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4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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280 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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289 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
290 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
293 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
294 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
295 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
296 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
297 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
298 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
299 License'' in the Emacs manual.
301 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
302 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
303 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
305 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
306 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
307 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
308 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
316 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
318 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
319 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
321 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
322 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
323 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
324 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
325 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
326 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
327 License'' in the Emacs manual.
329 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
330 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
331 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
333 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
334 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
335 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
336 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
342 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
344 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
347 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
348 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
349 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
351 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
352 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
353 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
354 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
355 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
356 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
357 License'' in the Emacs manual.
359 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
360 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
361 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
363 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
364 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
365 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
366 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
375 @top The gnus Newsreader
379 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
380 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
381 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
384 T-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So T-gnus supports
385 your right to read strange messages including big images or other
386 various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
387 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
388 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
389 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
391 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
402 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
403 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
405 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
406 being accused of plagiarism:
408 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
409 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
410 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
411 can even read news with it!
413 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
414 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
415 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
416 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
417 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
423 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
424 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
425 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
426 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
427 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
428 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
429 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
430 * Various:: General purpose settings.
431 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
432 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
433 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
434 * Key Index:: Key Index.
437 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
441 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
442 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
443 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
444 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
445 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
446 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
447 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
448 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
449 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
450 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
451 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
455 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
456 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
457 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
461 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
462 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
463 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
464 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
465 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
466 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
467 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
468 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
469 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
470 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
471 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
472 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
473 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
474 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
475 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
476 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
477 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
481 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
482 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
483 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
487 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
488 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
489 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
490 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
491 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
495 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
496 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
497 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
498 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
499 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
503 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
504 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
505 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
506 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
507 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
509 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
510 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
511 * Threading:: How threads are made.
512 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
513 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
514 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
515 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
516 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
517 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
518 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
519 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
520 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
521 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
522 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
523 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
524 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
525 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
526 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
527 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
528 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
529 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
530 or reselecting the current group.
531 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
532 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
533 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
534 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
536 Summary Buffer Format
538 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
539 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
540 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
541 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
545 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
546 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
548 Reply, Followup and Post
550 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
551 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
552 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
553 * Canceling and Superseding::
557 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
558 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
559 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
561 * Generic Marking Commands::
562 * Setting Process Marks::
566 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
567 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
568 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
572 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
573 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
575 Customizing Threading
577 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
578 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
579 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
580 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
584 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
585 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
586 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
587 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
588 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
589 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
593 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
594 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
595 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
599 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
600 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
601 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
602 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
603 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
604 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
605 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
606 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
608 Alternative Approaches
610 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
611 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
613 Various Summary Stuff
615 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
616 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
617 * Summary Generation Commands::
618 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
622 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
623 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
624 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
625 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
626 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
630 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
631 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
632 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
633 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
634 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
635 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
636 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
637 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
641 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
642 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
643 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
644 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
645 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
646 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
647 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
648 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
652 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
653 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
654 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
655 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
656 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
657 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
658 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
662 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
663 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
667 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
668 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
669 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
673 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
674 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
675 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
676 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
677 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
678 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
679 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
680 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
681 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
682 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
683 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
684 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
685 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
686 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
690 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
691 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
692 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
694 Choosing a Mail Back End
696 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
697 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
698 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
699 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
700 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
701 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
705 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
706 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
707 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
708 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
709 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
710 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
714 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
715 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
716 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
720 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
721 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
722 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
723 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
724 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
728 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
732 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
733 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
734 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
738 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
739 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
743 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
744 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
745 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
746 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
747 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
748 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
749 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
750 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
751 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
752 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
756 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
757 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
758 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
762 * Group Agent Commands::
763 * Summary Agent Commands::
764 * Server Agent Commands::
768 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
769 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
770 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
771 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
772 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
773 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
774 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
775 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
776 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
777 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
778 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
779 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
780 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
781 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
782 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
783 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
784 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
788 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
789 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
790 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
791 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
795 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
796 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
797 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
801 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
802 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
803 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
804 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
805 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
806 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
807 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
808 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
809 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
810 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
811 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
812 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
813 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
814 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
815 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
816 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
817 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
818 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
822 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
823 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
824 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
825 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
826 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
827 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
828 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
829 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
833 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
834 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
835 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
836 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
840 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
841 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
842 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
843 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
844 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
848 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
849 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
850 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
851 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
852 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
853 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
854 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
858 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
859 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
860 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
861 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
862 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
863 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
864 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
865 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
866 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
870 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
871 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
872 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
873 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
874 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
878 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
879 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
880 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
881 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
885 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
886 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
887 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
888 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
889 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
890 * Group Info:: The group info format.
891 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
892 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
893 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
897 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
898 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
899 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
900 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
901 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
902 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
906 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
907 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
911 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
912 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
918 @chapter Starting gnus
923 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
924 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
927 @findex gnus-other-frame
928 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
929 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
930 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
932 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
933 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
934 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
936 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
937 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
940 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
941 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
942 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
943 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
944 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
945 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
946 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
947 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
948 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
949 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
950 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
954 @node Finding the News
955 @section Finding the News
958 @vindex gnus-select-method
960 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
961 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
962 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
963 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
966 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
967 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
970 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
973 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
976 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
979 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
980 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
981 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
983 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
985 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
986 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
987 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
988 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
989 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
990 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
992 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
993 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
994 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
995 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
997 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
998 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
999 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1000 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1001 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1002 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1003 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1004 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1005 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1008 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1010 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1011 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1012 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1013 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1014 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1015 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1019 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1020 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1021 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1022 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1023 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1024 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1027 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1028 you would typically set this variable to
1031 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1035 @node The First Time
1036 @section The First Time
1037 @cindex first time usage
1039 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1040 be subscribed by default.
1042 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1043 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1044 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1045 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1048 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1049 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1050 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1052 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1053 help you with most common problems.
1055 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1056 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1060 @node The Server is Down
1061 @section The Server is Down
1062 @cindex server errors
1064 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1065 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1066 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1068 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1069 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1070 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1071 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1072 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1073 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1074 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1076 @findex gnus-no-server
1077 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1079 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1080 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1081 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1082 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1083 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1084 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1085 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1089 @section Slave Gnusae
1092 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1093 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1094 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1095 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1097 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1098 @code{.newsrc} file.
1100 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1101 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1102 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1103 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1104 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1105 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1106 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1108 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1109 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1110 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1111 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1112 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1113 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1114 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1115 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1117 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1118 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1121 @node Fetching a Group
1122 @section Fetching a Group
1123 @cindex fetching a group
1125 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1126 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1127 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1128 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1129 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1130 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1136 @cindex subscription
1138 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1139 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1140 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1141 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1142 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1143 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1144 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1145 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1146 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1149 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1150 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1151 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1155 @node Checking New Groups
1156 @subsection Checking New Groups
1158 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1159 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1160 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1161 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1162 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1163 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1164 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1165 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1166 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1167 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1169 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1170 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1171 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1172 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1173 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1174 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1175 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1176 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1177 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1178 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1179 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1181 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1182 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1183 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1184 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1185 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1186 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1189 @node Subscription Methods
1190 @subsection Subscription Methods
1192 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1193 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1194 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1196 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1197 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1199 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1203 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1205 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1206 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1207 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1209 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1211 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1212 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1214 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1215 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1216 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1218 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1219 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1220 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1221 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1222 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1223 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1224 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1225 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1226 up. Or something like that.
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1230 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1231 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1232 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1236 Kill all new groups.
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1240 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1241 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1242 topic parameter that looks like
1248 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1251 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1257 A closely related variable is
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1259 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1260 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1261 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1264 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1265 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1267 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1270 @node Filtering New Groups
1271 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1273 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1274 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1275 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1278 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1282 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1283 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1284 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1285 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1286 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1287 subscribing these groups.
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1289 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1291 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1292 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1293 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1294 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1295 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1296 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1297 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1298 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1300 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1301 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1302 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1303 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1304 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1305 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1306 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1307 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1308 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1309 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1311 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1312 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1315 @node Changing Servers
1316 @section Changing Servers
1317 @cindex changing servers
1319 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1320 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1321 very flaky and you want to use another.
1323 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1324 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1328 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1329 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1330 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1331 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1334 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1335 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1336 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1337 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1339 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1340 @findex gnus-change-server
1341 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1342 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1343 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1344 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1345 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1348 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1349 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1350 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1351 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1353 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1354 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1356 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1358 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1360 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1361 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1362 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1366 @section Startup Files
1367 @cindex startup files
1372 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1373 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1375 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1376 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1377 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1378 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1379 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1380 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1381 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1383 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1384 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1385 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1386 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1387 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1388 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1390 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1391 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1392 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1393 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1394 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1395 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1396 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1397 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1398 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1399 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1402 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1403 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1404 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1405 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1406 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1407 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1408 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1409 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1410 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1411 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1412 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1414 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1415 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1416 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1417 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1419 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1420 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1421 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1422 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1423 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1424 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1425 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1426 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1427 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1428 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1431 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1432 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1434 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1435 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1438 @vindex gnus-init-file
1439 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1440 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1441 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1442 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1443 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1444 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1445 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1446 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1447 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1453 @cindex dribble file
1456 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1457 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1458 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1459 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1460 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1463 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1464 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1467 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1468 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1469 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1471 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1472 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1473 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1474 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1475 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1476 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1478 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1479 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1480 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1483 @node The Active File
1484 @section The Active File
1486 @cindex ignored groups
1488 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1489 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1490 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1492 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1493 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1494 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1495 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1496 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1497 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1498 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1501 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1502 @c if you set it to anything else.
1504 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1506 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1507 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1508 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1510 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1511 you actually subscribe to.
1513 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1514 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1515 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1516 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1518 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1519 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1520 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1521 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1522 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1523 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1525 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1526 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1527 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1530 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1531 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1532 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1533 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1534 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1535 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1537 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1538 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1540 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1541 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1543 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1544 secondary select methods.
1547 @node Startup Variables
1548 @section Startup Variables
1552 @item gnus-load-hook
1553 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1554 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1555 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1556 times you start gnus.
1558 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1559 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1560 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1562 @item gnus-startup-hook
1563 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1564 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1566 @item gnus-started-hook
1567 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1568 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1571 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1572 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1573 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1574 generating the group buffer.
1576 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1577 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1578 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1579 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1580 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1581 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1582 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1583 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1585 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1586 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1587 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1588 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1589 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1590 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1592 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1593 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1594 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1596 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1597 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1598 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1600 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1602 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1603 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1609 @chapter Group Buffer
1610 @cindex group buffer
1612 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1614 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1615 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1616 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1617 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1618 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1619 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1620 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1621 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1622 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1623 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1624 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1625 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1626 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1627 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1628 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1629 @c human rights at 9...
1632 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1633 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1634 long as gnus is active.
1638 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1639 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1640 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1641 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1642 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1643 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1644 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1645 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1651 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1652 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1653 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1654 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1655 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1656 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1657 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1658 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1659 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1660 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1661 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1662 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1663 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1664 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1665 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1666 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1667 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1671 @node Group Buffer Format
1672 @section Group Buffer Format
1675 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1676 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1677 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1681 @node Group Line Specification
1682 @subsection Group Line Specification
1683 @cindex group buffer format
1685 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1686 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1688 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1691 25: news.announce.newusers
1692 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1697 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1698 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1699 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1700 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1702 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1703 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1704 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1705 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1706 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1707 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1709 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1711 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1712 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1713 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1714 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1717 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1718 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1719 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1721 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1726 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1729 Whether the group is subscribed.
1732 Level of subscribedness.
1735 Number of unread articles.
1738 Number of dormant articles.
1741 Number of ticked articles.
1744 Number of read articles.
1747 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1748 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1750 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1751 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1752 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1753 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1754 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1755 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1756 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1757 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1760 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1772 Newsgroup description.
1775 @samp{m} if moderated.
1778 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1787 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1791 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1794 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1795 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1796 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1797 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1798 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1801 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1803 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1807 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1810 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1814 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1815 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1816 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1817 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1818 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1819 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1824 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1825 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1826 group, or a bogus native group.
1829 @node Group Modeline Specification
1830 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1831 @cindex group modeline
1833 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1834 The mode line can be changed by setting
1835 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1836 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1840 The native news server.
1842 The native select method.
1846 @node Group Highlighting
1847 @subsection Group Highlighting
1848 @cindex highlighting
1849 @cindex group highlighting
1851 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1852 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1853 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1854 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1855 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1857 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1861 (cond (window-system
1862 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1863 (defface my-group-face-1
1864 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1865 (defface my-group-face-2
1866 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1867 (defface my-group-face-3
1868 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1869 (defface my-group-face-4
1870 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1871 (defface my-group-face-5
1872 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1874 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1875 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1876 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1877 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1878 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1879 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1882 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1884 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1891 The number of unread articles in the group.
1895 Whether the group is a mail group.
1897 The level of the group.
1899 The score of the group.
1901 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1903 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1904 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1906 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1907 topic being inserted.
1910 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1911 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1912 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1914 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1915 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1916 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1917 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1918 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1921 @node Group Maneuvering
1922 @section Group Maneuvering
1923 @cindex group movement
1925 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1926 expected, hopefully.
1932 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1933 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1934 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1940 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1941 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1942 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1946 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1947 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1951 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1952 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1956 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1957 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1962 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1963 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1964 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1967 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1973 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1974 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1975 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1980 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1981 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1982 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1986 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1987 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1991 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1992 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1993 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1994 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1998 @node Selecting a Group
1999 @section Selecting a Group
2000 @cindex group selection
2005 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2006 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2007 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2008 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2009 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2010 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2011 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2012 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2013 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2014 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2016 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2017 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2018 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2020 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2021 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2026 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2027 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2028 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2029 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2030 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2034 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2035 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2036 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2037 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2038 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2039 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2040 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2041 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2042 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2043 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2046 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2047 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2048 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2049 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2050 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2053 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2055 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2056 doing any processing of its contents
2057 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2058 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2059 manner will have no permanent effects.
2063 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2064 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2065 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2066 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2067 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2068 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2069 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2070 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2073 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2074 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2075 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2076 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2081 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2082 full summary buffer.
2085 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2088 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2093 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2094 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2095 Useful functions include:
2098 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2099 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2100 don't select the article.
2102 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2103 Select the first unread article.
