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15867 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15868 (nnimap-stream network))
15869 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15871 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15872 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15873 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15876 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15877 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15878 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15879 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15881 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15886 @item nnimap-address
15887 @vindex nnimap-address
15889 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15890 server name if not specified.
15892 @item nnimap-server-port
15893 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15894 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15896 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15899 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15900 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15903 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15904 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15905 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15906 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15907 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15908 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15909 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15911 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15912 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15913 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15916 Example server specification:
15919 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15920 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15921 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15924 @item nnimap-stream
15925 @vindex nnimap-stream
15926 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15927 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15928 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
15929 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
15930 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15932 Example server specification:
15935 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15936 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15939 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15943 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15944 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15946 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15948 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15949 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15952 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15953 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15955 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15956 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15958 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
15960 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15963 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15964 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15965 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15966 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15967 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15968 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15969 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15970 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15971 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15974 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
15975 needed. It is available from
15976 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
15978 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
15979 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
15980 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
15981 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
15982 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
15983 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
15984 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
15987 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15988 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15989 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15990 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
15991 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15992 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15993 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15996 @vindex imap-shell-program
15997 @vindex imap-shell-host
15998 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15999 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16001 @item nnimap-authenticator
16002 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16004 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16005 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16007 Example server specification:
16010 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16011 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16014 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16018 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16019 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16021 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16024 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16025 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16027 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16029 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16031 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16034 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16036 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16037 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16038 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16039 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16040 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16041 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16044 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16045 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16046 running in circles yet?
16048 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16049 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16052 The possible options are:
16057 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16060 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16061 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16062 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16063 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16065 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16070 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16071 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16073 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16074 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16075 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16076 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16077 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16080 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16081 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16084 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16085 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16086 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16087 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16090 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16091 as ticked for other users.
16093 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16095 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16097 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16098 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16099 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16100 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16102 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16103 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16104 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16105 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16107 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16108 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16110 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16111 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16112 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16115 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16116 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16118 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16119 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16125 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16126 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16127 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16128 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16129 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16134 @node Splitting in IMAP
16135 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16136 @cindex splitting imap mail
16138 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16139 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16140 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16141 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16142 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16146 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16147 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16148 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16150 Here are the variables of interest:
16154 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16155 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16157 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16159 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16160 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16161 found will be used.
16163 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16165 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16166 @cindex splitting, inbox
16168 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16170 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16171 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16172 splitting is disabled!
16175 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16176 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16179 No nnmail equivalent.
16181 @item nnimap-split-rule
16182 @cindex splitting, rules
16183 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16185 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16188 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16189 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16190 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16191 Neither did I, we need examples.
16194 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16196 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16197 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16198 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16201 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16202 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16203 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16205 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16206 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16210 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16213 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16214 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16216 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16217 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16218 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16219 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16221 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16222 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16223 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16224 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16225 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16226 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16228 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16229 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16230 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16232 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16233 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16234 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16236 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16238 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16239 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16240 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16243 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16244 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16245 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16246 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16247 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16248 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16251 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16252 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16253 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16254 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16255 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16256 group/function elements.
16258 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16260 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16262 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16264 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16265 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16267 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16268 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16269 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16272 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16273 @cindex splitting, fancy
16274 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16275 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16277 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16278 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16279 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16281 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16282 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16283 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16284 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16289 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16290 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16293 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16295 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16296 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16297 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16299 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16300 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16301 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16302 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16306 @node Expiring in IMAP
16307 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16308 @cindex expiring imap mail
16310 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16311 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16312 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16313 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16314 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16315 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16318 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16319 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16320 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16321 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16322 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16323 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16324 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16325 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16329 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16330 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16332 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16333 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16335 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16337 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16338 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16339 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16340 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16344 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16345 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16346 @cindex editing imap acls
16347 @cindex Access Control Lists
16348 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16350 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16352 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16353 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16354 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16357 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16358 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16359 editing window with detailed instructions.
16361 Some possible uses:
16365 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16366 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16367 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16369 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16370 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16371 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16375 @node Expunging mailboxes
16376 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16380 @cindex manual expunging
16382 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16384 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16385 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16386 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16388 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16391 @node A note on namespaces
16392 @subsection A note on namespaces
16393 @cindex IMAP namespace
16396 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16397 by the following text in the RFC:
16400 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16402 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16403 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16404 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16405 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16407 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16408 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16409 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16410 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16411 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16412 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16415 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16416 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16417 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16419 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16420 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16421 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16422 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16423 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16424 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16425 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16426 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16429 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16430 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16431 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16433 @node Other Sources
16434 @section Other Sources
16436 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16437 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16441 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16442 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16443 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16444 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16445 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16449 @node Directory Groups
16450 @subsection Directory Groups
16452 @cindex directory groups
16454 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16455 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16458 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16459 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16460 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16461 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16463 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16464 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16465 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16466 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16467 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16469 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16471 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16472 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16473 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16474 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16477 @node Anything Groups
16478 @subsection Anything Groups
16481 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16482 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16483 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16486 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16487 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16488 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16489 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16490 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16491 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16492 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16493 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16494 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16495 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16498 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16499 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16500 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16501 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16503 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16504 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16505 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16506 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16508 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16509 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16510 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16511 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16512 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16513 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16514 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16515 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16520 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16521 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16522 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16523 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16525 @item nneething-exclude-files
16526 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16527 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16528 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16530 @item nneething-include-files
16531 @vindex nneething-include-files
16532 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16533 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16535 @item nneething-map-file
16536 @vindex nneething-map-file
16537 Name of the map files.
16541 @node Document Groups
16542 @subsection Document Groups
16544 @cindex documentation group
16547 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16548 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16555 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16560 The standard Unix mbox file.
16562 @cindex MMDF mail box
16564 The MMDF mail box format.
16567 Several news articles appended into a file.
16570 @cindex rnews batch files
16571 The rnews batch transport format.
16572 @cindex forwarded messages
16575 Forwarded articles.
16578 Netscape mail boxes.
16581 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16583 @item standard-digest
16584 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16587 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16589 @item lanl-gov-announce
16590 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16592 @item rfc822-forward
16593 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16596 The Outlook mail box.
16599 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16602 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16605 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16608 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16614 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16617 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16623 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16624 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16625 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16628 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16629 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16630 group. And that's it.
16632 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16633 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16634 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16635 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16636 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16637 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16638 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16639 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16640 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16641 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16643 Virtual server variables:
16646 @item nndoc-article-type
16647 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16648 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16649 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16650 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16651 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16652 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16654 @item nndoc-post-type
16655 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16656 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16657 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16662 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16666 @node Document Server Internals
16667 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16669 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16670 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16671 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16672 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16674 First, here's an example document type definition:
16678 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16679 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16682 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16683 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16684 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16685 types can be defined with very few settings:
16688 @item first-article
16689 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16690 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16693 @item article-begin
16694 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16695 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16697 @item head-begin-function
16698 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16701 @item nndoc-head-begin
16702 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16705 @item nndoc-head-end
16706 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16707 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16709 @item body-begin-function
16710 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16714 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16717 @item body-end-function
16718 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16722 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16725 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16726 regexp will be totally ignored.
16730 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16731 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16732 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16733 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16734 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16737 @item prepare-body-function
16738 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16739 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16740 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16742 @item article-transform-function
16743 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16744 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16745 body of the article.
16747 @item generate-head-function
16748 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16749 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16750 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16751 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16755 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16760 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16761 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16762 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16763 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16764 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16765 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16766 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16767 (subtype digest guess))
16770 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16771 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16772 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16773 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16774 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16776 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16777 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16778 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16779 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16780 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16781 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16782 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16783 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16784 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16785 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16786 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16787 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16795 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16796 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16797 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16799 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16800 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16801 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16804 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16805 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16806 that interested in doing things properly.
16808 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16809 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16812 First some terminology:
16817 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16818 get news and/or mail from.
16821 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16822 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16825 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16829 @item message packets
16830 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16831 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16832 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16834 @item response packets
16835 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16836 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16837 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16847 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16848 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16849 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16850 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16853 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16856 You put the packet in your home directory.
16859 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16860 the native or secondary server.
16863 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16864 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16867 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16871 You transfer this packet to the server.
16874 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16877 You then repeat until you die.
16881 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16882 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16885 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16886 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16887 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16891 @node SOUP Commands
16892 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16894 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16898 @kindex G s b (Group)
16899 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16900 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16901 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16902 process/prefix convention.
16905 @kindex G s w (Group)
16906 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16907 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16910 @kindex G s s (Group)
16911 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16912 Send all replies from the replies packet
16913 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16916 @kindex G s p (Group)
16917 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16918 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16921 @kindex G s r (Group)
16922 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16923 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16926 @kindex O s (Summary)
16927 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16928 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16929 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16930 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16935 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16940 @item gnus-soup-directory
16941 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16942 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16943 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16945 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16946 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16947 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16948 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16950 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16951 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16952 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16953 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16955 @item gnus-soup-packer
16956 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16957 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16958 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16960 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16961 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16962 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16963 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16965 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16966 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16967 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16969 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16970 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16971 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16972 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16978 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16981 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16982 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16983 you can read them at leisure.
16985 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16989 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16990 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16991 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16992 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16994 @item nnsoup-directory
16995 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16996 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16997 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16999 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17000 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17001 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17002 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17004 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17005 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17006 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17007 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17008 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17010 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17011 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17012 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17013 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17015 @item nnsoup-active-file
17016 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17017 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17018 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17019 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17020 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17022 @item nnsoup-packer
17023 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17024 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17025 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17027 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17028 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17029 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17030 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17032 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17033 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17034 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17037 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17038 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17039 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17042 @item nnsoup-always-save
17043 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17044 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17050 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17052 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17053 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17054 more for that to happen.
17056 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17057 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17058 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17061 In specific, this is what it does:
17064 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17065 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17068 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17069 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17070 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17073 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17074 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17075 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17078 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17079 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17080 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17082 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17088 @item nngateway-address
17089 @vindex nngateway-address
17090 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17092 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17093 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17094 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17095 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17096 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17097 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17098 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17101 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17102 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17103 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17106 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17109 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17112 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17115 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17117 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17120 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17121 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17122 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17124 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17126 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17127 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17128 @code{nngateway-address}.
17136 (setq gnus-post-method
17138 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17139 (nngateway-header-transformation
17140 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17143 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17146 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17151 @node Combined Groups
17152 @section Combined Groups
17154 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17158 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17159 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17163 @node Virtual Groups
17164 @subsection Virtual Groups
17166 @cindex virtual groups
17167 @cindex merging groups
17169 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17172 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17173 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17174 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17176 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17177 regexp to match component groups.
17179 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17180 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17181 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17182 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17183 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17184 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17185 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17186 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17188 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17189 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17192 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17195 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17196 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17198 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17199 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17200 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17201 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17204 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17207 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17208 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17209 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17211 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17212 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17213 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17214 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17215 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17217 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17218 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17219 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17221 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17222 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17223 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17224 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17225 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17226 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17227 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17228 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17229 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17230 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17231 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17233 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17234 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17235 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17236 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17237 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17238 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17239 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17241 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17242 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17244 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17245 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17249 @node Kibozed Groups
17250 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17254 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17255 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17256 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17257 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17259 @kindex G k (Group)
17260 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17263 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17264 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17265 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17266 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17268 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17269 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17270 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17272 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17273 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17274 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17275 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17276 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17277 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17278 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17279 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17281 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17282 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17283 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17284 Stranger things have happened.
17286 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17287 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17289 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17290 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17291 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17292 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17293 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17294 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17295 component articles.
17297 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17298 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17301 @node Gnus Unplugged
17302 @section Gnus Unplugged
17307 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17309 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17310 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17311 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17312 read news. Believe it or not.