2105 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2106 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2110 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2111 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2112 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2116 @node Subscription Commands
2117 @section Subscription Commands
2118 @cindex subscription
2126 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2127 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2128 Toggle subscription to the current group
2129 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2135 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2136 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2137 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2138 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2144 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2145 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2146 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2152 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2153 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2156 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2157 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2158 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2159 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2160 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2166 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2167 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2171 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2172 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2175 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2176 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2177 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2178 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2179 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2180 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2181 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2182 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2183 @file{.newsrc} file.
2187 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2197 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2198 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2199 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2200 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2201 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2202 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2207 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2208 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2209 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2213 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2214 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2215 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2217 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2218 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2219 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2220 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2221 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2222 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2229 @section Group Levels
2233 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2234 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2235 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2236 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2237 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2239 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2245 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2246 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2247 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2248 prompted for a level.
2251 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2252 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2253 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2254 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2255 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2256 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2257 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2258 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2259 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2260 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2261 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2262 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2263 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2264 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2265 reasons of efficiency.
2267 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2268 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2270 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2271 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2272 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2273 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2274 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2275 groups are hidden, in a way.
2277 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2278 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2279 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2280 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2281 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2282 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2284 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2285 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2286 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2287 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2288 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2289 list of killed groups.)
2291 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2292 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2293 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2295 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2296 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2297 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2298 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2299 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2300 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2301 relevant valid ranges.
2303 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2304 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2305 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2306 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2307 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2308 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2311 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2312 one with the best level.
2314 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2315 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2316 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2319 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2320 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2321 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2322 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2325 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2326 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2327 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2328 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2330 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2331 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2332 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2333 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2334 to 5. The default is 6.
2338 @section Group Score
2343 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2344 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2345 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2348 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2349 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2350 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2351 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2352 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2353 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2354 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2355 least significant part.))
2357 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2358 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2359 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2360 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2361 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2362 action after each summary exit, you can add
2363 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2364 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2365 slow things down somewhat.
2368 @node Marking Groups
2369 @section Marking Groups
2370 @cindex marking groups
2372 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2373 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2374 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2375 bidding on those groups.
2377 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2378 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2379 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2387 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2388 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2394 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2395 Remove the mark from the current group
2396 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2400 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2401 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2405 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2406 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2410 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2411 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2415 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2416 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2417 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2420 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2422 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2423 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2424 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2425 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2426 the command to be executed.
2429 @node Foreign Groups
2430 @section Foreign Groups
2431 @cindex foreign groups
2433 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2434 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2435 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2436 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2443 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2444 @cindex making groups
2445 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2446 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2447 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2451 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2452 @cindex renaming groups
2453 Rename the current group to something else
2454 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2455 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2461 @findex gnus-group-customize
2462 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2466 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2467 @cindex renaming groups
2468 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2469 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2474 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2475 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2480 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2481 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2485 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2487 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2488 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2493 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2494 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2498 @cindex (ding) archive
2499 @cindex archive group
2500 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2501 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2502 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2503 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2504 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2505 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2506 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2510 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2512 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2513 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2514 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2515 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2519 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2521 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2522 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2523 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2527 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2528 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2530 Make a group based on some file or other
2531 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2532 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2533 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2534 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2535 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2536 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2537 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2538 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2539 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2543 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2544 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2545 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2546 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2550 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2555 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2556 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2557 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2558 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2559 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2560 @xref{Web Searches}.
2562 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2563 to a particular group by using a match string like
2564 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2567 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2568 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2569 This function will delete the current group
2570 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2571 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2572 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2573 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2574 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2579 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2580 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2584 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2585 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2586 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2589 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2592 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2593 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2594 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2595 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2596 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2597 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2601 @node Group Parameters
2602 @section Group Parameters
2603 @cindex group parameters
2605 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2606 Here's an example group parameter list:
2609 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2613 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2614 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2615 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2616 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2618 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2619 is an alist of regexps and values.
2621 The following group parameters can be used:
2626 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2629 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2632 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2633 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2634 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2635 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2636 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2638 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2639 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2640 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2641 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2642 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2643 list address instead.
2645 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2649 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2652 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2655 It is totally ignored
2656 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2657 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2659 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2660 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2661 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2662 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2663 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2665 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2666 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2667 sending the message.
2669 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2670 @cindex Mail List Groups
2671 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2672 entering summary buffer.
2674 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2678 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2679 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2680 of whether it has any unread articles.
2682 @item broken-reply-to
2683 @cindex broken-reply-to
2684 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2685 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2686 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2687 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2688 broken behavior. So there!
2692 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2693 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2697 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2698 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2699 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2704 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2705 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2706 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2707 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2708 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2709 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2710 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2714 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2715 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2716 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2718 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2721 @cindex total-expire
2722 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2723 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2724 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2725 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2728 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2732 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2733 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2734 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2735 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2736 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2737 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2740 @cindex score file group parameter
2741 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2742 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2743 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2746 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2747 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2748 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2749 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2752 @cindex admin-address
2753 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2754 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2755 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2756 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2760 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2761 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2765 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2768 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2769 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2772 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2776 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2778 Here are some examples:
2782 Display only read articles.
2785 Display everything except expirable articles.
2787 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2788 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2792 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2793 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2794 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2795 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2796 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2800 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2801 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2802 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2806 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2807 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2808 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2813 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2814 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2815 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2817 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2819 @item ignored-charsets
2820 @cindex ignored-charset
2821 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2822 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2823 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2825 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2828 @cindex posting-style
2829 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2830 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2831 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2832 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2833 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2835 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2836 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2837 like this in the group parameters:
2842 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2847 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2848 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2852 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2853 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2854 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2855 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2856 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2860 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2861 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2862 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2863 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2865 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2866 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2867 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2868 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2871 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2872 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2876 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2879 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2880 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2881 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2882 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2883 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2884 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2885 @code{eval}ed there.
2887 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2888 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2889 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2890 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2891 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2895 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2896 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2897 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2898 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2899 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2901 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2902 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2906 (setq gnus-parameters
2908 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2909 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2910 (gnus-summary-line-format
2911 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2915 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2919 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2923 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2926 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2927 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2930 @node Listing Groups
2931 @section Listing Groups
2932 @cindex group listing
2934 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2942 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2943 List all groups that have unread articles
2944 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2945 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2946 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2947 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2955 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2956 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2957 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2958 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2959 unsubscribed groups).
2963 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2964 List all unread groups on a specific level
2965 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2966 with no unread articles.
2970 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2971 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2972 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2973 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2978 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2979 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2983 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2984 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2985 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2989 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2990 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2994 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2995 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2996 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2997 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2998 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2999 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3000 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3001 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3005 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3006 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3007 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3011 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3012 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3013 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3017 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3018 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3023 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3027 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3028 List groups limited within the current selection
3029 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3033 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3034 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3038 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3039 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3043 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3044 @cindex visible group parameter
3045 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3046 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3047 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3048 get the same effect.
3050 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3051 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3052 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3053 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3054 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3057 @node Sorting Groups
3058 @section Sorting Groups
3059 @cindex sorting groups
3061 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3062 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3063 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3064 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3065 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3066 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3071 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3072 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3073 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3075 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3076 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3077 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3079 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3080 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3081 Sort by group level.
3083 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3084 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3085 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3087 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3088 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3089 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3090 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3092 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3093 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3094 Sort by number of unread articles.
3096 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3097 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3098 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3100 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3101 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3102 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3107 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3108 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3112 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3113 some sorting criteria:
3117 @kindex G S a (Group)
3118 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3119 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3120 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3123 @kindex G S u (Group)
3124 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3125 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3126 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3129 @kindex G S l (Group)
3130 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3131 Sort the group buffer by group level
3132 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3135 @kindex G S v (Group)
3136 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3137 Sort the group buffer by group score
3138 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3141 @kindex G S r (Group)
3142 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3143 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3144 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3147 @kindex G S m (Group)
3148 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3149 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3150 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3154 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3155 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3157 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3158 commands will sort in reverse order.
3160 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3164 @kindex G P a (Group)
3165 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3166 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3167 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3170 @kindex G P u (Group)
3171 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3172 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3173 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3176 @kindex G P l (Group)
3177 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3178 Sort the groups by group level
3179 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3182 @kindex G P v (Group)
3183 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3184 Sort the groups by group score
3185 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3188 @kindex G P r (Group)
3189 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3190 Sort the groups by group rank
3191 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3194 @kindex G P m (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3196 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3197 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3201 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3205 @node Group Maintenance
3206 @section Group Maintenance
3207 @cindex bogus groups
3212 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3213 Find bogus groups and delete them
3214 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3218 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3219 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3220 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3221 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3222 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3226 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3227 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3228 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3229 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3230 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3231 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3234 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3235 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3236 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3237 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3242 @node Browse Foreign Server
3243 @section Browse Foreign Server
3244 @cindex foreign servers
3245 @cindex browsing servers
3250 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3251 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3252 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3253 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3256 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3257 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3258 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3259 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3261 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3266 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3267 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3271 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3272 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3275 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3276 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3277 Enter the current group and display the first article
3278 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3281 @kindex RET (Browse)
3282 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3283 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3287 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3288 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3289 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3295 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3296 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3300 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3301 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3302 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3307 @section Exiting gnus
3308 @cindex exiting gnus
3310 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3315 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3316 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3317 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3318 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3322 @findex gnus-group-exit
3323 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3324 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3328 @findex gnus-group-quit
3329 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3330 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3333 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3334 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3335 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3336 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3337 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3342 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3343 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3344 trying to customize meta-variables.
3349 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3350 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3351 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3357 @section Group Topics
3360 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3361 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3362 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3363 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3364 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3365 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3369 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3370 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3381 2: alt.religion.emacs
3384 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3386 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3387 13: comp.sources.unix
3390 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3392 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3393 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3394 is a toggling command.)
3396 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3397 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3398 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3399 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3402 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3403 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3404 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3407 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3411 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3412 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3413 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3414 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3415 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3419 @node Topic Commands
3420 @subsection Topic Commands
3421 @cindex topic commands
3423 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3424 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3425 definitions slightly.
3427 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3428 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3429 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3430 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3431 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3432 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3434 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3441 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3442 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3443 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3447 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3449 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3450 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3451 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3452 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3455 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3456 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3457 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3458 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3462 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3463 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3464 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3465 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3471 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3472 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3473 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3477 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3478 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3479 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3482 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3483 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3484 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3485 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3486 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3488 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3489 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3493 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3494 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3501 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3503 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3504 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3505 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3506 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3507 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3508 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3512 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3518 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3519 Move the current group to some other topic
3520 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3521 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3525 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3526 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3530 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3531 Copy the current group to some other topic
3532 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3533 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3537 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3538 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3539 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3543 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3544 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3545 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3549 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3550 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3551 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3552 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3553 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3554 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3555 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3558 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3559 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3563 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3564 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3565 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3569 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3570 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3571 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3575 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3576 Toggle hiding empty topics
3577 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3581 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3582 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3583 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3586 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3587 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3588 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3589 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3592 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3593 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3594 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3595 expiry process (if any)
3596 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3600 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3601 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3604 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3605 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3606 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3610 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3611 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3612 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3616 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3617 @cindex group parameters
3618 @cindex topic parameters
3620 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3621 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3626 @node Topic Variables
3627 @subsection Topic Variables
3628 @cindex topic variables
3630 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3631 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3633 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3634 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3635 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3648 Number of groups in the topic.
3650 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3652 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3655 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3656 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3657 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3660 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3661 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3663 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3664 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3665 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3669 @subsection Topic Sorting
3670 @cindex topic sorting
3672 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3678 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3679 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3680 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3681 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3684 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3685 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3686 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3687 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3690 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3691 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3692 Sort the current topic by group level
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3696 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3697 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3698 Sort the current topic by group score
3699 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3702 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3703 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3704 Sort the current topic by group rank
3705 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3708 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3709 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3710 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3711 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3714 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3715 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3716 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3717 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3721 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3724 @node Topic Topology
3725 @subsection Topic Topology
3726 @cindex topic topology
3729 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3735 2: alt.religion.emacs
3738 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3740 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3741 13: comp.sources.unix
3744 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3745 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3746 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3751 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3752 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3756 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3757 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3758 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3759 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3760 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3761 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3763 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3764 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3765 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3768 @node Topic Parameters
3769 @subsection Topic Parameters
3770 @cindex topic parameters
3772 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3773 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3774 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3776 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3781 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3782 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3783 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3788 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3789 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3790 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3791 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3797 2: alt.religion.emacs
3801 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3803 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3804 13: comp.sources.unix
3808 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3809 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3810 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3811 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3812 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3813 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3815 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3816 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3817 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3818 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3819 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3821 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3822 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3823 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3824 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3825 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3826 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3827 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3828 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3831 @node Misc Group Stuff
3832 @section Misc Group Stuff
3835 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3836 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3837 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3838 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3839 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3846 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3847 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3848 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3852 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3853 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3854 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3858 @findex gnus-group-mail
3859 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3863 Variables for the group buffer:
3867 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3868 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3869 is called after the group buffer has been
3872 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3873 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3874 is called after the group buffer is
3875 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3878 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3879 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3880 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3881 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3883 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3884 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3885 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3886 whether they are empty or not.
3888 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3889 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3890 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3891 non-ASCII group names.
3895 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3896 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3899 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3900 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3901 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3902 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3903 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3904 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3908 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3909 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3914 @node Scanning New Messages
3915 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3916 @cindex new messages
3917 @cindex scanning new news
3923 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3924 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3925 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3926 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3927 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3928 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3933 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3934 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3935 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3936 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3937 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3938 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3939 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3941 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3942 @cindex activating groups
3944 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3945 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3950 @findex gnus-group-restart
3951 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3952 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3953 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3957 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3958 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3960 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3961 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3965 @node Group Information
3966 @subsection Group Information
3967 @cindex group information
3968 @cindex information on groups
3975 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3976 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3979 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3980 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3981 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3982 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3983 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3984 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3985 for fetching the file.
3987 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3988 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3992 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3994 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3995 @cindex describing groups
3996 @cindex group description
3997 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3998 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3999 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4003 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4004 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4005 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4012 @findex gnus-version
4013 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4017 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4018 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4021 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4024 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4025 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4029 @node Group Timestamp
4030 @subsection Group Timestamp
4032 @cindex group timestamps
4034 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4035 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4036 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4039 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4042 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4044 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4045 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4048 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4049 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4052 This will result in lines looking like:
4055 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4056 0: custom 19961002T012713
4059 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4060 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4064 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4065 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4070 @subsection File Commands
4071 @cindex file commands
4077 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4078 @vindex gnus-init-file
4079 @cindex reading init file
4080 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4081 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4085 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4086 @cindex saving .newsrc
4087 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4088 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4089 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4092 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4093 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4094 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4099 @node Sieve Commands
4100 @subsection Sieve Commands
4101 @cindex group sieve commands
4103 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4104 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4105 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4106 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4107 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4109 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4110 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4111 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4112 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4113 default @file{~/.sieve}). The code Gnus generates is placed between
4114 two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4115 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4116 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4117 regenerate the Sieve script.