17314 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17315 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17316 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17317 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17318 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17320 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17321 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17322 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17323 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17324 reading news on a machine.
17326 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17327 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17329 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17332 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17333 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17334 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17335 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17336 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17337 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17338 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17339 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17340 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17341 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17342 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17343 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17344 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17349 @subsection Agent Basics
17351 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17353 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17354 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17355 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17356 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17358 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17359 connected to the net continuously.
17361 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17362 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17364 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17365 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17366 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17367 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17368 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17370 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17371 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17372 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17373 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17374 they're kinda like plugged always).
17376 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17377 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17378 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17381 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17382 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17383 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17384 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17385 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17387 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17392 @findex gnus-unplugged
17393 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17394 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17395 already fetched while in this mode.
17398 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17399 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17400 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17401 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17402 Source Specifiers}).
17405 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17406 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17407 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17408 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17409 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17412 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17413 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17414 then you read the news offline.
17417 And then you go to step 2.
17420 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17426 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17427 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17428 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17429 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17430 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17431 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17432 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17433 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17436 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17437 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17438 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17439 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17441 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17442 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17443 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17444 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17445 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17446 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17450 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17454 @node Agent Categories
17455 @subsection Agent Categories
17457 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17458 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17459 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17460 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17461 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17462 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17463 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17465 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17466 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17467 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17468 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17469 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17471 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17472 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17473 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17474 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17475 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17478 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17479 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17480 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17481 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17482 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17483 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17487 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17488 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17489 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17493 @node Category Syntax
17494 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17496 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17497 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17498 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17502 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17503 The name of the category.
17505 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17506 The list of groups that are in this category.
17508 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17509 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17510 are eligible for downloading; and
17512 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17513 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17514 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17515 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17517 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17518 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17519 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17520 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17521 only groups that should not be expired.
17523 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17524 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17525 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17527 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17528 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17530 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17531 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17533 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17534 an integer that overrides the value of
17535 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17537 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17538 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17541 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17544 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17545 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17546 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17549 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17550 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17551 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17552 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17554 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17555 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17556 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17558 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17559 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17560 operators sprinkled in between.
17562 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17564 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17565 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17571 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17572 short (for some value of ``short'').
17574 Here's a more complex predicate:
17583 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17584 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17587 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17588 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17589 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17591 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17592 you want to do, you can write your own.
17594 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17595 bound to the value determined by calling
17596 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17597 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17598 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17599 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17600 predicate to individual groups.
17604 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17605 lines; default 100.
17608 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17609 lines; default 200.
17612 True iff the article has a download score less than
17613 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17616 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17617 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17620 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17621 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17622 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17631 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17632 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17633 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17636 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17637 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17638 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17639 something along the lines of the following:
17642 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17643 "Say whether an article is old."
17644 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17645 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17648 with the predicate then defined as:
17651 (not my-article-old-p)
17654 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17655 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17659 (require 'gnus-agent)
17660 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17661 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17662 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17665 and simply specify your predicate as:
17671 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17672 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17673 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17674 just don't give a damn.
17676 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17677 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17678 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17679 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17680 parameters like so:
17683 (agent-predicate . short)
17686 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17687 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17688 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17690 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17693 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17696 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17697 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17698 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17701 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17702 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17703 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17704 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17705 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17706 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17708 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17709 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17710 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17711 if it's to be specific to that group.
17713 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17720 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17721 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17727 Category specification
17731 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17737 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17740 (agent-score ("from"
17741 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17746 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17752 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17753 keywords stated above.
17759 Category specification
17762 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17768 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17772 Group Parameter specification
17775 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17778 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17783 Use @code{normal} score files
17785 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17786 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17787 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17788 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17790 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17791 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17792 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17793 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17797 Category Specification
17804 Group Parameter specification
17807 (agent-score . file)
17812 @node Category Buffer
17813 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17815 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17816 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17817 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17819 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17823 @kindex q (Category)
17824 @findex gnus-category-exit
17825 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17828 @kindex e (Category)
17829 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17830 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17831 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17834 @kindex k (Category)
17835 @findex gnus-category-kill
17836 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17839 @kindex c (Category)
17840 @findex gnus-category-copy
17841 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17844 @kindex a (Category)
17845 @findex gnus-category-add
17846 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17849 @kindex p (Category)
17850 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17851 Edit the predicate of the current category
17852 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17855 @kindex g (Category)
17856 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17857 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17858 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17861 @kindex s (Category)
17862 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17863 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17864 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17867 @kindex l (Category)
17868 @findex gnus-category-list
17869 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17873 @node Category Variables
17874 @subsubsection Category Variables
17877 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17878 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17879 Hook run in category buffers.
17881 @item gnus-category-line-format
17882 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17883 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17884 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17888 The name of the category.
17891 The number of groups in the category.
17894 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17895 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17896 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17898 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17899 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17900 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17902 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17903 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17904 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17906 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17907 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17908 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17911 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17912 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17913 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17916 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17917 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17918 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17919 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17920 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17921 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17922 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17923 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17927 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17928 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17929 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17930 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17931 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17932 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17933 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17938 @node Agent Commands
17939 @subsection Agent Commands
17940 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17941 @kindex J j (Agent)
17943 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17944 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17945 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17949 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17950 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17951 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17957 @node Group Agent Commands
17958 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17962 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17963 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17964 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17965 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17968 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17969 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17970 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17973 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17974 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17975 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17976 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17979 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17980 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17981 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17982 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17985 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17986 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17987 Add the current group to an Agent category
17988 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17989 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17992 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17993 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17994 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17995 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17996 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17999 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18000 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18001 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18007 @node Summary Agent Commands
18008 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18012 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18013 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18014 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18017 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18018 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18019 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18020 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18024 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18025 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18026 Toggle whether to download the article
18027 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18031 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18032 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18033 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18036 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18037 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18038 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18039 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18042 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18043 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18044 Download all processable articles in this group.
18045 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18048 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18049 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18050 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18051 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18056 @node Server Agent Commands
18057 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18061 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18062 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18063 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18064 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18067 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18068 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18069 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18070 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18075 @node Agent Visuals
18076 @subsection Agent Visuals
18078 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18079 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18080 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18081 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18082 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18083 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18084 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18085 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18086 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18087 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18089 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18090 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18091 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18092 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18093 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18094 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18095 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18096 articles will be available when unplugged.
18098 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18099 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18100 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18101 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18102 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18103 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18104 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18105 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18107 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18108 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18109 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18110 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18111 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18112 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18113 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18114 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18115 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18117 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18118 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18119 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18120 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18121 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18123 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18124 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18125 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18126 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18127 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18128 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18129 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18130 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18131 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18132 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18133 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18134 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18135 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18137 @node Agent as Cache
18138 @subsection Agent as Cache
18140 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18141 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18142 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18143 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18144 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18145 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18146 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18147 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18148 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18150 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18151 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18152 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18153 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18154 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18157 @subsection Agent Expiry
18159 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18160 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18161 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18162 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18163 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18164 @cindex agent expiry
18165 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18168 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18169 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18170 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18171 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18172 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18173 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18174 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18175 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18177 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18178 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18179 synchronized with the group.
18181 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18182 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18184 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18185 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18186 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18187 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18188 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18189 be kept indefinitely.
18191 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18192 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18193 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18194 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18196 @node Agent Regeneration
18197 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18199 @cindex agent regeneration
18200 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18201 @cindex regeneration
18203 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18204 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18205 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18206 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18207 internal inconsistencies.
18209 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18210 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18211 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18212 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18213 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18214 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18216 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18217 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18218 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18219 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18220 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18221 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18223 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18224 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18225 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18226 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18227 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18228 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18231 @node Agent and IMAP
18232 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18234 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18235 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18236 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18237 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18239 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18240 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18241 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18242 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18244 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18245 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18246 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18247 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18249 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18250 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18251 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18252 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18253 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18254 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18256 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18257 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18258 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18259 in the group buffer.
18261 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18262 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18267 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18270 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18274 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18275 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18276 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18277 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18278 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18279 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18280 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18281 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18284 @node Outgoing Messages
18285 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18287 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18288 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18289 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18291 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18292 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18293 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18294 messages in the draft group.
18298 @node Agent Variables
18299 @subsection Agent Variables
18302 @item gnus-agent-directory
18303 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18304 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18305 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18307 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18308 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18309 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18310 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18311 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18314 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18315 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18316 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18318 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18319 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18320 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18322 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18323 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18324 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18326 @item gnus-agent-cache
18327 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18328 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18329 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18330 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18332 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18333 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18334 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18335 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18336 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18337 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18338 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18341 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18342 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18343 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18344 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18345 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18346 read. The default is t.
18348 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18349 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18350 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18351 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
18352 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
18354 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18355 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18356 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18357 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18358 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18359 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18360 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18361 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18362 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18363 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18364 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18365 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18368 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18369 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18370 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18371 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18372 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18373 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18374 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18375 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18376 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18378 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18379 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18380 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18381 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18382 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18383 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18385 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18386 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18387 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18388 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18389 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18394 @node Example Setup
18395 @subsection Example Setup
18397 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18398 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18399 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18402 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18403 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18404 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18406 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18407 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18408 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18410 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18411 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18413 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18414 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18415 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18418 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18419 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18422 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18423 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18424 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18425 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18426 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18429 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18430 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18431 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18432 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18433 back all the killed groups.)
18435 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18436 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18437 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18440 @node Batching Agents
18441 @subsection Batching Agents
18442 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18444 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18445 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18446 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18448 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18449 following incantation:
18453 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18457 @node Agent Caveats
18458 @subsection Agent Caveats
18460 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18461 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18465 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18467 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18468 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18469 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18471 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18472 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18474 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18478 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18479 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18480 locally stored articles.
18487 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18488 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18489 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18492 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18493 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18494 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18495 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18496 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18498 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18499 before generating the summary buffer.
18501 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18502 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18503 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18505 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18506 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18507 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18508 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18511 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18512 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18513 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18514 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18515 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18516 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18517 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18518 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18519 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18520 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18521 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18522 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18523 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18524 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18525 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18526 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18527 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18531 @node Summary Score Commands
18532 @section Summary Score Commands
18533 @cindex score commands
18535 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18536 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18537 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18538 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18539 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18541 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18542 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18543 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18544 score file the current one.
18546 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18551 @kindex V s (Summary)
18552 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18553 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18556 @kindex V S (Summary)
18557 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18558 Display the score of the current article
18559 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18562 @kindex V t (Summary)
18563 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18564 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18565 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18566 can use @kbd{q} to quit. @kbd{e} edits the corresponding score file.
18567 When point is on a string within the match element, @kbd{e} will try to
18568 bring you to this string in the score file.
18571 @kindex V w (Summary)
18572 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18573 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18576 @kindex V R (Summary)
18577 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18578 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18579 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18580 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18581 effect you're having.
18584 @kindex V c (Summary)
18585 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18586 Make a different score file the current
18587 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18590 @kindex V e (Summary)
18591 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18592 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18593 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18597 @kindex V f (Summary)
18598 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18599 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18600 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18603 @kindex V F (Summary)
18604 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18605 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18606 after editing score files.
18609 @kindex V C (Summary)
18610 @findex gnus-score-customize
18611 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18612 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18616 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18621 @kindex V m (Summary)
18622 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18623 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18624 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18627 @kindex V x (Summary)
18628 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18629 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18630 expunge all articles below this score
18631 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18634 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18635 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18638 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18639 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18643 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18644 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18646 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18647 keys are available:
18651 Score on the author name.
18654 Score on the subject line.
18657 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18660 Score on the @code{References} line.
18666 Score on the number of lines.
18669 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18672 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18673 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18676 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18677 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18678 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18687 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18693 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18694 what headers you are scoring on.
18706 Substring matching.
18709 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18738 Greater than number.
18743 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18744 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18745 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18750 Temporary score entry.
18753 Permanent score entry.
18756 Immediately scoring.
18760 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18761 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18762 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18766 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18767 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18768 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18769 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18771 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18772 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18773 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18774 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18775 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18777 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18778 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18779 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18780 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18781 current score file.
18783 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18784 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18785 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18788 @node Group Score Commands
18789 @section Group Score Commands
18790 @cindex group score commands
18792 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18797 @kindex W f (Group)
18798 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18799 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18800 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18801 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18805 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18807 @findex gnus-batch-score
18808 @cindex batch scoring
18810 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18814 @node Score Variables
18815 @section Score Variables
18816 @cindex score variables
18820 @item gnus-use-scoring
18821 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18822 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18823 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18825 @item gnus-kill-killed
18826 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18827 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18828 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18829 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18830 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18831 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18832 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18834 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18835 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18836 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18837 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18838 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18840 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18841 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18842 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18843 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18845 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18846 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18847 @cindex score cache
18848 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18849 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18850 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18851 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18852 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18853 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18854 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18857 @item gnus-save-score
18858 @vindex gnus-save-score
18859 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18860 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18861 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18863 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18864 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18865 across group visits.
18867 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18868 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18869 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18870 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18871 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18872 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18873 manually entered data.
18875 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18876 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18877 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18879 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18880 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18881 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18882 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18883 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18884 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18886 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18887 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18888 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18889 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18891 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18892 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18893 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18894 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18896 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18897 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18898 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18899 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18901 Predefined functions available are:
18904 @item gnus-score-find-single
18905 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18906 Only apply the group's own score file.
18908 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18909 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18910 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18911 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18912 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18913 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18914 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18915 then a regexp match is done.
18917 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18918 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18920 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18921 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18922 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18923 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18925 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18926 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18927 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18928 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18929 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18933 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18934 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18935 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18936 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18937 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18938 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18939 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18942 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18943 overall score file, you could use the value
18945 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18946 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18949 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18950 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18951 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18952 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18953 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18955 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18956 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18957 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18958 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18959 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18960 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18961 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18962 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18964 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18965 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18966 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18968 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18969 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18970 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
18971 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18972 threading---according to the current value of
18973 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
18974 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18975 simplified in this manner.
18980 @node Score File Format
18981 @section Score File Format
18982 @cindex score file format
18984 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18985 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18986 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18988 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18992 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18994 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18996 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18998 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19003 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19007 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19008 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19009 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19010 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19014 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19015 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19017 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19018 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19019 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19021 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19026 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19027 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19028 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19029 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19030 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19031 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19032 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19033 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19034 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19035 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19036 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19037 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19038 to articles that matches these score entries.
19040 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19041 score entry has one to four elements.
19045 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19046 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19050 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19051 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19052 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19053 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19054 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19055 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19058 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19059 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19060 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19061 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19062 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19065 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19066 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19067 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19068 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19071 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19072 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19073 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19074 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19075 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19076 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19077 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19078 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19079 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19080 instead, if you feel like.
19083 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19084 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19085 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19086 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19087 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19088 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19092 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19093 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19097 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19098 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19100 These predicates are true if
19103 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19106 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19107 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19114 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19115 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19116 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19117 it's not. I think.)
19119 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19120 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19121 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19122 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19125 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19126 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19127 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19128 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19129 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19130 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19131 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19135 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19136 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19137 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19138 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19139 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19140 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19141 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19142 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19145 @item Head, Body, All
19146 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19150 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19151 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19152 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19153 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19154 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19155 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19156 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19160 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19161 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19162 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19163 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19164 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19165 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19166 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19167 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19168 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19169 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19170 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19174 @cindex score file atoms
19176 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19177 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19180 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19181 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19183 @item mark-and-expunge
19184 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19185 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19188 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19189 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19190 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19191 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19192 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19195 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19196 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19199 @item exclude-files
19200 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19201 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19205 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19206 ignored when handling global score files.
19209 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19210 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19211 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19212 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19215 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19216 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19217 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19218 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19220 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19224 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19227 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19228 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19229 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19230 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19231 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19233 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19234 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19235 scoring rules exist.
19238 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19239 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19240 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19241 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19242 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19243 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19244 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19245 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19246 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19247 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19248 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19252 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19253 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19254 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19255 file for a number of groups.
19258 @cindex local variables
19259 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19260 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19261 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19262 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19263 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19268 @node Score File Editing
19269 @section Score File Editing
19271 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19272 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19273 with a mode for that.
19275 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19276 additional commands:
19281 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19282 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19283 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19284 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19287 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19288 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19289 Insert the current date in numerical format
19290 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19291 you were wondering.
19294 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19295 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19296 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19297 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19298 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19303 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19305 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19306 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19308 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
19309 e} to begin editing score files.
19312 @node Adaptive Scoring
19313 @section Adaptive Scoring
19314 @cindex adaptive scoring
19316 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19317 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19318 stupidity, to be precise.
19320 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19321 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19322 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19323 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19324 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19325 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19326 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19327 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19328 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19330 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19331 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19332 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19333 might look something like this:
19336 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19337 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19338 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19339 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19340 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19341 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19342 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19343 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19344 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19345 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19346 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19347 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19350 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19351 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19352 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19353 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19354 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19355 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19358 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19359 will be applied to each article.
19361 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19362 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19363 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19364 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19366 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19367 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19368 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19369 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19371 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19372 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19373 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19374 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19376 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19377 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19378 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19379 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19380 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19381 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19383 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19384 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19385 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19387 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19388 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19389 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19391 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19392 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19393 let you use different rules in different groups.
19395 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19396 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19397 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19400 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19401 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19402 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19403 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19404 the length of the match is less than
19405 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19406 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19409 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19410 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19411 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19412 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19413 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19416 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19417 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19418 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19419 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19420 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19423 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19424 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19425 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19426 score with 30 points.
19428 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19429 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19430 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19431 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19432 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19434 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19435 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19436 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19437 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19438 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19440 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19441 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19442 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19443 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19445 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19446 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19447 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19448 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19450 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19451 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19452 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19453 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19454 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19456 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19457 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19458 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19460 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19461 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19462 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19463 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19466 @node Home Score File
19467 @section Home Score File
19469 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19470 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19471 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19472 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19474 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19475 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19476 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19478 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19479 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19484 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19488 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19489 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19493 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19497 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19498 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19501 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19502 be used as the home score file.
19505 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19508 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19513 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19516 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19517 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19520 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19521 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19523 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19525 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19526 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19529 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19530 Other functions include
19533 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19534 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19535 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19536 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19540 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19541 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19542 their own home score files:
19545 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19546 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19547 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19548 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19549 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19552 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19553 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19554 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19555 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19556 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19558 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19559 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19560 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19561 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19562 precedence over this variable.
19565 @node Followups To Yourself
19566 @section Followups To Yourself
19568 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19569 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19570 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19571 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19572 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19573 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19577 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19578 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19579 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19582 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19583 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19584 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19588 @vindex message-sent-hook
19589 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19590 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19592 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19596 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19597 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19601 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19602 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19605 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19606 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19611 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19615 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19616 is system-dependent.
19619 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19620 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19621 @cindex scoring on other headers
19623 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19624 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19625 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19626 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19627 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19629 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19630 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19631 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19632 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19633 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19635 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19638 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19639 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19642 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19643 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19644 time if you have much mail.
19646 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19647 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19653 @section Scoring Tips
19654 @cindex scoring tips
19660 @cindex scoring crossposts
19661 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19662 the @code{Xref} header.
19664 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19667 @item Multiple crossposts
19668 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19669 more than, say, 3 groups:
19672 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19676 @item Matching on the body
19677 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19678 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19679 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19680 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19681 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19682 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19683 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19686 @item Marking as read
19687 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19688 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19689 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19693 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19695 @item Negated character classes
19696 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19697 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19698 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19702 @node Reverse Scoring
19703 @section Reverse Scoring
19704 @cindex reverse scoring
19706 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19707 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19708 like this in your score file:
19712 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19717 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19718 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19721 @node Global Score Files
19722 @section Global Score Files
19723 @cindex global score files
19725 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19726 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19727 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19729 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19730 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19731 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19733 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19734 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19735 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19736 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19737 files are applicable to which group.
19739 To use the score file
19740 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19741 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19745 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19746 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19747 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19750 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19752 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19753 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19754 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19755 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19757 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19758 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19760 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19761 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19762 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19763 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19764 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19765 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19767 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19773 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19775 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19777 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19779 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19780 lowered out of existence.
19782 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19783 articles completely.
19786 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19787 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19788 old articles for a long time.
19791 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19792 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19793 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19794 holding our breath yet?
19798 @section Kill Files
19801 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19802 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19803 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19805 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19806 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19807 files into score files.
19809 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19810 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19811 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19812 that isn't a very good idea.
19814 Normal kill files look like this:
19817 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19818 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19822 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19823 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19825 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19826 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19829 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19834 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19835 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19836 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19839 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19840 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19841 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19844 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19849 @kindex M-k (Group)
19850 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19851 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19854 @kindex M-K (Group)
19855 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19856 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19859 Kill file variables:
19862 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19863 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19864 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19865 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19866 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19867 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19868 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19870 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19871 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19872 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19873 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19876 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19877 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19878 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19879 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19880 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19881 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19882 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19883 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19884 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19886 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19887 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19888 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19893 @node Converting Kill Files
19894 @section Converting Kill Files
19896 @cindex converting kill files
19898 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19899 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19900 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19903 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19904 You can fetch it from
19905 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19907 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19908 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19909 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19917 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19918 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19920 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
19921 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19922 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19923 news articles generated every day.
19925 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19926 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19927 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19928 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19929 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19930 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19931 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19932 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19936 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19937 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19938 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19939 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19943 @node Using GroupLens
19944 @subsection Using GroupLens
19946 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
19947 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
19948 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
19950 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19954 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19955 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19956 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19957 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19959 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19960 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19961 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19962 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19964 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19965 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19966 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19970 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19971 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19972 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19973 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19974 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19975 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19978 @node Rating Articles
19979 @subsection Rating Articles
19981 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19982 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19983 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19984 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19987 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19992 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19993 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19994 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19997 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19998 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19999 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
20000 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
20001 threads in rec.humor.
20005 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
20006 the score of the article you're reading.
20011 @kindex n (GroupLens)
20012 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
20013 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
20016 @kindex , (GroupLens)
20017 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
20018 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
20022 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
20023 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
20026 @node Displaying Predictions
20027 @subsection Displaying Predictions
20029 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
20030 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
20031 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
20032 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
20033 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
20035 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
20036 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
20037 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
20038 regular Gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
20039 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
20040 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
20041 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
20042 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
20043 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
20044 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
20045 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
20046 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
20047 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
20049 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
20050 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
20051 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
20052 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
20054 The following are valid values for that variable.
20057 @item prediction-spot
20058 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
20061 @item confidence-interval
20062 A numeric confidence interval.
20064 @item prediction-bar
20065 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
20067 @item confidence-bar
20068 Numerical confidence.
20070 @item confidence-spot
20071 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20073 @item prediction-num
20074 Plain-old numeric value.
20076 @item confidence-plus-minus
20077 Prediction +/- confidence.
20082 @node GroupLens Variables
20083 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20087 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20088 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20089 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20090 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20093 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20094 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20097 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20098 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20100 @item grouplens-score-offset
20101 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20102 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20105 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20106 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20107 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20112 @node Advanced Scoring
20113 @section Advanced Scoring
20115 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20116 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20117 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20118 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20119 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20121 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20125 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20126 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20127 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20131 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20132 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20134 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20135 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20136 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20137 non-@code{nil} value.