4119 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4125 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4126 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4127 @cindex generating sieve script
4128 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4129 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4133 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4134 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4135 @cindex updating sieve script
4136 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4137 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4138 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4143 @node Summary Buffer
4144 @chapter Summary Buffer
4145 @cindex summary buffer
4147 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4148 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4150 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4151 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4153 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4156 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4157 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4158 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4159 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4160 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4161 * Delayed Articles::
4162 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4163 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4164 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4165 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4166 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4167 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4168 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4169 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4170 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4171 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4172 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4173 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4174 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4175 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4176 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4177 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4178 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4179 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4180 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4181 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4182 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4183 or reselecting the current group.
4184 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4185 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4186 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4187 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4191 @node Summary Buffer Format
4192 @section Summary Buffer Format
4193 @cindex summary buffer format
4197 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4198 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4199 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4205 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4206 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4207 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4208 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4211 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4212 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4213 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4214 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4215 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4216 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4217 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4218 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4219 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4220 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4221 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4222 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4223 other function instead:
4226 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4227 'mail-extract-address-components)
4230 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4231 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4232 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4233 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4236 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4237 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4239 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4240 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4241 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4242 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4243 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4245 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4246 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4247 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4248 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4249 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4251 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4253 The following format specification characters and extended format
4254 specification(s) are understood:
4260 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4261 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4263 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4264 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4265 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4267 Full @code{From} header.
4269 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4271 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4272 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4274 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4275 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4276 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4277 may be more thorough.
4279 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4282 Number of lines in the article.
4284 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4285 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4287 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4289 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4292 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4293 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4295 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4296 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4298 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4299 for adopted articles.
4301 One space for each thread level.
4303 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4308 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4309 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4313 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4315 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4316 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4317 default level. If the difference between
4318 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4319 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4327 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4329 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4335 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4336 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4338 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4339 article has any children.
4345 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4346 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4348 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4349 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4350 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4351 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4352 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4353 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4356 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4357 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4358 There can only be one such area.
4360 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4361 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4362 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4363 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4364 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4365 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4367 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4368 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4370 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4373 @node To From Newsgroups
4374 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4378 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4379 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4380 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4381 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4382 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4386 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4387 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4388 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4392 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4393 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4396 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4397 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4400 @findex gnus-extra-header
4401 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4402 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4403 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4406 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4410 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4411 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4412 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4413 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4414 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4415 headers are used instead.
4419 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4420 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4421 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4422 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4425 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4426 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4427 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4428 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4430 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4434 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4436 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4437 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4438 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4439 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4443 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4444 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4451 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4452 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4455 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4456 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4458 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4459 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4460 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4461 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4463 Here are the elements you can play with:
4469 Unprefixed group name.
4471 Current article number.
4473 Current article score.
4477 Number of unread articles in this group.
4479 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4482 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4483 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4484 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4485 and no unselected ones.
4487 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4488 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4490 Subject of the current article.
4492 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4494 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4496 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4498 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4500 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4502 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4506 @node Summary Highlighting
4507 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4511 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4512 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4513 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4514 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4515 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4517 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4518 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4519 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4520 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4522 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4523 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4524 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4525 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4527 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4528 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4529 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4530 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4531 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4532 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4535 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4536 ((> score default) . bold))
4538 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4539 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4543 @node Summary Maneuvering
4544 @section Summary Maneuvering
4545 @cindex summary movement
4547 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4548 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4550 None of these commands select articles.
4555 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4556 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4557 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4558 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4559 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4563 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4564 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4565 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4566 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4567 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4570 @kindex G g (Summary)
4571 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4572 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4573 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4576 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4577 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4578 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4579 to the group buffer.
4581 Variables related to summary movement:
4585 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4586 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4587 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4588 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4589 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4590 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4591 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4592 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4593 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4594 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4595 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4596 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4597 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4598 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4600 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4601 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4602 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4603 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4604 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4605 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4606 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4608 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4610 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4611 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4612 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4613 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4614 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4616 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4617 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4618 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4619 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4620 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4621 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4622 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4623 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4626 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4627 the given number of lines from the top.
4632 @node Choosing Articles
4633 @section Choosing Articles
4634 @cindex selecting articles
4637 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4638 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4642 @node Choosing Commands
4643 @subsection Choosing Commands
4645 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4646 and they all select and display an article.
4648 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4649 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4653 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4655 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4656 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4661 @kindex G n (Summary)
4662 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4663 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4664 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4669 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4670 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4671 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4676 @kindex G N (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4678 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4683 @kindex G P (Summary)
4684 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4685 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4688 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4689 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4690 Go to the next article with the same subject
4691 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4694 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4695 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4696 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4697 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4701 @kindex G f (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4704 Go to the first unread article
4705 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4709 @kindex G b (Summary)
4711 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4712 Go to the article with the highest score
4713 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4718 @kindex G l (Summary)
4719 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4720 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4723 @kindex G o (Summary)
4724 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4726 @cindex article history
4727 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4728 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4729 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4730 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4731 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4732 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4737 @kindex G j (Summary)
4738 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4739 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4740 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4745 @node Choosing Variables
4746 @subsection Choosing Variables
4748 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4751 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4752 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4753 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4754 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4755 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4756 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4758 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4759 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4760 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4761 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4763 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4764 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4765 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4766 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4767 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4768 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4769 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4770 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4771 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4772 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4773 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4774 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4775 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4776 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4781 @node Paging the Article
4782 @section Scrolling the Article
4783 @cindex article scrolling
4788 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4789 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4790 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4791 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4792 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4795 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4796 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4797 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4800 @kindex RET (Summary)
4801 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4802 Scroll the current article one line forward
4803 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4806 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4807 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4808 Scroll the current article one line backward
4809 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4813 @kindex A g (Summary)
4815 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4816 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4817 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4818 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4819 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4820 the way it came from the server.
4822 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4823 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4824 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4827 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4832 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4837 @kindex A < (Summary)
4838 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4839 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4840 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4845 @kindex A > (Summary)
4846 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4847 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4851 @kindex A s (Summary)
4853 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4854 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4855 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4859 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4860 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4865 @node Reply Followup and Post
4866 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4869 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4870 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4871 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4872 * Canceling and Superseding::
4876 @node Summary Mail Commands
4877 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4879 @cindex composing mail
4881 Commands for composing a mail message:
4887 @kindex S r (Summary)
4889 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4890 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4891 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4892 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4893 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4898 @kindex S R (Summary)
4899 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4900 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4901 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4902 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4903 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4906 @kindex S w (Summary)
4907 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4908 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4909 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4910 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4911 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4914 @kindex S W (Summary)
4915 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4916 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4917 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4918 the process/prefix convention.
4921 @kindex S v (Summary)
4922 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4923 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4924 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4925 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4926 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4927 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4931 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4932 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4933 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4934 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4935 Forward the current article to some other person
4936 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4937 headers of the forwarded article.
4942 @kindex S m (Summary)
4943 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4944 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4945 Send a mail to some other person
4946 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4949 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4950 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4951 @cindex bouncing mail
4952 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4953 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4954 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4955 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4956 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4957 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
4958 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4959 very well fail, though.
4962 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4963 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4964 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4965 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4966 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4967 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4968 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4969 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4970 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4971 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4973 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4974 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4975 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4976 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4977 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4979 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4980 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4983 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
4985 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4986 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
4987 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4990 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4991 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4992 @cindex crossposting
4993 @cindex excessive crossposting
4994 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4995 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4997 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4998 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4999 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5000 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5001 command understands the process/prefix convention
5002 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5006 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5007 Manual}, for more information.
5010 @node Summary Post Commands
5011 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5013 @cindex composing news
5015 Commands for posting a news article:
5021 @kindex S p (Summary)
5022 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5023 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5024 Post an article to the current group
5025 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
5030 @kindex S f (Summary)
5031 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5032 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5033 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5037 @kindex S F (Summary)
5039 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5040 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5041 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5042 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5043 process/prefix convention.
5046 @kindex S n (Summary)
5047 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5048 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5049 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5052 @kindex S N (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5054 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5055 message through mail and include the original message
5056 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5057 the process/prefix convention.
5060 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5061 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5062 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5063 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5064 headers of the forwarded article.
5067 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5068 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5070 @cindex making digests
5071 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5072 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5073 process/prefix convention.
5076 @kindex S u (Summary)
5077 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5078 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5079 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5080 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5083 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5084 Manual}, for more information.
5087 @node Summary Message Commands
5088 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5092 @kindex S y (Summary)
5093 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5094 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5095 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5096 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5097 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5102 @node Canceling and Superseding
5103 @subsection Canceling Articles
5104 @cindex canceling articles
5105 @cindex superseding articles
5107 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5108 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5110 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5112 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5114 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5115 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5116 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5117 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5118 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5119 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5121 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5122 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5125 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5126 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5127 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5129 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5130 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5131 your original article.
5133 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5135 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5136 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5137 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5140 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5141 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5142 have posted almost the same article twice.
5144 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5145 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5146 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5147 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5148 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5149 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5150 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5151 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5152 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5153 canceled/superseded.
5155 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5157 @node Delayed Articles
5158 @section Delayed Articles
5159 @cindex delayed sending
5160 @cindex send delayed
5162 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5163 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5164 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5165 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5168 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5171 @findex gnus-delay-article
5172 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5173 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5174 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5175 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5179 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5180 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5181 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5182 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5185 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5186 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5187 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5190 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5191 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5192 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5193 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5194 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5195 that means a time tomorrow.
5198 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5199 couple of variables:
5202 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5203 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5204 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5205 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5207 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5208 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5209 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5210 formats described above.
5212 @item gnus-delay-group
5213 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5214 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5215 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5216 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5218 @item gnus-delay-header
5219 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5220 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5221 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5222 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5225 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5226 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5227 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5228 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5229 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5231 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5232 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts}
5233 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5234 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5235 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5236 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} function.
5239 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5240 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5241 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5242 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} in
5243 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5244 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5245 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5246 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5248 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5249 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5250 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5251 forget to set that up :-)
5255 @node Marking Articles
5256 @section Marking Articles
5257 @cindex article marking
5258 @cindex article ticking
5261 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5263 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5264 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5265 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5267 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5270 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5271 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5272 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5276 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5280 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5281 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5282 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5286 @node Unread Articles
5287 @subsection Unread Articles
5289 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5294 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5295 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5297 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5298 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5299 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5300 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5301 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5302 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5303 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5306 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5307 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5309 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5310 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5311 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5312 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5316 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5317 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5319 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5324 @subsection Read Articles
5325 @cindex expirable mark
5327 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5332 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5333 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5334 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5337 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5338 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5341 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5342 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5343 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5346 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5347 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5350 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5351 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5354 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5355 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5358 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5359 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5362 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5363 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5366 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5367 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5370 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5371 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5375 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5376 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5377 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5381 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5382 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5384 One more special mark, though:
5388 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5389 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5391 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5392 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5393 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5394 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5400 @subsection Other Marks
5401 @cindex process mark
5404 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5410 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5411 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5412 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5413 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5414 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5417 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5418 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5419 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5420 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5422 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5423 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5424 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5426 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5427 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5428 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5429 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5432 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5433 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5434 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5437 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5438 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5439 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5440 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5443 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5444 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5445 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5446 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5447 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5450 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5451 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5452 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5455 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5456 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5457 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5458 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5459 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5462 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5463 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5464 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5465 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5466 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5467 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5471 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5472 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5473 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5475 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5476 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5477 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5481 @subsection Setting Marks
5482 @cindex setting marks
5484 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5489 @kindex M c (Summary)
5490 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5492 @cindex mark as unread
5493 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5494 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5500 @kindex M t (Summary)
5501 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5502 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5503 @xref{Article Caching}.
5508 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5509 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5510 Mark the current article as dormant
5511 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5515 @kindex M d (Summary)
5517 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5518 Mark the current article as read
5519 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5523 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5524 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5525 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5530 @kindex M k (Summary)
5531 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5532 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5533 and then select the next unread article
5534 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5538 @kindex M K (Summary)
5539 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5540 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5541 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5542 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5545 @kindex M C (Summary)
5546 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5547 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5548 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5551 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5552 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5553 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5554 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5557 @kindex M H (Summary)
5558 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5559 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5560 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5563 @kindex M h (Summary)
5564 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5565 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5566 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5569 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5570 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5571 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5572 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5575 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5576 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5577 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5578 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5582 @kindex M e (Summary)
5584 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5585 Mark the current article as expirable
5586 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5589 @kindex M b (Summary)
5590 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5591 Set a bookmark in the current article
5592 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5595 @kindex M B (Summary)
5596 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5597 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5598 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5601 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5602 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5603 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5604 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5607 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5608 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5609 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5610 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5613 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5614 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5615 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5616 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5617 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5620 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5621 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5622 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5623 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5624 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5625 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5626 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5627 The default is @code{t}.
5630 @node Generic Marking Commands
5631 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5633 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5634 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5635 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5636 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5637 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5640 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5641 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5644 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5645 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5646 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5647 to list in this manual.
5649 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5650 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5651 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5652 article, you could say something like:
5655 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5656 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5657 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5663 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5664 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5668 @node Setting Process Marks
5669 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5670 @cindex setting process marks
5677 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5678 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5679 Mark the current article with the process mark
5680 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5681 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5685 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5686 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5687 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5688 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5691 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5692 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5693 Remove the process mark from all articles
5694 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5697 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5698 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5699 Invert the list of process marked articles
5700 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5703 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5704 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5705 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5706 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5709 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5710 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5711 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5712 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5715 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5716 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5717 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5720 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5722 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5723 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5726 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5727 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5728 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5729 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5732 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5733 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5734 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5735 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5738 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5739 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5740 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5743 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5745 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5746 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5749 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5751 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5754 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5756 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5757 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5760 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5761 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5762 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5763 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5766 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5767 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5768 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5769 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5772 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5773 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5774 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5775 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5779 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5780 set process marks based on article body contents.