20139 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20140 operator, and various match operators.
20147 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20148 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20149 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20154 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20155 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20156 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20161 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20162 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20166 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20167 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20168 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20169 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20170 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20171 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20172 the ancestry you want to go.
20174 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20175 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20176 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20177 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20178 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20181 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20182 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20184 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20185 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20188 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20189 when he's talking about Gnus:
20194 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20195 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20202 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20206 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20213 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20214 really don't want to read what he's written:
20218 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20219 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20223 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20224 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20225 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20232 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20233 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20234 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20235 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20239 The possibilities are endless.
20242 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20243 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20245 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20246 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20247 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20248 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20249 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20250 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20251 @samp{subject}) first.
20253 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20254 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20265 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20266 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20272 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20279 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20280 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20285 @section Score Decays
20286 @cindex score decays
20289 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20290 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20291 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20292 use them in any sensible way.
20294 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20295 @findex gnus-decay-score
20296 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20297 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20298 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20299 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20300 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20301 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20302 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20303 definition of that function:
20306 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20308 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20309 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20312 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
20314 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20316 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20319 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20320 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20321 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20322 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20326 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20329 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20332 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20336 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20337 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20338 the new score, which should be an integer.
20340 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20341 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20346 @include message.texi
20347 @chapter Emacs MIME
20348 @include emacs-mime.texi
20350 @include sieve.texi
20352 @c @include pgg.texi
20360 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20361 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20362 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20363 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20364 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20365 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20366 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20367 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20368 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20369 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20370 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20371 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20372 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20373 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20374 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20375 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20376 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20377 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20378 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20382 @node Process/Prefix
20383 @section Process/Prefix
20384 @cindex process/prefix convention
20386 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20387 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20389 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20390 command to be performed on.
20394 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20395 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20396 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20397 with the current one.
20399 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20400 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20401 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20403 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20404 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20407 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20408 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20410 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20413 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20414 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20415 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20416 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20418 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20419 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20420 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20421 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20422 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20423 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20424 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20425 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20427 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20428 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20429 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20430 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20431 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20435 @section Interactive
20436 @cindex interaction
20440 @item gnus-novice-user
20441 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20442 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20443 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20444 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20445 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20448 @item gnus-expert-user
20449 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20450 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20451 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20452 matter how strange.
20454 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20455 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20456 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20457 is @code{t} by default.
20459 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20460 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20461 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20466 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20467 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20468 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20470 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20471 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20472 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20473 rule of 900 to the current article.
20475 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20476 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20477 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20478 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20479 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20480 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20481 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20483 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20484 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20485 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20486 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20487 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20488 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20489 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20490 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20491 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20493 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20494 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20495 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20497 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20501 @node Formatting Variables
20502 @section Formatting Variables
20503 @cindex formatting variables
20505 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20506 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20507 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20508 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20509 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20512 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20513 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20514 lots of percentages everywhere.
20517 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20518 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20519 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20520 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20521 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20522 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20523 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20524 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20527 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20528 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20529 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20530 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20531 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20532 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20533 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20534 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20536 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20537 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20539 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20540 @findex gnus-update-format
20541 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20542 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20543 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20544 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20548 @node Formatting Basics
20549 @subsection Formatting Basics
20551 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20552 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20553 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20555 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20556 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20557 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20558 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20559 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20562 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20563 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20564 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20565 less than 4 characters wide.
20567 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20568 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20571 @node Mode Line Formatting
20572 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20574 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20575 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20576 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20577 with the following two differences:
20582 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20585 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20586 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20587 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20588 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20589 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20590 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20591 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20596 @node Advanced Formatting
20597 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20599 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20600 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20601 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20602 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20604 These are the valid modifiers:
20609 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20613 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20618 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20621 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20626 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20629 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20632 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20635 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20641 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20646 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20647 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20648 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20649 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20650 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20651 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20652 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20654 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20655 last operation, padding.
20657 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20658 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20659 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20660 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20661 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20662 the look of your lines.
20663 @xref{Compilation}.
20666 @node User-Defined Specs
20667 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20669 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20670 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20671 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20672 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20673 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20674 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20675 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20676 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20677 should protect against that.
20679 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20680 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20682 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20683 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20684 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20685 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20689 @node Formatting Fonts
20690 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20692 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20693 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20694 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20695 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20698 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20699 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20700 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20701 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20702 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20703 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20705 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20706 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20707 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20708 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20709 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20710 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20711 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20712 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20713 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20714 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20715 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20718 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20721 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20722 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20723 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20725 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20726 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20727 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20728 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20729 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20730 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20731 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20733 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20734 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20735 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20738 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20739 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20741 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20742 mode-line variables.
20744 @node Positioning Point
20745 @subsection Positioning Point
20747 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20748 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20749 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20751 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20753 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20754 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20755 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20757 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20758 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20759 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20764 @subsection Tabulation
20766 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20767 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20768 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20769 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20771 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20772 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20774 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20775 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20776 This is the soft tabulator.
20778 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20779 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20780 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20783 @node Wide Characters
20784 @subsection Wide Characters
20786 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20787 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20788 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20790 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20791 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20792 these countries, that's not true.
20794 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20795 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20796 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20797 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20801 @node Window Layout
20802 @section Window Layout
20803 @cindex window layout
20805 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20807 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20808 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20809 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20810 @code{t} by default.
20812 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20813 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20815 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20816 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20817 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20820 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20821 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20822 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20826 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20827 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20828 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20829 possible names is listed below.
20831 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20832 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20835 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20839 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20840 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20841 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20842 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20843 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20844 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20845 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20846 size spec per split.
20848 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20849 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20850 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20851 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20852 present) gets focus.
20854 Here's a more complicated example:
20857 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20858 (summary 0.25 point)
20859 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20863 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20864 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20865 occupy, not a percentage.
20867 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20868 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20869 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20870 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20871 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20874 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20877 (article (horizontal 1.0
20882 (summary 0.25 point)
20887 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20888 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20890 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20891 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20892 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20893 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20894 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20896 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20897 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20898 lines from the splits.
20900 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20905 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20906 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20907 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20908 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20909 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20910 size = number | frame-params
20911 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20915 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20916 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20917 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20918 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20920 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20921 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20922 @cindex window height
20923 @cindex window width
20924 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20925 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20926 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20927 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20928 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20929 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20931 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20932 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20933 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20934 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20936 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20937 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20938 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20939 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20940 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20941 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20942 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20943 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20944 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20945 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20946 configuration list.
20949 (gnus-configure-frame
20953 (article 0.3 point))
20961 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20962 @code{frame} split:
20965 (gnus-configure-frame
20968 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20970 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20971 (user-position . t)
20972 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20977 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20978 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20979 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20980 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20981 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20982 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20983 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20984 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20986 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20987 be found in its default value.
20989 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20990 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20991 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20995 (message (horizontal 1.0
20996 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20998 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21003 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21004 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21005 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21010 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21011 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21012 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21013 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21014 (name . "Message"))
21015 (message 1.0 point))))
21018 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21019 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21020 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21021 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21022 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21025 (gnus-add-configuration
21026 '(article (vertical 1.0
21028 (summary .25 point)
21032 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21033 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21034 Gnus has been loaded.
21036 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21037 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21038 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21039 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21040 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21042 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21043 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21044 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21047 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21051 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21052 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21067 (gnus-add-configuration
21070 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21072 (summary 0.16 point)
21075 (gnus-add-configuration
21078 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21079 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21085 @node Faces and Fonts
21086 @section Faces and Fonts
21091 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21092 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21093 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21098 @section Compilation
21099 @cindex compilation
21100 @cindex byte-compilation
21102 @findex gnus-compile
21104 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21105 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21106 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
21107 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
21108 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
21109 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21110 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21111 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21114 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21115 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21116 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21117 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
21118 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21121 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
21122 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
21123 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
21124 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
21125 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
21130 @section Mode Lines
21133 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21134 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21135 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21136 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21137 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21138 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21139 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21142 @cindex display-time
21144 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21145 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21146 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21147 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21148 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21149 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21150 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21151 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21154 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21156 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21157 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21159 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21160 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21161 (length display-time-string)))))
21164 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21165 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21166 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21167 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21168 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21171 @node Highlighting and Menus
21172 @section Highlighting and Menus
21174 @cindex highlighting
21177 @vindex gnus-visual
21178 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21179 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21180 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21183 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21184 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21187 @item group-highlight
21188 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21189 @item summary-highlight
21190 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21191 @item article-highlight
21192 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21194 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21196 Create menus in the group buffer.
21198 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21200 Create menus in the article buffer.
21202 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21204 Create menus in the server buffer.
21206 Create menus in the score buffers.
21208 Create menus in all buffers.
21211 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21212 buffers, you could say something like:
21215 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21218 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21221 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21224 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21225 in all Gnus buffers.
21227 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21230 @item gnus-mouse-face
21231 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21232 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21233 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21237 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21241 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21242 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21243 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21245 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21246 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21247 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21249 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21250 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21251 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21253 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21254 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21255 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21257 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21258 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21259 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21261 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21262 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21263 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21274 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21275 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21276 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21277 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21278 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21282 @vindex gnus-carpal
21283 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21284 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21285 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21290 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21291 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21292 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21294 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21295 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21296 Face used on buttons.
21298 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21299 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21300 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21302 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21303 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21304 Buttons in the group buffer.
21306 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21307 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21308 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21310 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21311 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21312 Buttons in the server buffer.
21314 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21315 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21316 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21319 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21320 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21321 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21329 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21330 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21331 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21332 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21333 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21335 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21336 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21337 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21339 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21340 been idle for thirty minutes:
21343 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21346 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21350 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21353 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21354 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21355 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21357 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21358 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21359 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21360 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21362 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21363 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21364 @var{idle} minutes.
21366 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21367 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21370 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21371 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21372 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21374 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21375 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21376 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21377 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21379 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21380 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21382 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21384 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21387 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21388 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21389 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21390 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21391 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21392 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21393 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21394 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21395 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21396 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21397 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21399 @findex gnus-demon-init
21400 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21401 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21402 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21403 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21404 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21406 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21407 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21408 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21417 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21418 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21420 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21421 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21422 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21423 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21426 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21427 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21428 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21429 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21431 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21432 this will make spam disappear.
21434 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21437 @item gnus-use-nocem
21438 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21439 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21442 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21443 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21444 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21447 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21448 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21451 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21452 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21453 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21454 people you want to listen to. The default is
21456 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21457 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21459 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21461 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21462 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21464 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21465 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21466 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21467 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21468 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21469 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21470 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21471 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21472 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21473 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21475 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21476 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21479 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21482 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21483 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21486 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21489 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21492 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21493 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21495 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21496 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21497 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21498 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21500 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21501 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21504 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21506 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21514 This might be dangerous, though.
21516 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21517 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21518 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21519 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21521 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21522 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21523 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21524 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21525 might then see old spam.
21527 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21528 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21529 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21530 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21531 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21534 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21535 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21536 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21537 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21541 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21542 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21543 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21544 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21551 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21552 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21553 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21555 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21556 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21557 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21558 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21559 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21560 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21561 @code{undo} function.
21563 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21564 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21565 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21566 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21567 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21568 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21569 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21570 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21571 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21572 never be totally undoable.
21574 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21575 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21577 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21578 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21579 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21580 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21584 @node Predicate Specifiers
21585 @section Predicate Specifiers
21586 @cindex predicate specifiers
21588 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21589 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21590 to type all that much.
21592 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21597 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21598 gnus-article-unread-p)
21601 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21602 functions all take one parameter.