5787 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5788 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5789 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5792 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5793 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5794 additional articles.
5800 @kindex / / (Summary)
5801 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5802 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5803 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5806 @kindex / a (Summary)
5807 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5808 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5809 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5812 @kindex / x (Summary)
5813 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5814 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5815 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5816 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5820 @kindex / u (Summary)
5822 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5823 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5824 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5825 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5826 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5829 @kindex / m (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5831 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5832 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5835 @kindex / t (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5837 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5838 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5839 articles younger than that number of days.
5842 @kindex / n (Summary)
5843 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5844 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5845 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5846 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5849 @kindex / w (Summary)
5850 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5851 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5852 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5856 @kindex / v (Summary)
5857 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5858 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5859 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5862 @kindex / p (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5864 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5865 group parameter predicate
5866 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5867 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5871 @kindex M S (Summary)
5872 @kindex / E (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5874 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5875 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5878 @kindex / D (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5880 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5881 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5884 @kindex / * (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5886 Include all cached articles in the limit
5887 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5890 @kindex / d (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5892 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5893 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5896 @kindex / M (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5898 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5901 @kindex / T (Summary)
5902 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5903 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5906 @kindex / c (Summary)
5907 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5908 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5909 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5912 @kindex / C (Summary)
5913 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5914 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5915 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5916 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5919 @kindex / N (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
5921 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
5922 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
5925 @kindex / o (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
5927 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
5928 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
5936 @cindex article threading
5938 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5939 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5940 hierarchical fashion.
5942 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5943 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5944 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5945 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5946 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5947 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5948 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5950 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5954 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5957 A tree-like article structure.
5960 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5963 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5964 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5965 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5966 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5967 called loose threads.
5969 @item thread gathering
5970 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5972 @item sparse threads
5973 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5974 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5980 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5981 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5985 @node Customizing Threading
5986 @subsection Customizing Threading
5987 @cindex customizing threading
5990 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5991 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5992 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5993 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5998 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6001 @cindex loose threads
6004 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6005 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6006 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6007 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6008 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6009 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6011 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6012 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6013 There are four possible values:
6017 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6018 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6019 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6020 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6021 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6026 @cindex adopting articles
6031 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6032 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6033 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6034 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6037 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6038 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6039 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6040 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6041 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6042 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6043 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6046 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6047 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6048 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6052 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6053 display them after one another.
6056 Don't gather loose threads.
6059 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6060 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6061 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6062 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6063 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6064 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6065 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6066 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6067 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6068 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6069 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6071 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6072 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6073 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6076 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6077 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6078 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6079 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6080 simplification is used.
6082 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6083 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6084 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6085 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6087 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6089 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6095 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6096 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6097 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6098 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6103 (mapconcat 'identity
6104 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6106 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6109 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6112 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6113 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6114 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6115 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6116 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6117 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6119 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6122 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6123 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6124 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6126 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6127 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6130 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6131 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6132 Remove excessive whitespace.
6135 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6138 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6139 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6140 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6141 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6142 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6143 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6144 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6145 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6147 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6148 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6149 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6150 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6151 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6152 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6153 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6154 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6155 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6159 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6160 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6161 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6162 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6164 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6165 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6166 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6169 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6173 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6174 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6180 @node Filling In Threads
6181 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6184 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6185 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6186 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6187 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6188 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6189 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6190 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6191 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6192 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6193 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6194 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6195 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
6197 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6198 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6199 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6201 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6202 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6203 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6204 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6205 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6206 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6207 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6208 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6209 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6210 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6211 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6212 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6213 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6214 @code{nil} by default.
6216 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6217 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6218 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6219 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6220 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6221 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6222 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6224 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6225 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6226 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6231 @node More Threading
6232 @subsubsection More Threading
6235 @item gnus-show-threads
6236 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6237 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6238 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6239 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6240 slower and more awkward.
6242 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6243 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6244 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6247 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6248 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6249 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6250 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6251 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6252 threads are expunged.
6254 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6255 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6256 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6259 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6260 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6261 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6262 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6263 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6264 result in a new thread.
6266 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6267 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6268 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6271 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6272 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6273 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6274 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6275 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6276 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6277 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6278 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6279 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6280 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6281 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6286 @node Low-Level Threading
6287 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6291 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6292 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6293 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6294 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6295 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6296 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6298 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6299 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6300 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6301 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6302 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6303 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6304 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6305 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6306 meaningful. Here's one example:
6309 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6311 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6312 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6314 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6316 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6323 @node Thread Commands
6324 @subsection Thread Commands
6325 @cindex thread commands
6331 @kindex T k (Summary)
6332 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6334 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6336 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6341 @kindex T l (Summary)
6342 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6344 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6345 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6348 @kindex T i (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6350 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6351 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6354 @kindex T # (Summary)
6355 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6356 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6357 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6360 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6361 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6362 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6363 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6366 @kindex T T (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6368 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6371 @kindex T s (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6373 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6374 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6377 @kindex T h (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6379 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6382 @kindex T S (Summary)
6383 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6384 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6387 @kindex T H (Summary)
6388 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6389 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6392 @kindex T t (Summary)
6393 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6394 Re-thread the current article's thread
6395 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6396 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6399 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6400 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6401 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6402 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6406 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6407 understand the numeric prefix.
6412 @kindex T n (Summary)
6414 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
6416 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6417 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6418 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6421 @kindex T p (Summary)
6423 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
6425 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6426 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6427 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6430 @kindex T d (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6432 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6435 @kindex T u (Summary)
6436 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6437 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6440 @kindex T o (Summary)
6441 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6442 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6445 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6446 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6447 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6448 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6449 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6450 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6451 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6452 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6453 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6454 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6455 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6456 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6460 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6461 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6463 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6464 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6465 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6466 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6467 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6468 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6469 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6470 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6471 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6472 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6473 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6475 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6476 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6477 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6478 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6479 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6481 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6482 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6483 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6485 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6486 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6487 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6488 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6489 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6490 ascending article order.
6492 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6493 by number, you could do something like:
6496 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6497 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6498 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6499 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6502 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6503 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6504 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6505 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6506 which the articles arrived.
6508 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6512 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6514 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6515 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6518 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6519 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6520 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6521 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6524 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6525 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6526 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6527 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6528 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6529 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6530 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6531 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6532 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6533 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6534 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6535 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6536 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6538 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6542 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6543 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6544 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6549 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6550 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6551 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6552 @cindex article pre-fetch
6555 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6556 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6557 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6558 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6559 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6561 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6562 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6564 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6565 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6566 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6567 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6568 connection is blocked.
6570 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6571 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6572 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6573 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6575 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6576 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6577 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6578 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6581 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6584 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6585 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6586 happen automatically.
6588 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6589 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6590 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6591 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6592 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6593 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6594 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6596 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6597 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6598 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6599 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6600 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6601 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6602 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6603 data structure as the only parameter.
6605 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6608 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6609 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6610 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6611 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6614 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6617 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6618 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6619 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6621 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6622 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6623 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6624 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6628 Remove articles when they are read.
6631 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6634 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6636 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6637 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6638 @c from the next group.
6641 @node Article Caching
6642 @section Article Caching
6643 @cindex article caching
6646 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6647 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6648 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6649 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6650 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6652 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6654 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6655 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6656 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6657 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6658 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6659 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6660 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6661 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6663 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6664 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6665 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6666 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6667 as dormant, and don't worry.
6669 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6671 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6672 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6673 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6674 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6675 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6676 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6677 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6678 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6679 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6680 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6682 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6683 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6684 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6685 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6686 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6687 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6688 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6689 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6690 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6691 not then be downloaded by this command.
6693 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6694 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6695 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6696 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6697 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6698 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6700 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6701 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6702 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6703 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6704 variables, the group is not cached.
6706 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6707 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6708 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6709 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6710 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6711 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6712 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6713 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6714 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6718 @node Persistent Articles
6719 @section Persistent Articles
6720 @cindex persistent articles
6722 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6723 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6724 useful in my opinion.
6726 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6727 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6728 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6729 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6730 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6731 the expiry going on at the news server.
6733 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6734 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6735 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6741 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6742 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6745 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6746 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6747 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6748 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6752 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6754 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6755 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6756 interested in persistent articles:
6759 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6763 @node Article Backlog
6764 @section Article Backlog
6766 @cindex article backlog
6768 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6769 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6770 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6771 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6772 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6773 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6774 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6775 increase memory usage some.
6777 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6778 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6779 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6780 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6781 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6782 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6783 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6785 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6788 @node Saving Articles
6789 @section Saving Articles
6790 @cindex saving articles
6792 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6793 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6794 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6795 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6796 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6798 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6799 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6800 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6802 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6803 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6804 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6805 deleted before saving.
6811 @kindex O o (Summary)
6813 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6814 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6815 Save the current article using the default article saver
6816 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6819 @kindex O m (Summary)
6820 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6821 Save the current article in mail format
6822 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6825 @kindex O r (Summary)
6826 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6827 Save the current article in rmail format
6828 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6831 @kindex O f (Summary)
6832 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6833 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6834 Save the current article in plain file format
6835 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6838 @kindex O F (Summary)
6839 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6840 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6841 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6844 @kindex O b (Summary)
6845 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6846 Save the current article body in plain file format
6847 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6850 @kindex O h (Summary)
6851 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6852 Save the current article in mh folder format
6853 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6856 @kindex O v (Summary)
6857 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6858 Save the current article in a VM folder
6859 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6863 @kindex O p (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6866 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6867 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6870 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6871 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6872 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6873 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6874 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6875 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6876 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6877 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6878 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6879 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6880 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6881 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6885 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6886 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6887 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6888 functions below, or you can create your own.
6892 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6893 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6894 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6895 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6896 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6897 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6898 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6900 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6901 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6902 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6903 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6904 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6905 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6907 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6908 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6909 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6910 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6911 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6912 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6913 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6915 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6916 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6917 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6918 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6919 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6921 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6922 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6923 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6924 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6925 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6928 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6929 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6930 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6931 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6932 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6934 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6935 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6936 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6937 reader to use this setting.
6940 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6941 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6942 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6943 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6946 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6947 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6948 available functions that generate names:
6952 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6953 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6954 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6956 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6957 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6958 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6960 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6961 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6962 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6964 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6965 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6966 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6968 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6969 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6970 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6973 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6974 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6975 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6976 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6977 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6981 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6982 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6983 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6984 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6987 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6988 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6989 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6990 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6991 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6992 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6993 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6994 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6995 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6997 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6998 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6999 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7000 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7002 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7003 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7004 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7007 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7008 lots of mail groups called things like
7009 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7010 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7011 following will do just that:
7014 (defun my-save-name (group)
7015 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7016 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7018 (setq gnus-split-methods
7019 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7024 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7025 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7026 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7027 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7028 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7029 all the files in the top level directory
7030 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7031 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7032 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7033 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7035 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7036 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7037 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7038 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7039 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7042 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7046 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7047 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7048 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7051 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7052 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7053 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7054 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7057 @node Decoding Articles
7058 @section Decoding Articles
7059 @cindex decoding articles
7061 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7062 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7065 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7066 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7067 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7068 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7069 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7070 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7074 @cindex article series
7075 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7076 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7077 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7078 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7079 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7081 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7082 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7083 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7085 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7086 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7087 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7089 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7090 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7091 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7094 @node Uuencoded Articles
7095 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7097 @cindex uuencoded articles
7102 @kindex X u (Summary)
7103 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7104 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7105 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7108 @kindex X U (Summary)
7109 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7110 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7111 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7114 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7115 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7116 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7119 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7120 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7121 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7122 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7126 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7127 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7128 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7129 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7130 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7132 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7133 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7134 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7135 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7138 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7139 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7140 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7141 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7142 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7143 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7147 @node Shell Archives
7148 @subsection Shell Archives
7150 @cindex shell archives
7151 @cindex shared articles
7153 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7154 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7155 some commands to deal with these:
7160 @kindex X s (Summary)
7161 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7162 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7165 @kindex X S (Summary)
7166 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7167 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7170 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7171 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7172 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7175 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7176 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7177 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7178 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7182 @node PostScript Files
7183 @subsection PostScript Files
7189 @kindex X p (Summary)
7190 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7191 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7194 @kindex X P (Summary)
7195 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7196 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7197 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7200 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7201 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7202 View the current PostScript series
7203 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7206 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7207 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7208 View and save the current PostScript series
7209 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7214 @subsection Other Files
7218 @kindex X o (Summary)
7219 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7220 Save the current series
7221 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7224 @kindex X b (Summary)
7225 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7226 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7227 doesn't really work yet.
7231 @node Decoding Variables
7232 @subsection Decoding Variables
7234 Adjective, not verb.
7237 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7238 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7239 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7243 @node Rule Variables
7244 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7245 @cindex rule variables
7247 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7248 variables are of the form
7251 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7258 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7259 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7261 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7262 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7265 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7266 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7269 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7270 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7271 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7272 user and default view rules.
7274 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7275 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7276 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7281 @node Other Decode Variables
7282 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7285 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7287 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7288 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7289 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7290 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7291 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7295 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7296 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7299 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7300 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7301 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7304 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7305 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7306 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7307 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7308 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7311 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7312 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7313 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7315 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7316 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7317 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7318 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7319 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7322 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7323 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7324 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7326 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7327 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7328 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7329 looking for files to display.
7331 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7332 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7333 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7336 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7337 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7338 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7341 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7342 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7343 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7346 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7347 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7348 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7351 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7352 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7353 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7354 decoded articles as unread.
7356 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7357 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7358 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7359 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7361 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7362 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7363 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7365 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7366 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7368 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7369 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7370 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7371 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7373 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7374 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7375 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7376 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7377 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7378 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7379 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7380 simply dropped them.
7385 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7386 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7390 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7391 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7392 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7393 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7394 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7395 for you when you post the article.
7397 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7398 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7399 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7400 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7402 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7403 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7404 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7405 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7406 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7407 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7408 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7410 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7411 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7412 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7413 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7414 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7415 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7416 Default is @code{t}.
7422 @subsection Viewing Files
7423 @cindex viewing files
7424 @cindex pseudo-articles
7426 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7427 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7428 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7429 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7430 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7431 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7432 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7434 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7435 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7436 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7437 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7439 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7440 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7441 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7443 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7444 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7445 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7446 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7447 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7449 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7450 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7451 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7452 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7453 a list of parameters to that command.