21604 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21605 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21606 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21607 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21612 @section Moderation
21615 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21616 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21617 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21620 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21624 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21627 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21629 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21634 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21635 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21636 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21639 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21640 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21643 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21644 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21648 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21651 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21652 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21656 @node Image Enhancements
21657 @section Image Enhancements
21659 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21660 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21661 taken advantage of that.
21664 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21665 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21666 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21667 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21668 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21676 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21677 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21678 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21682 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21683 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21684 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21692 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21693 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21694 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21695 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21697 The variable that controls this is the
21698 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21699 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21700 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21701 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21702 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21704 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21705 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21706 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21707 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21710 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21711 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21712 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21713 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21714 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21715 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21716 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21717 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21719 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21722 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21723 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21725 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21726 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21727 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21728 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21729 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21730 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21731 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21732 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21733 header data as a string.
21735 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21736 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21737 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21738 randomly generated data.
21740 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21741 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21742 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21743 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21744 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21746 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21747 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21750 (setq message-required-news-headers
21751 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21752 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21755 Using the last function would be something like this:
21758 (setq message-required-news-headers
21759 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21760 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21761 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21762 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21770 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21772 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21773 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21774 represent the author of the message.
21777 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21778 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21779 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21782 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21783 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21785 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21786 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21787 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21789 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21790 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21791 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21792 converts the file to Face format by using the
21793 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21795 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21796 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21799 (setq message-required-news-headers
21800 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21801 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21802 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21807 @subsection Smileys
21812 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21817 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21818 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21820 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21821 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21824 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21827 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21828 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21829 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21830 text and maps that to file names.
21832 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21833 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21834 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21835 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21836 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21839 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21844 @item smiley-data-directory
21845 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21846 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21848 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21849 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21850 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21864 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21865 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21866 over your shoulder as you read news.
21868 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21877 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21878 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21879 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21880 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21881 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21882 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21883 @code{GIF} formats.
21886 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21887 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21888 point your Web browser at
21889 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21891 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21892 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21894 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21895 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21898 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21902 @item gnus-picon-databases
21903 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21904 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21905 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21906 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21907 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21909 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21910 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21911 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21912 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21914 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21915 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21916 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21917 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21919 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21920 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21921 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21922 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21923 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21925 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21926 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21927 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21928 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
21934 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21937 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21938 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21939 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21940 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21941 unusual directory structure.
21943 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21944 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21945 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21946 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21948 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21949 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21950 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21951 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21952 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21953 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21955 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21956 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21957 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21962 @subsubsection Toolbar
21966 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21967 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21968 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21969 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21970 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21972 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21973 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21974 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21976 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21977 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21978 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21980 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21981 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21982 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21993 @node Fuzzy Matching
21994 @section Fuzzy Matching
21995 @cindex fuzzy matching
21997 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21998 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22000 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22001 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22002 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22004 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22005 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22006 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22007 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22008 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22011 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22012 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22016 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22018 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22019 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22020 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22021 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22022 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22023 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22024 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22025 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22028 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22029 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22030 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22031 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22032 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22033 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22035 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22038 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22039 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22040 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22041 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22042 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22043 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22046 @node The problem of spam
22047 @subsection The problem of spam
22049 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22050 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22052 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22054 First, some background on spam.
22056 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22057 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
22058 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
22059 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
22060 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
22061 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
22062 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
22063 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22065 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22066 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22067 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22068 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22069 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22070 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22071 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22072 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22073 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22076 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
22077 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
22078 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
22079 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
22080 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
22081 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
22082 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
22083 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
22084 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
22085 mail can be useful.
22087 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22088 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22089 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22090 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22091 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into
22092 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the
22093 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
22094 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
22095 message is spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22097 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22098 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22099 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22100 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22101 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22102 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
22103 because of the incident.
22105 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22106 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22107 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22108 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22109 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22110 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22111 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22112 to store the database of spam analyses.
22114 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22115 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22119 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22121 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22122 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22124 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22125 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22126 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22127 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22128 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22129 part of the mail address.)
22132 (setq message-default-news-headers
22133 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22136 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22137 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22141 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22142 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22143 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22148 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22149 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22150 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22151 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22153 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22154 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22155 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22156 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22157 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22158 your fancy split rule in this way:
22163 (to "larsi" "misc")
22167 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22168 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22169 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22170 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22171 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22173 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22174 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22175 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22176 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22181 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22182 @cindex SpamAssassin
22183 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22186 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
22187 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22188 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22189 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22190 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22191 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22192 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22194 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22195 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22196 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22197 Specifiers}) follow.
22201 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22205 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22208 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22209 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22210 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22213 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22217 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22220 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22221 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22225 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22226 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22227 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22228 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22231 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22233 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22236 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22237 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22241 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22242 downloaded by default. You need to set
22243 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
22246 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22247 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22248 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22251 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22252 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22254 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22255 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22256 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22260 @subsection Hashcash
22263 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22264 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22265 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22266 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22267 in smaller communities.
22269 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22270 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22271 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22272 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22273 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22274 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
22275 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22276 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22277 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22278 one of them separately.
22281 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22282 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22283 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22284 header. For more details, and for the external application
22285 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22286 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22287 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22289 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22293 (require 'hashcash)
22294 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22297 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22298 contrib directory or at
22299 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22301 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22305 @item hashcash-default-payment
22306 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22307 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22308 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22309 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22311 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22312 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22313 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22314 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22315 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22316 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22317 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22318 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22319 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22323 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22327 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22328 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22329 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22330 a useful contribution, however.
22332 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22333 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22334 @cindex spam filtering
22337 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22338 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22339 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22340 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22343 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22344 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22345 @code{spam.el} hooks:
22351 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22353 You get the following keyboard commands:
22363 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22364 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22366 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22367 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22368 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22369 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22375 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22376 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22378 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22384 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22385 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22388 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22389 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22390 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22391 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22392 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22393 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22394 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22395 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22396 will be detected later.
22398 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22399 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22400 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22401 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22402 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22403 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22404 by customizing the corresponding variable
22405 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22406 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22407 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22408 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22409 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22410 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22411 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22414 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22416 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22417 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22418 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22419 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22420 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22421 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22422 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22423 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22424 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22425 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22426 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22427 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22428 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22430 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22431 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22432 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22433 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22434 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22435 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22436 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22437 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22440 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22441 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22442 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22446 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22447 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22451 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22452 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22453 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22454 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22455 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22456 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22459 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22460 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22461 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22462 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22463 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22464 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22465 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22466 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22467 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22468 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
22469 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
22470 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
22471 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22472 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22474 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22475 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22477 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22478 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22479 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22480 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22481 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22483 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22484 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22485 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22486 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22487 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22490 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22491 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22492 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22493 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22494 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22495 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22496 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22497 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
22498 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22499 the spam articles are only expired.
22501 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22502 must add the following to your fancy split list
22503 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22509 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22510 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22511 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22513 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22514 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22515 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22516 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}.
22518 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22519 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers} or @samp{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22522 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22523 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22526 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22527 (any "ding" "ding")
22533 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22534 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22535 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22536 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22537 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22538 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22540 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22541 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22542 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22545 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22546 ;;; all spam detected by spam-use-regex-headers goes to "regex-spam"
22547 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22548 (any "ding" "ding")
22549 ;;; all other spam detected by spam-split goes to spam-split-group
22555 Basically, this lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks
22556 depending on your particular needs, and to target the results of those
22557 checks to a particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail
22558 into all the spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that
22559 messages to mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have
22560 resource-intensive blackhole checks performed on them. You could also
22561 specify different spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap
22564 You still have to have specific checks such as
22565 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you specifically
22566 invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is that when
22567 loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on
22568 what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
22570 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22572 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22573 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22574 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22575 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22576 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22577 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22578 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22579 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22581 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22583 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22584 into a back end. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22585 longer spam or ham.}
22587 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22588 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22591 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22592 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22595 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22596 * BBDB Whitelists::
22597 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22598 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22600 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22602 * ifile spam filtering::
22603 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22605 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22608 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22609 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22610 @cindex spam filtering
22611 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22612 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22615 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22617 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22618 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22619 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22620 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22625 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22627 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22628 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22629 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22630 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22631 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22635 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22637 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22638 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22639 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22643 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22645 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22646 customizing the group parameters or the
22647 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22648 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22649 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22653 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22655 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22656 customizing the group parameters or the
22657 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22658 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22659 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22660 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22661 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22665 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22666 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22667 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22668 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22669 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22671 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22672 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22673 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22674 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22676 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22677 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22678 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22679 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22680 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22681 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22683 @node BBDB Whitelists
22684 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22685 @cindex spam filtering
22686 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22687 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22690 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22692 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22693 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22694 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22695 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22696 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22697 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22698 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22702 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22704 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22705 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22706 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22707 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22708 classified as spammers.
22712 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22714 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22715 customizing the group parameters or the
22716 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22717 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22718 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22719 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22720 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22724 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
22725 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
22726 @cindex spam reporting
22727 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22728 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22731 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
22733 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22734 customizing the group parameters or the
22735 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22736 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22737 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
22740 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
22744 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
22746 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
22747 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
22748 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
22749 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
22750 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
22755 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22756 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22757 @cindex spam filtering
22758 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
22761 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
22763 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22764 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
22765 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
22766 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
22767 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
22768 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
22769 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
22775 @subsubsection Blackholes
22776 @cindex spam filtering
22777 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22780 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22782 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22783 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22784 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22785 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22786 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22787 contains outdated servers.
22789 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22790 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22791 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
22792 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
22793 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
22794 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22798 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22800 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22804 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22806 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22807 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
22811 @defvar spam-use-dig
22813 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22814 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22818 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22819 ham processor for blackholes.
22821 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22822 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22823 @cindex spam filtering
22824 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22827 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22829 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22830 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22831 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22832 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22833 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22834 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22838 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22840 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22841 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22845 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22847 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22848 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22852 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22853 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22856 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22857 @cindex spam filtering
22858 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22861 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22863 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22866 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22867 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22868 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22869 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22870 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22871 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22873 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
22874 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
22877 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22878 processing will be turned off.
22880 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22884 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22886 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22887 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22888 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22889 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22890 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22891 installation documents for details.
22893 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22897 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22898 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22899 customizing the group parameters or the
22900 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22901 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22902 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22905 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22906 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22907 customizing the group parameters or the
22908 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22909 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22910 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22911 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22912 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22915 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22917 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22918 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22919 database directory.
22923 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
22924 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22925 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22926 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22927 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22928 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22930 @node ifile spam filtering
22931 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22932 @cindex spam filtering
22933 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22936 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22938 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
22939 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22943 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22945 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22946 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22947 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22951 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22953 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22954 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22955 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22958 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22960 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22961 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22965 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22966 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22967 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22968 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22971 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22972 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22973 @cindex spam filtering
22974 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22978 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22980 @defvar spam-use-stat
22982 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22983 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22987 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22988 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22989 customizing the group parameters or the
22990 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22991 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22992 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22995 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22996 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22997 customizing the group parameters or the
22998 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22999 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23000 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23001 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23002 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23005 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23006 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23007 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23008 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23009 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23012 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23013 @cindex spam filtering
23017 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23018 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23019 installed separately.
23021 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23022 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23023 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23024 mail as a spam mail or not.
23026 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23027 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23028 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23030 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23031 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23033 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23034 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23035 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23036 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23037 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23038 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23039 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23040 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23044 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23045 spam-split-group "Junk"
23046 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23047 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23048 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23051 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23052 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23056 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23057 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23058 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23062 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23063 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23064 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23065 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23066 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23067 database to live somewhere special, set
23068 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23071 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23072 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23073 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23074 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23075 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23076 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23077 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23078 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23079 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23080 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23082 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23083 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23084 customizing the group parameter or the
23085 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23086 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23087 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23090 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23091 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23092 customizing the group parameter or the
23093 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23094 to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23095 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23096 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23097 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23100 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of an group that has been
23101 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23104 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23106 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle)))
23108 For this group the @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle} is
23109 installed. If the group contains spam message (e.g. because SpamOracle
23110 has not had enough sample messages yet) and the user marks some
23111 messages as spam messages, these messages will be processed by
23112 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}. This processor sends
23113 the messages to SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23115 @node Extending the spam elisp package
23116 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
23117 @cindex spam filtering
23118 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23119 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23121 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23122 incoming mail, provide the following:
23130 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23131 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23136 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23138 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23143 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23144 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
23145 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
23147 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23148 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23149 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23153 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23160 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23161 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23164 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23165 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23166 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23168 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23169 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23170 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23178 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
23179 (spam-generic-register-routine
23180 ;; @r{the spam function}
23182 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23183 (when (stringp from)
23184 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
23185 ;; @r{the ham function}
23188 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
23189 (spam-generic-register-routine
23190 ;; @r{the spam function}
23192 ;; @r{the ham function}
23194 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23195 (when (stringp from)
23196 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
23199 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
23200 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
23201 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
23202 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
23203 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
23204 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
23209 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23210 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23211 @cindex Paul Graham
23212 @cindex Graham, Paul
23213 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23214 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23215 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23217 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23218 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23219 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23220 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23221 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23222 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23223 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23224 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23225 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23228 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23229 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23230 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23231 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23232 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23233 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23234 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23235 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23237 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23238 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23239 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23240 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23241 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23244 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23245 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23246 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23249 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23250 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23252 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23253 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23254 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23255 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23256 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23258 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23259 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23260 per mail. Use the following:
23262 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23263 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23264 is treated as one spam mail.
23267 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23268 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23269 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23272 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23273 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23274 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23275 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23276 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23277 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23279 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23280 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23281 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23282 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23283 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23286 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23287 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23288 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23289 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23292 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23293 reset the dictionary.
23295 @defun spam-stat-reset
23296 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23299 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23300 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23301 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23302 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23303 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23304 only non-spam mails.
23306 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23307 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23308 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23311 @defun spam-stat-save
23312 Save the dictionary.
23315 @defvar spam-stat-file
23316 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23317 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23320 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23321 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23323 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23324 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23327 (require 'spam-stat)
23331 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23334 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23335 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23336 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23337 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23339 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23340 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23341 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23342 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23345 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23346 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23350 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23351 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23354 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23355 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23356 expression are considered potential spam.
23359 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23360 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23361 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23365 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23366 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23367 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23368 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23369 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23372 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23373 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23374 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23378 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23379 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23380 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23381 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23382 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23386 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23387 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23388 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23389 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23394 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23395 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23397 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23399 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23400 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23401 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23404 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23405 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23406 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23409 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23410 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23411 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23412 already been processed as non-spam.
23415 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23416 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23417 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23418 been processed as spam.
23421 @defun spam-stat-save
23422 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23423 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23426 @defun spam-stat-load
23427 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23428 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23431 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23432 Return the spam score for a word.
23435 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23436 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23439 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23440 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23441 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23444 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23445 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23448 (require 'spam-stat)
23452 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23455 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23456 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23457 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23458 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23459 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23460 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23461 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23462 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23463 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23464 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23465 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23466 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23467 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23468 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23471 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23474 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23475 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23476 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23477 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23478 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23479 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23482 @node Various Various
23483 @section Various Various
23489 @item gnus-home-directory
23490 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23491 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23492 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23494 @item gnus-directory
23495 @vindex gnus-directory
23496 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23497 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23498 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23500 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
23501 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23502 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23503 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23505 @item gnus-default-directory
23506 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23507 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23508 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23509 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23510 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23511 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23512 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23515 @vindex gnus-verbose
23516 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23517 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23518 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23519 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23520 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23522 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23523 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23524 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23525 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23527 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23528 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23529 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23530 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23531 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23532 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23533 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23534 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23535 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23536 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23538 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23539 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23540 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
23541 read when doing the operation described above.
23543 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23544 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23546 @cindex invalid characters in file names
23547 @cindex characters in file names
23548 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
23549 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
23550 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
23554 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23559 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23560 Windows (phooey) systems.
23562 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23563 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23564 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23565 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23566 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23568 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23569 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23570 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23571 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23572 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23574 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23575 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23576 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23578 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23579 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23581 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23582 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23583 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23584 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23587 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23595 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23596 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23598 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23600 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23606 Not because of victories @*
23609 but for the common sunshine,@*
23611 the largess of the spring.
23615 but for the day's work done@*
23616 as well as I was able;@*
23617 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23618 but at the common table.@*
23623 @chapter Appendices
23626 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23627 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23628 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23629 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23630 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23631 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23632 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23633 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23634 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
23641 @cindex installing under XEmacs
23643 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23644 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23645 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
23646 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
23647 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
23648 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
23655 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23656 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23658 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23659 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23660 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23661 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23662 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23664 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23665 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23666 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23667 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23668 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23669 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23671 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23672 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23673 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23674 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23677 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23678 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23679 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23680 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23681 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23682 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23683 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23684 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23685 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23689 @node Gnus Versions
23690 @subsection Gnus Versions
23692 @cindex September Gnus
23694 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23695 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23698 @cindex Gnus versions
23700 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23701 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23702 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23704 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23705 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23707 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23708 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23710 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23711 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23713 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23714 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23717 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23719 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23720 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23721 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23722 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23723 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23724 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23727 @node Other Gnus Versions
23728 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23731 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23732 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23733 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
23734 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
23736 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23737 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23738 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23739 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23746 What's the point of Gnus?
23748 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23749 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23750 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23751 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23752 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23753 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23754 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23755 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23756 keep track of millions of people who post?
23758 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23759 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23760 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23761 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23762 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23763 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23764 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23765 every one of you to explore and invent.
23767 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23768 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23771 @node Compatibility
23772 @subsection Compatibility
23774 @cindex compatibility
23775 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23776 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23777 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23782 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23786 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23789 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23792 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23793 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23794 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23795 important variables have their values copied into their global
23796 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23797 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23799 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23800 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23801 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23802 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23803 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23807 @cindex highlighting
23808 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23809 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23810 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23811 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23812 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23813 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23816 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23817 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23818 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23819 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23821 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23822 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23823 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23824 to stop doing it the old way.
23826 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23828 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23830 @cindex reporting bugs
23832 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23833 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23834 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23836 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23837 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23838 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23839 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23844 @subsection Conformity
23846 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23847 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23855 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23859 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23861 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23862 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23863 We do have some breaches to this one.
23869 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23870 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23871 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23872 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23873 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23878 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23879 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23880 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23881 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23883 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23884 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
23885 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
23887 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23888 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23890 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23893 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
23894 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
23895 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
23896 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
23897 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
23900 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23901 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23902 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23903 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23905 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23906 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
23908 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23909 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
23910 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
23911 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
23912 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
23913 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
23914 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
23915 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
23919 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23920 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23925 @subsection Emacsen
23931 Gnus should work on:
23939 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23943 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23944 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23945 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23946 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23947 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23949 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23950 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23951 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23955 @node Gnus Development
23956 @subsection Gnus Development
23958 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23959 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23960 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23961 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23962 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23963 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23964 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23965 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23967 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23968 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23969 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23970 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23971 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23974 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23975 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23976 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23977 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23978 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23980 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23981 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23982 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23983 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23984 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23985 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23986 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23987 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23988 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23989 can't be assumed to do so.
23994 @subsection Contributors
23995 @cindex contributors
23997 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23998 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23999 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24000 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24001 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24002 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24003 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24004 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24005 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24006 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24008 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24014 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24017 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24018 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24019 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24020 functionality and stuff.
24023 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24024 well as numerous other things).
24027 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24030 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24033 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24036 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24039 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24040 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24043 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24046 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
24047 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24050 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24053 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24056 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24059 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24062 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24063 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24066 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24069 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24072 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24075 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24079 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24082 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24085 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24088 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24089 well as autoconf support.
24093 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24094 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24096 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24111 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24113 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24117 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24127 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24142 Massimo Campostrini,
24147 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24148 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24152 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24155 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24161 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24166 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24170 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24178 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24180 Michelangelo Grigni,
24184 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24186 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24188 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24195 François Felix Ingrand,
24196 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24197 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24199 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24209 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24210 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24212 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24213 Thor Kristoffersen,
24216 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24234 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24235 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24242 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24247 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24251 John McClary Prevost,
24257 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24262 Christian von Roques,
24265 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24272 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24274 Randal L. Schwartz,
24288 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24293 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24313 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24314 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24315 (550kB and counting).
24317 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24320 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24321 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24325 @subsection New Features
24326 @cindex new features
24329 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24330 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24331 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24332 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24333 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24334 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24337 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24338 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24339 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24342 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24344 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24349 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24350 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24353 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24354 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24357 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24360 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24361 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24362 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24365 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24366 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24367 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24368 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24371 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24372 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24375 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24376 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24377 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24380 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24381 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24384 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24385 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24386 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24389 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24390 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24391 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24394 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24395 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24398 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24399 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24402 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24403 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24406 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24407 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24410 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24411 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24414 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24415 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24418 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24421 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24422 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24425 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24426 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24429 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24430 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24433 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24436 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24437 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24440 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24444 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24448 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24449 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24452 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24458 @node September Gnus
24459 @subsubsection September Gnus
24463 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24467 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24472 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24473 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24477 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24478 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24482 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24486 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24487 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24490 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24494 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24497 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24500 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24503 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24507 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24508 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24511 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24515 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24519 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24523 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24527 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24530 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24531 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24534 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24538 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24539 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
24542 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
24545 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
24546 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
24547 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24550 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
24554 The Gnus cache is much faster.
24557 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
24561 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24562 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24565 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24566 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24569 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24570 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24573 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24574 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24575 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24578 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24579 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24582 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24585 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24588 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24591 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24594 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24595 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24598 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24602 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24605 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24610 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24613 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24617 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24620 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24624 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24627 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24630 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24631 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24634 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24635 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24639 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24640 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24643 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24647 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24648 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24651 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24654 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24658 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24662 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24663 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24666 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24670 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24671 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24674 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24675 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24678 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24682 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24685 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24688 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24694 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24696 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24700 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24707 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24710 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24711 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24714 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24715 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24719 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24720 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24723 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24726 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24727 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24730 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24734 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24735 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24739 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24740 Server Internals}).
24743 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24747 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24750 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24751 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24754 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24755 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24756 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24759 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24760 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24763 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24764 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24767 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24771 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24772 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24775 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24776 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24779 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24783 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24786 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24790 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24791 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24794 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24795 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24798 A new command for reading collections of documents
24799 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24800 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24803 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24807 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
24808 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24811 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24812 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24813 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24816 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24817 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24821 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24825 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24829 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24834 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24838 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24842 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24843 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24846 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24852 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24854 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24859 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24860 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
24861 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
24864 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24865 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24866 group, which is created automatically.
24869 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24873 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24876 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24877 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24880 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24884 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24887 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24888 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24891 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24894 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
24898 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24899 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24902 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24903 control over simplification.
24906 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24909 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24913 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24916 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24919 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24920 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24921 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24924 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24925 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24928 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24932 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24933 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24936 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24937 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
24940 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24944 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24947 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24950 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24951 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24954 A new function for citing in Message has been
24955 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24958 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24961 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24965 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24966 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24969 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24970 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24973 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24976 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24980 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24981 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24983 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24988 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24989 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24991 If you used procmail like in
24994 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24995 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24996 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24997 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25000 this now has changed to
25004 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25008 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25011 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25012 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25015 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25016 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25019 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25020 called to position point.