7455 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7456 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7457 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7459 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7460 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7461 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7464 @node Article Treatment
7465 @section Article Treatment
7467 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7468 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7469 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7470 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7471 these articles easier.
7474 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7475 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7476 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7477 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7478 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7479 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7480 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7481 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7485 @node Article Highlighting
7486 @subsection Article Highlighting
7487 @cindex highlighting
7489 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7490 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7495 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7496 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7497 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7498 Do much highlighting of the current article
7499 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7500 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7503 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7504 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7505 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7506 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7507 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7508 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7509 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7510 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7511 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7512 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7513 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7514 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7517 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7518 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7519 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7521 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7524 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7526 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7527 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7528 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7530 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7531 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7532 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7534 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7535 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7536 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7537 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7538 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7539 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7541 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7542 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7543 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7545 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7546 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7547 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7549 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7550 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7551 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7552 that it's a citation.
7554 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7555 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7556 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7558 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7559 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7560 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7562 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7563 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7564 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7565 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7571 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7572 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7573 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7574 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7575 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7576 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7577 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7578 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7583 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7586 @node Article Fontisizing
7587 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7589 @cindex article emphasis
7591 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7592 @kindex W e (Summary)
7593 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7594 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7595 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7596 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7598 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7599 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7600 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7601 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7602 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7603 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7604 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7605 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7609 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7610 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7611 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7620 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7621 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7622 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7623 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7624 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7625 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7626 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7627 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7628 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7629 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7630 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7631 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7632 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7634 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7635 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7636 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7640 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7643 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7645 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7646 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7647 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7648 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7650 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7653 @node Article Hiding
7654 @subsection Article Hiding
7655 @cindex article hiding
7657 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7658 too much cruft in most articles.
7663 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7664 @findex gnus-article-hide
7665 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7666 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7667 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7670 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7672 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7676 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7677 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7678 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7679 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7682 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7683 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7684 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7688 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7689 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7690 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7691 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7692 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7693 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7694 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7695 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7699 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7700 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7701 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7702 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7707 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7708 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7709 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7710 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7711 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7712 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7713 articles that have signatures in them do:
7715 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7717 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7719 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7720 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7722 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7725 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7730 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7731 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7732 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7733 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7736 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7737 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7740 @cindex stripping advertisements
7741 @cindex advertisements
7742 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7743 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7744 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7745 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7746 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7747 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7748 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7749 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7750 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7751 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7755 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7756 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7757 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7758 customizing the hiding:
7762 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7763 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7764 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7765 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7766 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7767 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7768 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7773 Starting point of the hidden text.
7775 Ending point of the hidden text.
7777 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7779 Number of lines of hidden text.
7782 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7783 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7784 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7785 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7786 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7791 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7792 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7794 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7795 following two variables:
7798 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7799 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7800 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7801 50), hide the cited text.
7803 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7804 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7805 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7810 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7811 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7812 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7813 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7814 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7815 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7819 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7820 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7821 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7823 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7824 citation customization.
7826 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7830 @node Article Washing
7831 @subsection Article Washing
7833 @cindex article washing
7835 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7836 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7838 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7839 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7842 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7843 articles by default.
7848 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7849 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7853 @kindex W l (Summary)
7854 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7855 Remove page breaks from the current article
7856 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7860 @kindex W r (Summary)
7861 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7862 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7863 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7864 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7865 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7866 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7868 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7869 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7870 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7871 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7875 @kindex W t (Summary)
7877 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7878 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7879 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}).
7882 @kindex W v (Summary)
7883 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7884 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7885 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7888 @kindex W m (Summary)
7889 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7890 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7891 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7894 @kindex W o (Summary)
7895 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7896 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7899 @kindex W d (Summary)
7900 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7901 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7903 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7905 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7906 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7907 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7908 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7911 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7912 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7913 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7914 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7917 @kindex W w (Summary)
7918 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7919 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7921 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7925 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7926 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7927 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7930 @kindex W C (Summary)
7931 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7932 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7933 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7936 @kindex W c (Summary)
7937 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7938 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7939 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7940 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7941 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7944 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7945 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7946 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7947 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7948 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7949 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7950 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7952 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7955 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7956 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7957 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7958 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7959 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7962 @kindex W h (Summary)
7963 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7964 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7965 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7966 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7968 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7971 @kindex W f (Summary)
7973 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7974 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7975 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7976 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7983 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7984 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7985 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7986 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7987 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7988 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7989 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7990 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7991 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7992 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7993 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7994 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7995 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7996 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7997 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7998 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7999 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
8000 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
8001 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
8002 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
8006 @kindex W b (Summary)
8007 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8008 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8009 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8012 @kindex W B (Summary)
8013 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8014 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8015 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8018 @kindex W p (Summary)
8019 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8020 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8021 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8022 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8023 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8024 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8025 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8028 @kindex W W H (Summary)
8029 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
8030 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8031 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
8034 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8035 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8036 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8037 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8040 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8041 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8042 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8043 lines with a single empty line.
8044 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8047 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8048 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8049 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8050 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8053 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8054 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8055 Do all the three commands above
8056 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8059 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8060 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8061 Remove all blank lines
8062 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8065 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8066 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8067 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8068 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8071 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8072 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8073 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8074 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8078 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8081 @node Article Buttons
8082 @subsection Article Buttons
8085 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8086 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8087 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8088 button on these references.
8090 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8091 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8092 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8097 @item gnus-button-alist
8098 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8099 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8102 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8108 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8109 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8110 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8113 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8114 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8115 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8118 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8119 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8120 avoid false matches.
8123 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8126 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8127 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8131 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8134 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8137 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8138 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8139 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8140 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8141 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8144 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8147 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8149 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8150 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8151 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8152 default values of the variables above.
8154 @item gnus-article-button-face
8155 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8156 Face used on buttons.
8158 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8159 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8160 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8164 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8168 @subsection Article Date
8170 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8171 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8172 when the article was sent.
8177 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8178 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8179 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8180 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8183 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8184 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8186 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8187 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8190 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8191 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8192 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8195 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8197 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8198 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8201 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8202 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8203 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8204 @findex format-time-string
8205 Display the date using a user-defined format
8206 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8207 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8208 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8209 for a list of possible format specs.
8212 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8213 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8214 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8215 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8216 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8217 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8220 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8223 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8224 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8227 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8228 into wonderful absurdities.
8230 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8233 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8236 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8237 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8241 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8242 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8243 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8244 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8245 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8246 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8247 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8251 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8252 preferred format automatically.
8255 @node Article Signature
8256 @subsection Article Signature
8258 @cindex article signature
8260 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8261 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8262 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8263 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8264 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8265 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8266 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8267 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8268 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8271 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8272 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8273 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8274 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8275 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8276 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8277 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8278 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8281 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8284 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8285 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8286 signature when displaying articles.
8290 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8293 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8296 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8297 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8299 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8300 in question is not a signature.
8303 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8304 listed above. Here's an example:
8307 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8308 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8311 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8312 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8313 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8314 signature after all.
8317 @node Article Miscellania
8318 @subsection Article Miscellania
8322 @kindex A t (Summary)
8323 @findex gnus-article-babel
8324 Translate the article from one language to another
8325 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8331 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8332 @cindex MIME decoding
8334 @cindex viewing attachments
8336 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8337 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8343 @kindex K v (Summary)
8344 View the @sc{mime} part.
8347 @kindex K o (Summary)
8348 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8351 @kindex K c (Summary)
8352 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8355 @kindex K e (Summary)
8356 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8359 @kindex K i (Summary)
8360 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8363 @kindex K | (Summary)
8364 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8367 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8372 @kindex K b (Summary)
8373 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8374 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8378 @kindex K m (Summary)
8379 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8380 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8381 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8382 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8383 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8386 @kindex X m (Summary)
8387 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8388 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8389 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8390 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8393 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8394 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8395 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8396 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8399 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8400 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8401 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8404 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8405 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8406 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8408 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8409 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8410 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8411 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8412 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8413 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8416 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8417 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8418 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8425 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8426 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8427 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8428 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8431 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8434 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8438 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8439 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8440 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8441 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8442 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8443 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8446 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8447 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8448 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8449 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8450 displayed. This variable overrides
8451 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8453 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8454 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8455 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8457 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8458 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8459 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8460 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8461 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8462 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8463 save all jpegs into some directory).
8465 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8468 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8469 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8471 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8472 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8473 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8474 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8475 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8478 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8479 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8480 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8482 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8483 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8484 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8485 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8487 Ready-made functions include@*
8488 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8489 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8490 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8491 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8492 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8493 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8494 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8495 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8496 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8497 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8498 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8499 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8501 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8502 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8504 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8505 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8506 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8509 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8510 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8511 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8512 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8516 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8525 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8526 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8527 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8528 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8529 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8530 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8531 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8533 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8534 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8535 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8536 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8538 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8539 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8540 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8541 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8542 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8543 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8544 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8545 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8547 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8548 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8549 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8550 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8551 quoted-printable header encoding.
8553 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8554 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8555 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8559 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8562 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8563 means encode all charsets),
8565 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8566 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8567 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8574 @cindex coding system aliases
8575 @cindex preferred charset
8577 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8579 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8580 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8583 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8584 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8587 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8588 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8590 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8593 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8596 This will almost do the right thing.
8598 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8602 (codepage-setup 1251)
8603 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8607 @node Article Commands
8608 @section Article Commands
8615 @kindex A P (Summary)
8616 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8617 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8618 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8619 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8620 run just before printing the buffer.
8625 @node Summary Sorting
8626 @section Summary Sorting
8627 @cindex summary sorting
8629 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8630 can't really see why you'd want that.
8635 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8636 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8637 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8640 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8641 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8642 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8645 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8646 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8647 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8650 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8652 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8655 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8656 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8657 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8660 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8661 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8662 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8665 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8667 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8670 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8671 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8672 Sort using the default sorting method
8673 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8676 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8677 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8678 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8679 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8680 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8684 @node Finding the Parent
8685 @section Finding the Parent
8686 @cindex parent articles
8687 @cindex referring articles
8692 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8693 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8694 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8695 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8696 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8697 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8698 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8699 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8700 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8702 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8703 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8704 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
8705 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8706 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8710 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8711 @kindex A R (Summary)
8712 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8713 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8716 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8717 @kindex A T (Summary)
8718 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8719 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8720 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8721 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8722 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8723 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8724 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8726 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8727 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8728 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8729 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8730 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8731 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8734 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8735 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8737 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8738 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8739 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8740 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8741 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8742 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8743 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8746 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8747 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8748 by giving this command a prefix.
8750 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8751 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8752 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8753 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8754 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8755 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8758 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8759 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8760 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8763 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8764 then ask Deja if that fails:
8767 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8769 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8772 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8773 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8774 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8775 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8776 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8777 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8781 @node Alternative Approaches
8782 @section Alternative Approaches
8784 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8785 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8788 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8789 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8794 @subsection Pick and Read
8795 @cindex pick and read
8797 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8798 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8799 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8800 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8802 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8803 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8804 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8805 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8806 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8807 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8809 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8814 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8815 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8816 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8817 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8818 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8819 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8820 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8821 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8824 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8825 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8826 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8827 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8831 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8832 Unpick the thread or article
8833 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8834 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8835 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8836 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8837 the thread or article at that line.
8841 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8842 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8843 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8844 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8845 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8846 will still be visible when you are reading.
8850 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8851 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8852 which is mapped to the same function
8853 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8855 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8858 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8861 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8862 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8864 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8865 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8866 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8868 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8869 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8870 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8871 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8872 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8873 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8874 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8878 @subsection Binary Groups
8879 @cindex binary groups
8881 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8882 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8883 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8884 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8885 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8886 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8887 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8890 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8891 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8892 command, when you have turned on this mode
8893 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8895 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8896 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8900 @section Tree Display
8903 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8904 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
8905 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8906 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8909 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8912 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8913 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8914 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8916 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8917 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8918 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8919 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8920 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8922 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8923 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8924 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8925 default is @code{modeline}.
8927 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8928 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8929 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8930 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8931 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8932 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8933 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8939 The name of the poster.
8941 The @code{From} header.
8943 The number of the article.
8945 The opening bracket.
8947 The closing bracket.
8952 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8954 Variables related to the display are:
8957 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8958 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8959 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8960 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8961 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8962 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8964 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8965 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8966 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8967 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8971 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8972 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8973 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
8974 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
8975 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8976 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8977 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8978 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8979 other windows displayed next to it.
8981 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8982 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8983 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8984 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8985 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8986 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8987 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8991 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8994 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9004 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9008 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9009 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9011 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9013 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9018 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9019 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9020 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9023 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9024 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9025 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9026 (gnus-add-configuration
9030 (summary 0.75 point)
9035 @xref{Window Layout}.
9038 @node Mail Group Commands
9039 @section Mail Group Commands
9040 @cindex mail group commands
9042 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9043 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9045 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9046 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9051 @kindex B e (Summary)
9052 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9053 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9054 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9055 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9056 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9059 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
9060 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9061 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9062 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9063 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9064 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9067 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9068 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9069 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9070 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9071 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9072 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9075 @kindex B m (Summary)
9077 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9078 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9079 Move the article from one mail group to another
9080 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9081 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9084 @kindex B c (Summary)
9086 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9087 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9088 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9089 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9090 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9093 @kindex B B (Summary)
9094 @cindex crosspost mail
9095 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9096 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9097 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9098 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9099 be properly updated.
9102 @kindex B i (Summary)
9103 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9104 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9105 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9106 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9109 @kindex B r (Summary)
9110 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9111 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9112 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9113 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9114 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9115 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9116 (which is the default).
9120 @kindex B w (Summary)
9122 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9123 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9124 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9125 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9126 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9127 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9130 @kindex B q (Summary)
9131 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9132 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9133 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9134 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9137 @kindex B t (Summary)
9138 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9139 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9140 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9143 @kindex B p (Summary)
9144 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9145 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9146 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9147 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9148 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9149 article from your news server (or rather, from
9150 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9151 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9152 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9153 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9154 just not have arrived yet.
9158 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9159 @cindex moving articles
9160 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9161 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9162 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9163 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9164 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9165 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9166 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9169 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9170 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9171 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9172 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9176 @node Various Summary Stuff
9177 @section Various Summary Stuff
9180 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9181 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9182 * Summary Generation Commands::
9183 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9187 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9188 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9189 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9191 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9192 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9193 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9194 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9195 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9196 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9199 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9200 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9201 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9202 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9203 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9205 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9206 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9207 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9210 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9211 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9212 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9213 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9214 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9215 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9216 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9217 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9218 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9219 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9221 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9222 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9223 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9224 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9225 list of articles to be selected.
9227 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9228 the list in one particular group:
9231 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9232 (if (string= group "some.group")
9233 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9240 @node Summary Group Information
9241 @subsection Summary Group Information
9246 @kindex H f (Summary)
9247 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9248 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9249 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9250 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9251 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9252 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9253 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9254 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9255 be used for fetching the file.
9258 @kindex H d (Summary)
9259 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9260 Give a brief description of the current group
9261 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9262 rereading the description from the server.
9265 @kindex H h (Summary)
9266 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9267 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9268 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9271 @kindex H i (Summary)
9272 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9273 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9277 @node Searching for Articles
9278 @subsection Searching for Articles
9283 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9284 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9285 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9286 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9289 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9290 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9291 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9292 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9296 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9297 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9298 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9299 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9300 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9301 search backward instead.
9303 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9304 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9307 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9308 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9309 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9310 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9313 @node Summary Generation Commands
9314 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9319 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9320 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9321 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9324 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9325 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9326 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9327 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9332 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9333 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9339 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9340 @kindex A D (Summary)
9341 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9342 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9343 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9344 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9345 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9346 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9347 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9348 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9352 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
9353 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9354 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9355 several documents into one biiig group
9356 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9357 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9358 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9359 command understands the process/prefix convention
9360 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9363 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9364 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9365 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9366 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9367 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9368 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9372 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9373 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9374 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9377 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
9378 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9379 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9380 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9383 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
9384 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9385 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9386 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9391 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9392 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9393 @cindex summary exit
9394 @cindex exiting groups
9396 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9397 group and return you to the group buffer.
9403 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9405 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9406 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9407 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9408 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9409 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9410 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9411 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9412 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9413 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9414 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9415 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9419 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9421 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9422 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9423 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9427 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9429 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9430 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9431 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9432 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9435 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9436 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9437 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9438 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9441 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9442 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9443 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9444 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9447 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9448 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9449 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9450 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9451 all articles, both read and unread.
9455 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9456 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9457 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9458 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9459 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9460 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9461 articles, both read and unread.
9464 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9465 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9466 Exit the group and go to the next group
9467 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9470 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9471 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9472 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9473 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9476 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9477 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9478 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9479 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9480 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9481 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9484 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9485 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9486 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9487 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9489 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9490 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9491 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9492 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9493 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9494 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9495 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9496 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9497 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9498 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9499 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9500 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9502 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9504 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9505 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9506 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9507 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9508 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9509 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9510 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9511 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9512 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9515 @node Crosspost Handling
9516 @section Crosspost Handling
9520 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9521 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9522 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9523 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9524 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9525 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9528 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9529 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9530 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9531 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9532 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9534 @cindex cross-posting
9537 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9538 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9539 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9540 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9541 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9542 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9543 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9544 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9545 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9546 the cross reference mechanism.
9548 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9549 @cindex overview.fmt
9550 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9551 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9552 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9553 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9554 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9555 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9558 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9559 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9560 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9565 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9568 @node Duplicate Suppression
9569 @section Duplicate Suppression
9571 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9572 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9573 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9574 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9579 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9580 is evil and not very common.
9583 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9584 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9587 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9588 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9591 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9594 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9595 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9597 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9598 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9599 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9600 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9601 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9602 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9603 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9606 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9607 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9608 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9609 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9610 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9614 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9615 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9616 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9618 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9619 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9620 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9621 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9622 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
9623 session are suppressed.
9625 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9626 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9627 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9628 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9630 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9631 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9632 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9633 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9636 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
9637 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9638 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9639 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9640 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
9641 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9642 to you to figure out, I think.
9647 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9648 The formats that are supported are PGP and S/MIME, however you need
9649 some external programs to get things to work:
9653 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9654 gpg.el as well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG). @xref{Using GPG}.
9657 To verify or decrypt S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL.
9658 OpenSSL 0.9.6 or newer is recommended.
9662 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9663 manual. @xref{Security, ,Security, message, The Message Manual}.
9666 @item mm-verify-option
9667 @vindex mm-verify-option
9668 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9669 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9670 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9672 @item mm-decrypt-option
9673 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9674 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9675 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9676 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9681 @section Mailing List
9683 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9684 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9685 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9688 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9691 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9696 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9697 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9698 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9701 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9702 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9703 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9706 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9707 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9708 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9712 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9713 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9714 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9717 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9718 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9719 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9722 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9723 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9724 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9728 @node Article Buffer
9729 @chapter Article Buffer
9730 @cindex article buffer
9732 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9733 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9734 tell gnus otherwise.
9737 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9738 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9739 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9740 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9741 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9745 @node Hiding Headers
9746 @section Hiding Headers
9747 @cindex hiding headers
9748 @cindex deleting headers
9750 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9751 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9753 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9754 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9755 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9756 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9757 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9758 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9759 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9760 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9761 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9763 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9767 @item gnus-visible-headers
9768 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9769 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9770 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9771 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9773 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9774 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9777 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9780 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9783 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9784 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9785 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9786 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9787 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9788 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9790 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
9791 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
9794 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9797 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9800 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9801 variable will have no effect.
9805 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9806 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9807 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9808 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9809 the headers are to be displayed.
9811 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9812 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9815 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9818 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9819 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9821 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9822 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9823 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9824 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9825 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9826 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9827 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9830 These conditions are:
9833 Remove all empty headers.
9835 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9836 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9838 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9841 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9844 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9845 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9847 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9850 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9852 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9855 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9858 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9859 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9862 This is also the default value for this variable.
9869 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9870 while people stand around yawning.
9872 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9873 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9875 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9876 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9877 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9879 @vindex gnus-show-mime
9880 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
9881 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
9882 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
9883 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
9884 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
9885 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
9886 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
9887 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
9888 existed yet, sorry).
9890 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
9891 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
9892 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
9893 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
9894 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
9895 buffer. These can't be avoided.
9897 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
9898 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
9899 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
9900 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
9901 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
9902 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
9903 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
9904 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
9905 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
9908 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9910 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
9911 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
9912 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
9913 buffer when there are nobody else.
9915 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9918 @node Customizing Articles
9919 @section Customizing Articles
9920 @cindex article customization
9922 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9923 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9924 called automatically when you select the articles.
9926 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9927 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9928 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9929 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9931 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9932 for sensible values.
9936 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9939 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9942 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9945 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9948 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9952 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9953 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9954 regexps in the list.
9957 A list where the first element is not a string:
9959 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9960 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9961 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9965 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9969 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
9974 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9975 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9976 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9977 considered to contain just a single part.
9979 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9980 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9981 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9982 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9983 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9984 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9985 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9987 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9988 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9989 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9990 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9993 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9994 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9995 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9996 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9997 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9998 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9999 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10000 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10001 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10002 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10003 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
10004 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10005 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10006 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10007 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10008 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10009 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10010 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10011 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10012 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10013 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10014 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10015 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10016 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10017 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10018 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10019 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10020 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10021 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10022 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10023 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10024 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10025 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10026 @item gnus-treat-translate
10027 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10028 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
10031 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10032 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10033 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10034 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10035 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10039 @node Article Keymap
10040 @section Article Keymap
10042 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10043 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10044 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10045 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10048 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10053 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10054 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10055 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10058 @kindex DEL (Article)
10059 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10060 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10063 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10064 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10065 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10066 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10067 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10070 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10071 @findex gnus-article-mail
10072 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10073 given a prefix, include the mail.
10076 @kindex s (Article)
10077 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10078 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10079 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10082 @kindex ? (Article)
10083 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10084 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10085 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10088 @kindex TAB (Article)
10089 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10090 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10091 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10094 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10095 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10096 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10102 @section Misc Article
10106 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10107 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10108 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10109 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10112 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10113 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10115 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10116 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10118 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10119 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10120 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10121 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10122 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10123 the contents of the article buffer.
10125 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10126 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10127 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10129 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10130 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10131 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10132 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10134 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10135 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10136 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10137 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10138 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10144 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10145 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10146 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10151 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10154 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10157 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10158 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10159 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10162 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10165 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10168 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10173 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10177 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10179 @item gnus-break-pages
10180 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10181 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10182 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10183 paging will not be done.
10185 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10186 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10187 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10192 @node Composing Messages
10193 @chapter Composing Messages
10194 @cindex composing messages
10197 @cindex sending mail
10203 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10204 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10205 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10206 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
10207 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10208 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10211 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10212 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10213 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10214 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10215 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10216 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10217 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10218 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
10221 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10222 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10228 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10231 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10232 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10233 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10234 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10236 @item gnus-add-to-list
10237 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10238 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10239 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10244 @node Posting Server
10245 @section Posting Server
10247 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10248 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10250 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10252 @vindex gnus-post-method
10254 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10255 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10256 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10257 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10258 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10259 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10260 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10263 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10266 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10267 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10268 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10269 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10271 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10272 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10274 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10275 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10278 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10279 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10282 @node Mail and Post
10283 @section Mail and Post
10285 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10289 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10290 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10291 @cindex mailing lists
10293 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10294 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10295 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10296 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10297 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10298 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10299 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10300 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10301 still a pain, though.
10305 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10306 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10307 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10310 @findex ispell-message
10312 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10315 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10316 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10319 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10323 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10324 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10326 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10329 Modify to suit your needs.
10332 @node Archived Messages
10333 @section Archived Messages
10334 @cindex archived messages
10335 @cindex sent messages
10337 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10338 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10339 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10340 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10343 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10344 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
10345 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10348 (nnfolder "archive"
10349 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10350 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10351 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10352 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10355 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10356 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10357 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10358 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10361 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10362 '(nnfolder "archive"
10363 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10364 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10365 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10368 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10370 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10371 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10372 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10374 This variable can be used to do the following:
10379 Messages will be saved in that group.
10381 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10382 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10383 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10384 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10385 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10386 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10387 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10388 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10392 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10394 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10395 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10398 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10403 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10405 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10408 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10410 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10413 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10415 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10416 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10417 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10418 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10421 More complex stuff:
10423 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10424 '((if (message-news-p)
10429 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10430 messages in one file per month:
10433 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10434 '((if (message-news-p)
10436 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10439 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10440 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10442 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10443 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10444 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10445 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10446 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10447 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10448 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10449 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10450 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10451 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10453 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10454 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10455 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10456 this will disable archiving.
10459 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10460 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10461 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10462 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10463 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10466 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10467 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10468 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10471 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10472 but the latter is the preferred method.
10474 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10475 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10476 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10481 @node Posting Styles
10482 @section Posting Styles
10483 @cindex posting styles
10486 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10488 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10489 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10490 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10493 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10494 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10495 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10496 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10497 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10502 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10503 (organization "What me?"))
10505 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10506 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10507 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10510 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10511 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10512 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10513 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10514 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10515 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10516 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10517 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10519 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10520 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10521 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10522 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10523 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10524 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10525 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10526 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10527 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10529 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10530 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10531 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10532 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10533 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10534 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10535 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10536 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10537 result is thrown away.
10539 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10540 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10541 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10542 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10543 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10544 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10546 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10547 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10548 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10550 @findex message-mail-p
10551 @findex message-news-p
10553 So here's a new example:
10556 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10558 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10560 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10561 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10563 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10564 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10565 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10567 (signature my-news-signature))
10568 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10569 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10570 ((posting-from-work-p)
10571 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10572 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10573 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10574 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10576 (From (save-excursion
10577 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10578 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10580 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10583 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10584 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10585 if you fill many roles.
10592 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10593 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10594 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10595 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10596 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10598 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10599 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10600 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10601 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10602 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10606 @vindex nndraft-directory
10607 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10608 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10609 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10610 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10611 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10612 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10614 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10615 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10618 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10619 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10620 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10621 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10622 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10623 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10624 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10625 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10626 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10627 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10628 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10629 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10630 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10631 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10633 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10634 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10635 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10637 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10638 @kindex D e (Draft)
10639 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10640 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10641 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10643 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10646 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10647 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10648 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10649 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10650 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10651 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10652 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10655 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10656 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10657 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10660 @node Rejected Articles
10661 @section Rejected Articles
10662 @cindex rejected articles
10664 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10665 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10666 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10667 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10669 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
10670 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10671 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10672 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
10673 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10675 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10676 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10677 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10683 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10684 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10685 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10687 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10688 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10692 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10693 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10696 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10697 to 700, for your own safety.
10699 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10700 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10704 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10707 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10708 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10711 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10714 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10715 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME,
10716 @kbd{C-c C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also
10717 @kbd{C-c C-m c p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c
10718 C-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME. @xref{Security, ,Security, message,
10719 The Message Manual}.
10721 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10722 you've typed it correctly.
10724 @node Select Methods
10725 @chapter Select Methods
10726 @cindex foreign groups
10727 @cindex select methods
10729 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10730 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10731 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10732 personal mail group.
10734 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10735 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10736 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10737 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10738 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10739 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
10741 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10742 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10744 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
10747 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10748 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10749 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10750 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10751 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10753 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10756 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10757 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10758 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10759 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10760 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
10761 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10762 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10763 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10767 @node Server Buffer
10768 @section Server Buffer
10770 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10771 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10772 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10773 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10774 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10775 back end represents a virtual server.
10777 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
10778 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10779 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
10780 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10782 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10783 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10784 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10785 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10786 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10787 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10788 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10790 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10791 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10794 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10795 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10796 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10797 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10798 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10799 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10800 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10803 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10804 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10807 @node Server Buffer Format
10808 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10809 @cindex server buffer format
10811 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10812 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10813 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10814 variable, with some simple extensions:
10819 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
10822 The name of this server.
10825 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10828 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10831 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10832 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10833 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10834 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10844 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10847 @node Server Commands
10848 @subsection Server Commands
10849 @cindex server commands
10855 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10856 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10860 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10861 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10864 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10865 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10866 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10870 @findex gnus-server-exit
10871 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10875 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10876 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10880 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10881 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10885 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10886 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10890 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10891 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10895 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10896 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10897 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10902 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10903 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10904 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10905 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
10910 @node Example Methods
10911 @subsection Example Methods
10913 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10916 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10919 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10925 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10926 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10929 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10930 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10932 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10933 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10937 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10940 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
10941 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10943 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10944 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10945 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10949 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10952 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10955 Here's the method for a public spool:
10959 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10960 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10966 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10967 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10968 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10969 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10970 should probably look something like this:
10974 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
10975 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
10976 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
10977 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
10980 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10981 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
10982 configuration to the example above:
10985 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
10988 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
10989 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
10990 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
10994 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
10995 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
10996 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
10997 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11000 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11001 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11002 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11003 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11006 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11007 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11009 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11010 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11012 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11013 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11014 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11016 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11018 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11019 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11020 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11021 will contain the following:
11031 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11032 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11033 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11036 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11037 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11038 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11041 @node Server Variables
11042 @subsection Server Variables
11044 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11045 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11046 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11047 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11048 won't change the "derived" variables.