25023 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25024 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25027 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25028 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25031 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25032 subtly different manner.
25035 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25036 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25037 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25040 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25045 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25048 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25053 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25054 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25057 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25059 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25060 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25061 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25062 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25063 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25064 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25065 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25066 isn't save in general.
25071 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25072 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25073 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25074 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25079 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} installs key bindings in dired buffers to send
25080 a file as an attachment (@kbd{C-c C-a}), open a file using the appropriate
25081 mailcap entry (@kbd{C-c C-l}), and print a file using the mailcap entry
25082 (@kbd{C-c P}). It is enabled with
25084 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25088 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25091 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25096 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25097 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25099 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25100 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25104 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25105 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25108 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25110 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25111 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25116 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25117 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25118 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25121 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25122 decompressed when activated.
25125 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25126 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25129 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25132 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25133 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25136 Warn about email replies to news
25138 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25139 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25143 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25144 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25148 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25149 opposed to old but unread messages).
25152 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25153 Gcc articles as read.
25156 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25159 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25160 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25163 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25164 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25167 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25168 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25171 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25172 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25175 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25177 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25178 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25179 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25180 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25183 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25185 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25186 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25187 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25188 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25189 the second parameter.
25191 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25192 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25193 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25194 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25195 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25196 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25197 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25198 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25199 cycle used under Unix systems.
25201 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25205 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25207 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25208 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25209 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25210 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25211 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25215 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25217 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25218 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25219 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25220 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25224 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25226 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25227 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25228 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25229 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25231 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25232 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25233 message cited below.
25236 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25239 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25241 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25242 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25243 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25244 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25245 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25248 (setq gnus-parameters
25250 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25251 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25252 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25253 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25257 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25259 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25263 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25265 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25266 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25267 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25268 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25269 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25270 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25271 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25272 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25273 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25276 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25278 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25279 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25280 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25281 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25282 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25283 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25286 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25287 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25291 Improved anti-spam features.
25293 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25294 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25295 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25296 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25297 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25300 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25303 Face headers handling.
25306 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25307 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25310 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25313 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25315 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25316 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25317 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25318 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25319 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25320 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25321 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25322 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25323 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25326 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25328 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25329 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25330 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25331 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25332 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25333 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25334 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25335 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25336 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25337 was inserted directly.
25340 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25342 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25343 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25349 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25350 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25351 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25352 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25353 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25354 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25355 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25356 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25357 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25358 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25359 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25360 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25361 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25362 is not needed any more.
25365 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25367 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25368 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25369 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25370 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25371 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25375 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25377 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25378 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25381 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25383 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25384 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25385 lisp directory into load-path.
25387 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25388 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25391 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25393 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25396 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25398 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25399 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25400 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25401 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25404 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25406 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25408 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25409 'bbdb-complete-name)
25413 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25415 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25416 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25417 local files as external parts.
25419 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25420 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25421 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25422 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25423 that support editing.
25426 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25428 The default value is determined from the
25429 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25430 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25431 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25434 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25436 Add a new format of match like
25438 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25439 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25441 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25443 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25444 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25448 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25450 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25451 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25452 need add those two headers too.
25455 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25457 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25458 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25459 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25462 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25463 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25464 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25468 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25470 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25473 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25475 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25478 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25480 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25481 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25482 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25485 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25487 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25491 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25493 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25494 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
25495 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25496 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25497 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25498 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25499 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25500 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25503 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25505 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25506 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25507 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25508 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25509 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25512 Extended format specs.
25514 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25515 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25516 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25517 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25518 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25519 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25522 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25524 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25525 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25526 out other articles.
25528 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25530 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25531 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25532 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25533 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
25536 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
25538 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
25539 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
25540 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
25543 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
25545 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
25546 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
25547 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
25548 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
25549 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
25550 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
25551 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
25552 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
25553 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
25554 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
25555 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
25558 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
25559 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
25562 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
25563 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
25564 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
25565 message, Message Manual}).
25568 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
25569 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
25571 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
25572 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
25573 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
25575 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
25579 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
25580 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
25582 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
25583 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
25584 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
25585 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
25588 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
25591 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
25594 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
25595 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
25598 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
25600 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
25601 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
25602 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
25603 invalidate the digital signature.
25610 @section The Manual
25614 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
25615 either @code{texi2dvi}
25617 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
25618 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
25620 to get what you hold in your hands now.
25622 The following conventions have been used:
25627 This is a @samp{string}
25630 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
25633 This is a @file{file}
25636 This is a @code{symbol}
25640 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
25644 (setq flargnoze "yes")
25647 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
25650 (setq flumphel 'yes)
25653 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
25654 ever get them confused.
25658 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
25659 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
25660 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
25661 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
25662 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
25663 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
25664 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
25670 @node On Writing Manuals
25671 @section On Writing Manuals
25673 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
25674 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
25675 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
25676 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
25677 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
25678 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
25681 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
25682 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
25683 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
25686 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
25687 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
25692 @section Terminology
25694 @cindex terminology
25699 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
25700 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
25701 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
25702 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
25703 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
25707 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
25708 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
25709 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
25710 not posting, and replying is not following up.
25714 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
25718 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
25723 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
25724 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
25725 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
25726 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
25727 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
25728 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
25729 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
25730 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
25731 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
25734 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
25735 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
25736 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
25737 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
25738 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
25739 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
25741 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
25742 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
25743 access the articles.
25745 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
25746 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
25747 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
25752 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
25753 default, way of getting news.
25757 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
25758 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
25763 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
25764 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
25768 A message that has been posted as news.
25771 @cindex mail message
25772 A message that has been mailed.
25776 A mail message or news article
25780 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
25785 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
25790 A line from the head of an article.
25794 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
25795 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
25797 @item @acronym{NOV}
25798 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
25799 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
25800 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
25801 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
25802 normal @sc{head} format.
25806 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
25807 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
25808 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
25809 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
25810 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
25811 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
25813 @item killed groups
25814 @cindex killed groups
25815 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
25816 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
25818 @item zombie groups
25819 @cindex zombie groups
25820 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
25823 @cindex active file
25824 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
25825 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
25826 is rather large, as you might surmise.
25829 @cindex bogus groups
25830 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
25831 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
25832 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
25835 @cindex activating groups
25836 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
25837 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
25838 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
25842 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
25844 @item select method
25845 @cindex select method
25846 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
25849 @item virtual server
25850 @cindex virtual server
25851 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
25852 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
25853 whole is a virtual server.
25857 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
25858 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
25861 @item ephemeral groups
25862 @cindex ephemeral groups
25863 @cindex temporary groups
25864 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
25865 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
25866 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
25869 @cindex solid groups
25870 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
25871 group buffer are solid groups.
25873 @item sparse articles
25874 @cindex sparse articles
25875 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
25876 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
25880 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
25881 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
25885 @cindex thread root
25886 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
25887 articles in the thread.
25891 An article that has responses.
25895 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
25899 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
25900 specified by RFC 1153.
25903 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
25904 @cindex mail sorting
25905 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
25906 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
25907 incorrectly called mail filtering.
25913 @node Customization
25914 @section Customization
25915 @cindex general customization
25917 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
25918 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
25919 for some quite common situations.
25922 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
25923 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
25924 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
25925 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
25929 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
25930 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
25932 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
25933 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
25934 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
25938 @item gnus-read-active-file
25939 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
25940 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
25941 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
25942 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
25943 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
25945 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
25946 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
25947 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
25948 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
25952 @node Slow Terminal Connection
25953 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
25955 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
25956 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
25957 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
25961 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
25962 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
25963 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
25964 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
25965 horizontal and vertical recentering.
25967 @item gnus-visible-headers
25968 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
25969 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
25970 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
25971 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
25973 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
25975 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
25976 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
25977 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
25980 @item gnus-use-full-window
25981 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
25982 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
25983 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
25984 want to read them anyway.
25986 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
25987 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
25991 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
25992 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
25993 lines, which might save some time.
25997 @node Little Disk Space
25998 @subsection Little Disk Space
26001 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26002 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26006 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26007 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26008 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26009 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26012 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26013 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26014 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26015 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26018 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26019 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26020 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26021 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26022 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26028 @subsection Slow Machine
26029 @cindex slow machine
26031 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26032 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26034 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26035 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26037 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26038 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26039 summary buffer faster.
26043 @node Troubleshooting
26044 @section Troubleshooting
26045 @cindex troubleshooting
26047 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26055 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26058 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26059 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26063 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26064 like @samp{T-gnus 6.16.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
26065 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
26066 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
26067 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26070 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26071 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26074 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26075 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26076 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26077 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26078 something like that.
26081 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26084 @cindex reporting bugs
26086 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26088 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26089 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26090 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26091 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26093 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26094 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26095 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26096 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26099 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26100 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26101 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26102 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26103 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26104 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26106 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26107 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26108 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26112 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26113 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26116 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26117 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26118 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26119 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26120 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26121 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26122 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26123 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26124 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26125 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26126 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26127 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26128 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26129 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26134 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26135 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26136 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26137 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26138 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26140 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26141 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26142 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26143 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26144 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26145 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26146 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26147 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26148 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26149 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26150 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26151 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26152 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26155 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26156 @cindex ding mailing list
26157 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26158 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26159 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26160 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26164 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26165 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26167 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26168 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26169 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26170 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26173 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26174 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26175 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26176 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26177 and general methods of operation.
26180 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26181 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26182 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26183 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26184 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26185 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26186 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26187 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26188 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26192 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26193 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26194 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26195 @cindex utility functions
26197 @cindex internal variables
26199 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26200 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26201 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26205 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26206 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26207 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26209 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26210 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26211 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26213 @item gnus-group-real-name
26214 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26215 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26218 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26219 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26220 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26221 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26223 @item gnus-get-info
26224 @findex gnus-get-info
26225 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26227 @item gnus-group-unread
26228 @findex gnus-group-unread
26229 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26233 @findex gnus-active
26234 The active entry for @var{group}.
26236 @item gnus-set-active
26237 @findex gnus-set-active
26238 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26240 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26241 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26242 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26245 @item gnus-continuum-version
26246 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26247 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26248 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26251 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26252 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26253 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26255 @item gnus-news-group-p
26256 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26257 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26259 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26260 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26261 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26263 @item gnus-server-to-method
26264 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26265 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26267 @item gnus-server-equal
26268 @findex gnus-server-equal
26269 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26271 @item gnus-group-native-p
26272 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26273 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26275 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26276 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26277 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26279 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26280 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26281 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26283 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26284 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26285 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26286 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26288 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26289 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26290 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26292 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26293 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26294 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26296 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26297 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26298 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26299 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26302 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26306 @item gnus-read-method
26307 @findex gnus-read-method
26308 Prompts the user for a select method.
26313 @node Back End Interface
26314 @subsection Back End Interface
26316 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26317 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26318 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26319 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26320 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26321 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26323 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26324 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26325 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26326 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26327 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26328 been opened, the function should fail.
26330 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26331 name. Take this example:
26335 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26336 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26339 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26340 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26342 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26343 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26344 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26346 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26347 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26348 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26350 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26351 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26352 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26353 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26354 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26355 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26358 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26359 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26360 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26361 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26364 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26365 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26366 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26367 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26368 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26369 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26370 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26371 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26372 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26373 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26375 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26376 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26377 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26378 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26379 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26380 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26381 of numbers as long as possible.
26383 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26384 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26385 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26387 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26390 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26393 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26394 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26395 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26396 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26397 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26398 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26402 @node Required Back End Functions
26403 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26407 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26409 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26410 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26411 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26412 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26414 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26415 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26416 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26417 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26419 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26420 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26421 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26422 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26423 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26424 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26425 number, do maximum fetches.