11050 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11051 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11052 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11053 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11054 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11055 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11056 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11057 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11058 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11062 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11063 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11064 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11068 @node Servers and Methods
11069 @subsection Servers and Methods
11071 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11072 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11073 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11074 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11078 @node Unavailable Servers
11079 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11081 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11082 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11083 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11084 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11085 actually the case or not.
11087 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11088 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11089 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11090 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11091 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11092 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11093 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11094 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11096 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11097 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11099 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11100 with the following commands:
11106 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11107 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11108 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11112 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11113 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11114 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11118 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11119 Mark the current server as unreachable
11120 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11123 @kindex M-o (Server)
11124 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11125 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11126 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11129 @kindex M-c (Server)
11130 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11131 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11132 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11136 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11137 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11138 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11144 @section Getting News
11145 @cindex reading news
11146 @cindex news back ends
11148 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11149 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11150 or it can read from a local spool.
11153 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11154 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11159 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11162 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11163 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11164 server as the, uhm, address.
11166 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11167 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11168 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11169 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11171 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11172 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11173 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11175 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11180 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11181 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11182 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11184 @cindex authentification
11185 @cindex nntp authentification
11186 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11187 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11188 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11189 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11190 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11191 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11192 present in this hook.
11194 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11195 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11196 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11197 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11198 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11199 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11200 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11201 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11202 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11203 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11204 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11205 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11209 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11212 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11214 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11215 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11216 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11217 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11218 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11219 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11220 @samp{force} is explained below.
11224 Here's an example file:
11227 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11228 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11231 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11232 have to be first, for instance.
11234 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11235 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11236 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11237 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11238 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11239 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11240 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11242 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11243 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11249 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11250 previously mentioned.
11252 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11254 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11255 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11256 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11257 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11258 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11261 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11262 '(("innd" (ding))))
11265 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11267 The default value is
11270 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11271 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11272 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11275 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11276 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11278 @item nntp-maximum-request
11279 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11280 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11281 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11282 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11283 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11284 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11285 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11287 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11288 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11289 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11290 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11291 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11292 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11293 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11294 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11295 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11296 no timeouts are done.
11298 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11299 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11300 @c @cindex PPP connections
11301 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11302 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11303 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11304 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11305 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11306 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11307 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11308 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11309 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11310 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11312 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11313 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11314 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11315 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11316 @c described above.
11318 @item nntp-server-hook
11319 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11320 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11323 @item nntp-buggy-select
11324 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11325 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11327 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11328 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11329 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11330 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11333 @item nntp-xover-commands
11334 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11337 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11338 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11342 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11343 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11344 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11345 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11346 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11347 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11348 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11349 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11350 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11351 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11352 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11354 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11355 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11356 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11358 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11359 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11360 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11361 server closes connection.
11363 @item nntp-record-commands
11364 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11365 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11366 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11367 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11368 that doesn't seem to work.
11370 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11371 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11372 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11373 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11374 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11375 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11376 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11377 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11379 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11380 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11381 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11382 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11383 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11384 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11385 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11388 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11391 @item nntp-list-options
11392 @vindex nntp-list-options
11393 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
11394 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
11395 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
11396 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
11397 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
11401 (setq gnus-select-method
11402 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11403 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
11406 @item nntp-options-subscribe
11407 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
11408 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
11409 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11410 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11411 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11412 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11415 (setq gnus-select-method
11416 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11417 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
11420 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
11421 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
11422 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
11423 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11424 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11425 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11426 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11429 (setq gnus-select-method
11430 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11431 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
11436 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11437 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11438 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11442 @node Direct Functions
11443 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11444 @cindex direct connection functions
11446 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11447 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11448 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11449 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11452 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11453 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11454 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11457 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11458 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11459 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11460 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11461 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11462 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11463 define a server as follows:
11466 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11468 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11470 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11471 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11472 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11473 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11476 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11477 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11478 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11479 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11480 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11481 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11482 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11483 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11487 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11488 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11489 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11492 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11493 session, which is not a good idea.
11497 @node Indirect Functions
11498 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11499 @cindex indirect connection functions
11501 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11502 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11503 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11504 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11505 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11506 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11509 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11510 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11511 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11512 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11513 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11515 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11518 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11519 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11520 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11521 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11524 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11525 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11526 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11527 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11529 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11532 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11533 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11534 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11537 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11538 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11539 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11540 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11542 @item nntp-via-user-password
11543 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11544 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11546 @item nntp-via-envuser
11547 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11548 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11549 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11550 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11552 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11553 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11554 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11555 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11562 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11567 @item nntp-via-user-name
11568 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11569 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11571 @item nntp-via-address
11572 @vindex nntp-via-address
11573 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11578 @node Common Variables
11579 @subsubsection Common Variables
11581 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11582 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11587 @item nntp-pre-command
11588 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11589 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11590 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11591 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11592 wrapper for instance.
11595 @vindex nntp-address
11596 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11598 @item nntp-port-number
11599 @vindex nntp-port-number
11600 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11602 @item nntp-end-of-line
11603 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11604 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11605 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11606 using a non native connection function.
11608 @item nntp-telnet-command
11609 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11610 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11611 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11612 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11614 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11615 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11616 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11623 @subsection News Spool
11627 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11628 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11629 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11632 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11633 anything else) as the address.
11635 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11636 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11637 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11638 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11642 @item nnspool-inews-program
11643 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11644 Program used to post an article.
11646 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11647 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11648 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11650 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11651 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11652 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11653 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11655 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11656 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11657 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11658 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11660 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11661 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11662 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11664 @item nnspool-active-file
11665 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11666 The path to the active file.
11668 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11669 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11670 The path to the group descriptions file.
11672 @item nnspool-history-file
11673 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11674 The path to the news history file.
11676 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11677 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11678 The path to the active date file.
11680 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11681 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11682 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11685 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11686 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11688 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11689 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11690 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11696 @section Getting Mail
11697 @cindex reading mail
11700 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11704 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11705 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11706 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11707 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11708 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11709 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11710 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11711 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11712 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11713 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11714 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11715 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
11716 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11717 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
11721 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11722 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11724 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11725 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11726 of a culture shock.
11728 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11729 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11731 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11732 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11733 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11734 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11736 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11738 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11739 deleted? How awful!
11741 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11742 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11743 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11744 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11747 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11748 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11749 they want to treat a message.
11751 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11752 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11753 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11754 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11755 archived somewhere else.
11757 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11758 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11759 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11760 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11761 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11763 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11764 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11765 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11767 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11768 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11771 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11772 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11773 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11774 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11775 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11777 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11778 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11779 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11780 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11781 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11782 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11786 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11787 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11789 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11790 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11791 and things will happen automatically.
11793 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11794 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11797 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11800 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
11801 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11802 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11803 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11804 like any other group.
11806 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11809 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11810 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11811 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11815 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11816 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11817 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11820 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11821 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11822 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11825 @node Splitting Mail
11826 @subsection Splitting Mail
11827 @cindex splitting mail
11828 @cindex mail splitting
11830 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11831 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11832 to be split into groups.
11835 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11836 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11837 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11838 ("mail.other" "")))
11841 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11842 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11843 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11844 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11845 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11846 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11847 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11850 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11853 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11854 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11855 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11856 mail belongs in that group.
11858 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11859 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11860 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11861 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11862 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11863 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11865 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11866 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11867 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11868 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11869 thinks should carry this mail message.
11871 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11872 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11873 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11874 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11876 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11877 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11878 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11879 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11880 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11882 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11885 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11886 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11887 links. If that's the case for you, set
11888 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11889 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11891 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11892 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11893 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11894 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11895 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11896 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11899 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11900 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11901 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11902 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11903 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11904 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11905 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11906 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11907 month's rent money.
11911 @subsection Mail Sources
11913 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11914 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11918 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11919 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11920 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11924 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11925 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11927 @cindex mail server
11930 @cindex mail source
11932 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11933 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11938 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11941 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11942 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11943 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11946 The following mail source types are available:
11950 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11956 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11957 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11960 An example file mail source:
11963 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11966 Or using the default path:
11972 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11973 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11974 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11977 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11981 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11984 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11988 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11991 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11993 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11996 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12000 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12001 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12002 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12003 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12004 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12005 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12006 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12007 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12013 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12017 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12021 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12022 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12023 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12024 predicate are considered.
12028 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12032 An example directory mail source:
12035 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12040 Get mail from a POP server.
12046 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12047 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12050 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12051 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12052 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12053 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12054 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12057 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12061 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12065 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12066 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12069 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12072 The valid format specifier characters are:
12076 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12077 included in this string.
12080 The name of the server.
12083 The port number of the server.
12086 The user name to use.
12089 The password to use.
12092 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12093 corresponding keywords.
12096 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12097 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12100 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12101 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12104 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12105 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12108 @item :authentication
12109 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12110 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12115 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12116 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12118 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12119 default user name, and default fetcher:
12125 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12128 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12129 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12132 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12135 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12139 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12140 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12141 contains exactly one mail.
12147 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12148 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12151 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12152 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12154 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12155 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12156 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12159 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12160 from locking problems).
12164 Two example maildir mail sources:
12167 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12168 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12172 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12177 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12178 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12179 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12180 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12183 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12184 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12190 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12191 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12194 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12195 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12198 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12202 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12206 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12207 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12208 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12209 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12211 @item :authentication
12212 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12213 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12214 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12215 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12218 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12219 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12220 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12226 The valid format specifier characters are:
12230 The name of the server.
12233 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12236 The port number of the server.
12239 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12240 corresponding keywords.
12243 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12244 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12247 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12248 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12249 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12250 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12251 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12252 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12255 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12256 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12257 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12258 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12261 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12262 after finishing the fetch.
12266 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12269 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12271 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12275 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12276 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12278 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12281 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12282 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12284 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12290 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12291 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12294 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12298 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12302 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12303 folder after finishing the fetch.
12307 An example webmail source:
12310 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12312 :password "secret")
12317 @item Common Keywords
12318 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12324 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12325 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12329 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12334 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12335 useful when you use local mail and news.
12340 @subsubsection Function Interface
12342 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12343 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12344 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12345 consider the following mail-source setting:
12348 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12349 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12352 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12353 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12354 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12355 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12356 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12358 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12361 @node Mail Source Customization
12362 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12364 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12365 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12369 @item mail-source-crash-box
12370 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12371 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12372 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12374 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12375 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12376 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12378 @item mail-source-directory
12379 @vindex mail-source-directory
12380 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12381 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12382 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12385 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12386 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12387 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12388 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12389 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12390 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12392 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12393 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12394 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12396 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12397 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12398 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12399 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12404 @node Fetching Mail
12405 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12407 @vindex mail-sources
12408 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12409 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12410 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12411 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12413 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12414 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12417 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12418 mail server, you'd say something like:
12423 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12424 :password "secret")))
12427 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12431 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12432 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12435 :password "secret")))
12439 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12440 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12441 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12442 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12443 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12444 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12448 @node Mail Back End Variables
12449 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12451 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12455 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12456 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12457 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12458 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12460 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12461 @item nnmail-split-hook
12462 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12463 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12464 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12465 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12466 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12467 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12468 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12469 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12470 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12473 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12474 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12475 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12476 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12477 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12478 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12479 starting to handle the new mail) and
12480 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12481 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12482 default file modes the new mail files get:
12485 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12486 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12488 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12489 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12492 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12493 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12494 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12495 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12496 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12497 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12498 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12500 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12501 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12502 @findex delete-file
12503 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12505 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12506 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12507 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12508 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12509 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12514 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12515 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12516 @cindex mail splitting
12517 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12519 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12520 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12521 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12522 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12523 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12524 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12526 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12529 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12530 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12531 ;; from real errors.
12532 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12534 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12535 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12536 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12537 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12538 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12539 ;; Other mailing lists...
12540 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12541 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12542 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12543 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12544 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12545 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12546 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12547 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12549 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12550 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12554 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12555 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12556 the five possible split syntaxes:
12561 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12562 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12566 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12567 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12568 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12569 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12570 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12571 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12572 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12573 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12576 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12577 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12578 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12579 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12582 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12583 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12586 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12587 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12590 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12591 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12592 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12593 function should return a @var{split}.
12596 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12597 body of the messages:
12600 (defun split-on-body ()
12602 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12603 (goto-char (point-min))
12604 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12608 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12609 when the @code{:} function is run.
12612 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12613 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12614 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12618 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12622 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12623 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12624 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12625 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12626 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12628 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12629 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12630 are expanded as specified by the variable
12631 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12632 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12635 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12636 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12637 when all this splitting is performed.
12639 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12640 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12641 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12644 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12647 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12648 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12650 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12651 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12652 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12653 groupings 1 through 9.
12655 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12656 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12657 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12658 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12659 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12660 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12661 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12662 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12663 it once per thread.
12665 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12666 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12667 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12670 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12671 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12672 ;; other splits go here
12676 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12677 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12678 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12679 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12680 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12681 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12682 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12683 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12684 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12685 unless the group name matches the regexp
12686 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
12687 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
12688 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
12689 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
12690 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12691 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12692 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12693 messages goes into the new group.
12696 @node Group Mail Splitting
12697 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12698 @cindex mail splitting
12699 @cindex group mail splitting
12701 @findex gnus-group-split
12702 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12703 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12704 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12705 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12706 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12707 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12708 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12709 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12711 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12712 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12713 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12714 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12716 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12717 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12718 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12719 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12720 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12721 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12722 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12724 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12725 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12726 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12727 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12728 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12729 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12730 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12732 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12733 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12734 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12735 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12736 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12737 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12738 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12739 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12740 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12741 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12742 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12743 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12744 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12746 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12751 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12752 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12754 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12755 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12756 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12757 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12759 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12762 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12763 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12764 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12767 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12768 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12769 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12773 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12774 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12775 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12779 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12782 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12783 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12784 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12785 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12786 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12787 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12788 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12789 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12790 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12792 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12793 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12794 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12795 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12796 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12797 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12798 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12799 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12800 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12802 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12803 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12804 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12805 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12806 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12807 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12810 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12813 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12814 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12815 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12816 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12817 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12820 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12821 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12822 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12823 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12825 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12826 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12827 @cindex incorporating old mail
12828 @cindex import old mail
12830 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12831 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12832 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12835 Doing so can be quite easy.