26427 Here's an example HEAD:
26430 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26431 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26432 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26433 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26434 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26435 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26436 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26438 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26439 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26440 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26444 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26445 these in the data buffer.
26447 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26451 head = error / valid-head
26452 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26453 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26454 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26455 header = <text> eol
26459 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26461 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26462 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26466 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26467 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26468 field = <text except TAB>
26471 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26475 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26477 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26478 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26480 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26481 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26482 server. In fact, it should do so.
26484 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26485 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26488 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26490 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26491 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26494 There should be no data returned.
26497 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26499 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26500 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26501 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26502 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26504 There should be no data returned.
26507 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26509 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26510 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26511 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26512 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26514 There should be no data returned.
26517 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26519 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26521 There should be no data returned.
26524 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26526 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26527 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
26528 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
26529 it would be nice if that were possible.
26531 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
26532 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
26533 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
26534 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
26535 into its article buffer.
26537 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
26538 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
26539 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
26540 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
26541 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
26542 on successful article retrieval.
26545 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
26547 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
26548 making @var{group} the current group.
26550 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
26553 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
26556 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
26559 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
26560 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
26561 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
26562 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
26563 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
26564 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
26565 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
26566 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
26567 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
26571 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
26572 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
26573 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
26577 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26579 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
26580 a no-op on most back ends.
26582 There should be no data returned.
26585 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
26587 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
26590 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
26593 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
26594 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
26597 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
26598 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
26599 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
26600 and the highest as 0.
26603 active-file = *active-line
26604 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
26606 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
26609 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
26610 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
26611 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
26614 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
26616 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
26617 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
26618 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
26619 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
26620 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
26621 clear if the posting could not be completed.
26623 There should be no result data from this function.
26628 @node Optional Back End Functions
26629 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
26633 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
26635 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
26636 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
26637 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
26639 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
26640 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
26641 former is in the same format as the data from
26642 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
26643 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
26646 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
26650 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
26652 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
26653 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
26654 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
26655 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
26656 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
26658 There should be no result data from this function.
26661 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
26663 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
26664 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
26665 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
26666 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
26667 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
26668 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
26669 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
26670 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
26672 There should be no result data from this function.
26675 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
26677 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
26678 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
26679 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
26680 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
26681 propagate the mark information to the server.
26683 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
26686 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
26689 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
26690 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
26691 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
26692 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
26693 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
26694 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
26695 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
26696 possible, not limit itself to these.
26698 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
26699 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
26700 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
26701 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
26703 An example action list:
26706 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
26707 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
26708 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
26711 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
26712 mark on (currently not used for anything).
26714 There should be no result data from this function.
26716 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
26718 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
26719 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
26720 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
26721 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
26722 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
26724 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
26725 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
26726 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
26729 There should be no result data from this function.
26732 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
26734 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
26735 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
26736 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
26737 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
26738 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
26739 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
26740 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
26741 local if that's practical.
26743 There should be no result data from this function.
26746 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
26748 The result data from this function should be a description of
26752 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
26754 description = <text>
26757 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
26759 The result data from this function should be the description of all
26760 groups available on the server.
26763 description-buffer = *description-line
26767 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
26769 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
26770 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
26771 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
26772 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
26773 in the active buffer format.
26775 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
26776 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
26777 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
26778 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
26779 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
26780 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
26781 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
26784 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26786 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
26788 There should be no return data.
26791 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
26793 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
26794 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
26795 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
26796 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
26797 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
26800 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
26803 There should be no result data returned.
26806 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
26808 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
26809 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
26811 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
26812 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
26813 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
26814 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
26815 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
26816 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
26818 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
26819 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
26822 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26823 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26825 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
26826 article for that group.
26828 There should be no data returned.
26831 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
26833 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
26834 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
26835 this function in short order.
26837 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26838 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26840 There should be no data returned.
26843 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
26845 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
26846 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
26848 There should be no data returned.
26851 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
26853 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
26854 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
26855 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
26857 There should be no data returned.
26860 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
26862 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
26863 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
26865 There should be no data returned.
26870 @node Error Messaging
26871 @subsubsection Error Messaging
26873 @findex nnheader-report
26874 @findex nnheader-get-report
26875 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
26876 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
26877 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
26878 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
26879 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
26880 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
26883 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
26885 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
26888 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
26889 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
26890 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
26891 takes one argument---the server symbol.
26893 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
26894 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
26895 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
26898 @node Writing New Back Ends
26899 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
26901 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
26902 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
26903 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
26904 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
26905 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
26908 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
26909 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
26910 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
26912 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
26913 package called @code{nnoo}.
26915 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
26916 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
26922 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
26923 parameters. For instance:
26926 (nnoo-declare nndir
26930 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
26931 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
26934 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
26935 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
26936 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
26938 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
26939 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
26940 a function in those back ends.
26943 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
26944 "Where nndir will look for groups."
26945 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
26948 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
26949 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
26950 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
26952 @item nnoo-define-basics
26953 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
26957 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
26961 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
26962 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
26963 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
26965 @item nnoo-map-functions
26966 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
26967 functions from the parent back ends.
26970 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
26971 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26972 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
26975 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
26976 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
26977 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
26978 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
26981 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
26982 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
26983 haven't already been defined.
26989 nnmh-request-newgroups)
26993 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
26994 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
26995 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27000 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27003 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27004 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27008 (require 'nnheader)
27012 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27014 (nnoo-declare nndir
27017 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27018 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27019 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27021 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27022 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27025 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27027 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27028 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27029 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27031 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27032 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27034 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27036 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27038 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27039 (setq nndir-directory
27040 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27042 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27043 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27044 (push `(nndir-current-group
27045 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27046 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27048 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27049 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27051 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27053 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27054 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27055 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27056 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27057 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27061 nnmh-status-message
27063 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27069 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27070 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27072 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27073 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27074 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27075 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27076 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27078 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27079 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27084 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27087 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27089 The abilities can be:
27093 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27095 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27097 This back end supports both mail and news.
27099 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27102 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27103 articles and groups.
27105 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27106 true for almost all back ends.
27107 @item prompt-address
27108 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27109 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27110 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27114 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27115 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27117 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27118 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27119 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27120 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27123 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27124 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27125 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27128 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27129 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27132 This function takes four parameters.
27136 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27139 @item exit-function
27140 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27142 @item temp-directory
27143 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27146 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27147 performed for one group only.
27150 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27151 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27152 find the article number assigned to this article.
27154 The function also uses the following variables:
27155 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27156 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27157 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27158 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27162 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27163 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27167 @node Score File Syntax
27168 @subsection Score File Syntax
27170 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27171 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27172 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27174 Here's a typical score file:
27178 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27185 BNF definition of a score file:
27188 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27189 element = rule / atom
27190 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27191 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27192 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27193 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27195 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27196 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27197 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27198 date-header = "date"
27199 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27200 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27201 score = "nil" / <integer>
27202 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27203 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27204 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27205 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27206 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27207 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27208 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27209 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27210 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27211 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27212 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27213 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27214 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27215 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27216 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27217 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27218 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27219 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27220 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27221 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27222 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27223 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27224 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27225 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27226 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27227 eval = "eval" space <form>
27228 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27231 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27234 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27235 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27236 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27237 one looong line, then that's ok.
27239 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27240 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27244 @subsection Headers
27246 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27247 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27248 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27249 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27251 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27252 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27253 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27254 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27255 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27256 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27257 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27259 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27260 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27261 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27262 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27263 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27265 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27266 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27272 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27273 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27275 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27276 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27277 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27278 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27280 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27284 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27287 is transformed into
27290 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27293 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27294 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27297 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27300 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27301 is slightly tricky:
27304 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27310 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27313 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27319 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27326 and is equal to the previous range.
27328 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27329 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27330 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27334 range = simple-range / normal-range
27335 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27336 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27337 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27338 number *[ " " contents ]
27341 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27342 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27343 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27344 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27345 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27350 @subsection Group Info
27352 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27353 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27354 describes the group.
27356 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27357 second is a more complex one:
27360 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27362 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27363 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27365 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27368 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27369 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27370 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27371 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27372 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27373 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27374 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27375 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27376 this section is about.
27378 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27379 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27380 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27382 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27385 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27386 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27387 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27388 group = quote <string> quote
27389 ralevel = rank / level
27390 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27391 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27392 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27394 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27395 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27396 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27397 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27400 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27401 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27404 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27405 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27408 @item gnus-info-group
27409 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27410 @findex gnus-info-group
27411 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27412 Get/set the group name.
27414 @item gnus-info-rank
27415 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27416 @findex gnus-info-rank
27417 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27418 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27420 @item gnus-info-level
27421 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27422 @findex gnus-info-level
27423 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27424 Get/set the group level.
27426 @item gnus-info-score
27427 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27428 @findex gnus-info-score
27429 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27430 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27432 @item gnus-info-read
27433 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27434 @findex gnus-info-read
27435 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27436 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27438 @item gnus-info-marks
27439 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27440 @findex gnus-info-marks
27441 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27442 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27444 @item gnus-info-method
27445 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27446 @findex gnus-info-method
27447 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27448 Get/set the group select method.
27450 @item gnus-info-params
27451 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27452 @findex gnus-info-params
27453 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27454 Get/set the group parameters.
27457 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27458 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27460 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27461 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27462 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27463 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27466 @node Extended Interactive
27467 @subsection Extended Interactive
27468 @cindex interactive
27469 @findex gnus-interactive
27471 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27472 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27473 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27476 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27477 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27482 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27483 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27484 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27485 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27486 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27487 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27488 @code{interactive}.
27490 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27495 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27496 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27500 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27501 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27502 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27505 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27509 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27513 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27519 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27520 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27524 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27525 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27526 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
27528 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
27529 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
27530 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
27531 Gnus, that's very useful.
27533 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
27534 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
27535 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
27536 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
27537 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
27538 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
27539 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
27540 following function:
27543 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
27547 (,function ,@@args))
27551 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
27552 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
27553 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
27556 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
27557 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
27558 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
27560 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
27561 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
27562 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
27565 @node Various File Formats
27566 @subsection Various File Formats
27569 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
27570 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
27574 @node Active File Format
27575 @subsubsection Active File Format
27577 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
27578 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
27581 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
27584 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
27585 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
27586 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
27587 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
27588 no.general 1000 900 y
27591 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
27594 active = *group-line
27595 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
27596 group = <non-white-space string>
27598 high-number = <non-negative integer>
27599 low-number = <positive integer>
27600 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
27603 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
27604 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
27607 @node Newsgroups File Format
27608 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
27610 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
27611 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
27612 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
27615 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
27616 Here's the definition:
27620 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
27621 group = <non-white-space string>
27623 description = <string>
27628 @node Emacs for Heathens
27629 @section Emacs for Heathens
27631 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
27632 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
27633 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
27634 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
27635 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
27636 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
27637 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
27641 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
27642 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
27647 @subsection Keystrokes
27651 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
27654 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
27657 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
27658 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
27659 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
27660 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
27661 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
27662 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
27664 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
27665 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
27666 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
27667 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
27668 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
27669 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
27670 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
27672 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
27673 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
27674 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
27675 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
27676 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
27677 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
27678 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
27680 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
27681 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
27682 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
27683 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
27684 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
27690 @subsection Emacs Lisp
27692 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
27693 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
27694 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
27695 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
27697 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
27698 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
27699 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
27700 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
27701 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
27702 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
27703 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
27706 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
27707 write the following:
27710 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
27713 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
27714 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
27715 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
27718 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
27719 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
27720 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
27721 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
27722 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
27724 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
27725 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
27726 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
27730 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
27734 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
27737 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
27738 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
27741 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
27744 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
27745 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
27748 @include gnus-faq.texi
27768 @c Local Variables:
27770 @c coding: iso-8859-1