12837 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12838 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12839 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12840 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12841 your @code{nnml} groups.
12847 Go to the group buffer.
12850 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12851 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12854 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12857 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12858 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12861 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12862 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12865 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12866 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12867 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12868 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12869 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12871 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12872 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12873 using the new mail back end.
12876 @node Expiring Mail
12877 @subsection Expiring Mail
12878 @cindex article expiry
12880 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12881 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12882 different approach to mail reading.
12884 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12885 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12886 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12887 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12888 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12889 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12892 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12893 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12894 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12895 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12896 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12897 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12898 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12899 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12901 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12902 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12903 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12904 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12905 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12906 column in the summary buffer.
12908 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12909 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12910 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12911 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12914 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12916 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12917 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12918 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12921 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12922 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12923 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12924 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12925 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12927 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12928 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12931 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12932 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12935 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12936 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12938 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12939 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12940 don't really mix very well.
12942 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12943 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12944 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12945 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12948 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12949 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12950 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12951 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12954 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12956 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12958 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12960 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12962 ((string= group "important")
12968 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12969 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12971 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12972 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12973 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12976 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12977 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12979 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12980 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12981 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12982 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12983 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12984 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12985 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12986 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12987 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12988 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12989 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12990 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12993 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12995 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12999 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13000 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13001 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13002 easier for procmail users.
13004 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13005 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13006 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13007 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13008 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13009 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13010 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13011 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13012 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13013 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13014 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13015 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13016 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13019 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13021 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13022 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13023 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13024 auto-expire turned on.
13028 @subsection Washing Mail
13029 @cindex mail washing
13030 @cindex list server brain damage
13031 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13033 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13034 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13035 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13036 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13037 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13038 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13040 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13041 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13042 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13045 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13046 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13047 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13048 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13051 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13052 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13053 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13054 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13055 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13058 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13059 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13060 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13061 Emacs running on MS machines.
13065 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13066 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13067 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13068 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13071 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13072 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13073 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13074 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13076 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13077 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13078 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13079 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13080 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13081 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13082 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13085 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13086 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13089 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13090 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13093 This can also be done non-destructively with
13094 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13096 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13097 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13098 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13100 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13101 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13103 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13104 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13105 @code{References} headers.
13109 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13110 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13111 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13115 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13116 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13117 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13124 @subsection Duplicates
13126 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13127 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13128 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13129 @cindex duplicate mails
13130 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13131 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13132 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13133 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13134 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13135 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13136 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13137 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13138 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13139 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13140 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13141 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13142 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13144 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13145 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13146 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13147 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13149 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13152 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13153 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13157 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13158 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13159 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13160 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13161 (any mail "mail.misc")
13168 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13169 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13174 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13175 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13176 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13177 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13178 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13181 @node Not Reading Mail
13182 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13184 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13185 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13186 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13188 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13189 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13190 mail, which should help.
13192 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13193 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13194 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13195 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13196 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13197 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13198 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13199 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13200 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13201 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13202 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13204 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13205 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13209 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13210 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13212 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13213 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13214 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13216 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13217 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13218 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13219 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13222 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13223 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13224 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13225 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13226 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13227 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13231 @node Unix Mail Box
13232 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13234 @cindex unix mail box
13236 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13237 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13238 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13239 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13240 which group it belongs in.
13242 Virtual server settings:
13245 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13246 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13247 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13250 @item nnmbox-active-file
13251 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13252 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13253 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13255 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13256 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13257 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13258 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13263 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13267 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13268 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13269 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13270 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13271 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13273 Virtual server settings:
13276 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13277 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13278 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13280 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13281 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13282 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13283 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13285 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13286 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13287 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13293 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13295 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13297 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13298 format. It should be used with some caution.
13300 @vindex nnml-directory
13301 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13302 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13303 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13304 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13306 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13309 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13310 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13311 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13312 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13313 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13314 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13315 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13316 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13318 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13319 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13320 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13321 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13323 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13324 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13325 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13326 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13327 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13328 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13329 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13330 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13331 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13334 Virtual server settings:
13337 @item nnml-directory
13338 @vindex nnml-directory
13339 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13340 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13343 @item nnml-active-file
13344 @vindex nnml-active-file
13345 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13346 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13348 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13349 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13350 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13351 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13353 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13354 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13355 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13358 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13359 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13360 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13361 default is @code{nil}.
13363 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13364 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13365 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13367 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13368 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13369 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13371 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13372 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13373 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13374 default is @code{nil}.
13376 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13377 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13378 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13382 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13383 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13384 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13385 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13386 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13387 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13388 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13393 @subsubsection MH Spool
13395 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13397 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13398 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13399 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13400 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13402 Virtual server settings:
13405 @item nnmh-directory
13406 @vindex nnmh-directory
13407 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13408 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13411 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13412 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13413 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13417 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13418 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13419 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13420 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13421 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13422 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13423 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13428 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13430 @cindex mbox folders
13431 @cindex mail folders
13433 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13434 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13435 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13438 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13439 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13440 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13441 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13442 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13443 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13444 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13445 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13446 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13447 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13448 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13450 Virtual server settings:
13453 @item nnfolder-directory
13454 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13455 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13456 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13459 @item nnfolder-active-file
13460 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13461 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13463 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13464 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13465 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13466 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13468 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13469 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13470 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13473 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13474 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13475 @cindex backup files
13476 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13477 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13478 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13479 your @file{.emacs} file:
13482 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13483 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13485 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13488 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13489 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13490 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13491 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13492 extract some information from it before removing it.
13494 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13495 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13496 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13497 default is @code{nil}.
13499 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13500 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13501 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13503 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13504 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13505 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13506 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13508 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13509 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13510 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13511 default is @code{nil}.
13513 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13514 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13515 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13517 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13518 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13519 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13520 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13525 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13526 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13527 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13528 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13529 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13530 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13533 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13534 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13536 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13537 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13538 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13539 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13540 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13542 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13543 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13544 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13545 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13546 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13547 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13548 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13549 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13552 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13553 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13554 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13555 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13560 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13561 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13562 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13563 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13564 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13565 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13566 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13567 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13568 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13569 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13570 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13571 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13572 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13577 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13578 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13579 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13580 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13581 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13582 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13583 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13584 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13585 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13586 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13587 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13588 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13589 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13590 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13592 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13593 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13598 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13599 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13600 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13601 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13602 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13603 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13604 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13605 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13606 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13607 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13608 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13609 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13610 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13611 provided by the active file and overviews.
13613 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13614 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13615 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13616 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13617 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13620 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13621 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13626 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13627 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13628 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13629 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13630 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13631 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13632 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13636 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13637 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13638 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13639 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13640 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13641 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13642 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13643 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13644 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13646 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13647 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13648 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13649 friendly mail back end all over.
13654 @node Browsing the Web
13655 @section Browsing the Web
13657 @cindex browsing the web
13661 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13662 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13663 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13664 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13665 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13666 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13667 even know what a news group is.
13669 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
13670 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
13671 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
13672 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
13673 you mad in the end.
13675 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
13678 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
13679 interfaces to these sources.
13682 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
13683 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
13684 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13685 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13686 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13687 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13690 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13692 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13693 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13694 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
13695 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
13696 though, you should be ok.
13698 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13699 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13700 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13701 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13702 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13704 @node Archiving Mail
13705 @subsection Archiving Mail
13706 @cindex archiving mail
13707 @cindex backup of mail
13709 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
13710 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
13711 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
13713 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
13714 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
13717 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
13718 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
13719 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
13720 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
13721 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
13722 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
13723 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
13726 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
13727 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
13728 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
13729 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
13730 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
13731 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
13732 notice the new directory.
13735 @subsection Web Searches
13739 @cindex InReference
13740 @cindex Usenet searches
13741 @cindex searching the Usenet
13743 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13744 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13745 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13746 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13747 searches without having to use a browser.
13749 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13750 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13751 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13752 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13753 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13755 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13756 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13757 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13758 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13759 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13760 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13761 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13762 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13763 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13764 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13767 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13768 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13769 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13770 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13771 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13772 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13774 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13775 to use @code{nnweb}.
13777 Virtual server variables:
13782 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13783 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13787 @vindex nnweb-search
13788 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13790 @item nnweb-max-hits
13791 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13792 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13795 @item nnweb-type-definition
13796 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13797 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13798 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13803 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13807 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13810 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13813 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13817 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13824 @subsection Slashdot
13828 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13829 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13830 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13832 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13833 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13836 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13837 '((nnslashdot "")))
13840 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
13841 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13842 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13843 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13844 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13847 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13848 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13850 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13851 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13852 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13853 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13854 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13855 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13858 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13861 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13862 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13863 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13864 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13865 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13866 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13867 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13869 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13870 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13871 The login name to use when posting.
13873 @item nnslashdot-password
13874 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13875 The password to use when posting.
13877 @item nnslashdot-directory
13878 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13879 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
13880 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13882 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13883 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13884 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13885 news articles and comments. The default is
13886 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13888 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13889 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13890 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13892 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13894 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13895 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13896 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13898 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13900 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13901 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13902 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13904 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13905 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13906 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13907 updated. The default is 0.
13914 @subsection Ultimate
13916 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13918 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13919 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13920 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13921 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13923 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13924 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13925 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13926 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13927 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13928 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13929 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13931 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13934 @item nnultimate-directory
13935 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13936 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13937 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13942 @subsection Web Archive
13944 @cindex Web Archive
13946 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13947 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13948 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13949 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13952 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13953 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13954 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13955 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13956 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13957 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13958 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13960 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13963 @item nnwarchive-directory
13964 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13965 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13966 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13968 @item nnwarchive-login
13969 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13970 The account name on the web server.
13972 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13973 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13974 The password for your account on the web server.
13982 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
13983 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
13984 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13987 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
13988 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
13991 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
13994 @item nnrss-directory
13995 @vindex nnrss-directory
13996 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
13997 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14001 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14002 the summary buffer.
14005 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14006 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14008 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14010 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14011 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14014 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14017 (require 'browse-url)
14019 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14021 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14024 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14025 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14027 (browse-url (cdr url))
14028 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14030 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14031 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14032 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14033 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14036 @node Customizing w3
14037 @subsection Customizing w3
14043 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14044 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14045 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14047 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14048 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14049 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14052 (eval-after-load "w3"
14054 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14055 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14056 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14057 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14059 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14062 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14063 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14071 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14072 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14073 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14074 specify the network address of the server.
14076 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14077 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14078 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14079 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14080 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14082 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14083 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14084 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14085 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14087 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14088 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14089 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14090 usage explained in this section.
14092 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14093 might look something like this:
14096 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14097 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14098 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14100 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14101 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14102 ; a UW server running on localhost
14104 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14105 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14106 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14107 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14108 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14109 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14110 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14111 (nnimap-stream network))
14112 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14114 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14115 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14116 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14119 (Note that for SSL/TLS to work, you need the external library
14120 @samp{ssl.el}, see below.)
14122 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14127 @item nnimap-address
14128 @vindex nnimap-address
14130 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14131 server name if not specified.
14133 @item nnimap-server-port
14134 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14135 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14137 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14140 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14141 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14144 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14145 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14146 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14147 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14148 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14149 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14150 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14152 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14153 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14154 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14157 Example server specification:
14160 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14161 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14162 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14165 @item nnimap-stream
14166 @vindex nnimap-stream
14167 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14168 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14169 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14170 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14172 Example server specification:
14175 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14176 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14179 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14183 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
14184 @samp{imtest} program.
14186 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14188 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14189 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14192 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14193 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14194 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14196 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14198 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14201 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14202 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14203 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14204 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14205 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14206 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14207 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14208 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14209 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14212 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14213 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14214 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14215 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14216 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14217 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14218 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14219 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14220 distribution, for instance).
14222 @vindex imap-shell-program
14223 @vindex imap-shell-host
14224 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14225 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14227 @item nnimap-authenticator
14228 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14230 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14231 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14233 Example server specification:
14236 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14237 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14240 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14244 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14245 external program @code{imtest}.
14247 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14250 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14251 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14253 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14255 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14257 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14260 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14262 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14263 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14264 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14265 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14266 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14267 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14270 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14271 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14272 running in circles yet?
14274 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14275 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14278 The possible options are:
14283 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14286 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14287 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14288 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14289 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14291 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14296 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14297 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14299 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14300 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14301 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14302 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14303 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14305 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14306 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14309 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14310 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14311 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14312 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14315 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14316 as ticked for other users.
14318 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14320 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14322 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14323 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14324 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14325 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14327 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14328 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14329 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14330 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14332 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14333 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14335 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14336 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14337 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14343 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14344 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14345 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14350 @node Splitting in IMAP
14351 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14352 @cindex splitting imap mail
14354 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14355 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14356 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14357 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14358 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14362 Here are the variables of interest:
14366 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14367 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14369 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14371 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14372 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14374 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14376 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14377 @cindex splitting, inbox
14379 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14381 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14382 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14386 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14387 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14390 No nnmail equivalent.
14392 @item nnimap-split-rule
14393 @cindex Splitting, rules
14394 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14396 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14399 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14400 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14401 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14402 Neither did I, we need examples.
14405 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14407 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14408 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14409 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14412 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14413 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14414 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14416 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14417 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14421 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14424 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14425 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14426 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14427 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14429 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14430 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14431 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14432 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14433 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14434 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14436 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14437 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14438 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14440 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14441 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14442 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14444 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14446 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14447 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14448 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14451 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14452 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14453 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14454 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14455 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14456 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14459 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14460 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14461 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14462 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14463 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14464 group/function elements.
14466 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14468 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14470 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14472 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14473 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14475 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14476 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14477 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14480 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14481 @cindex splitting, fancy
14482 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14483 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14485 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14486 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14487 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14489 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14490 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14491 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14492 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14497 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14498 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14501 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14505 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14506 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14507 @cindex editing imap acls
14508 @cindex Access Control Lists
14509 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14511 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14513 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14514 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14515 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14518 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14519 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14520 editing window with detailed instructions.
14522 Some possible uses:
14526 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14527 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14528 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14530 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14531 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14532 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14536 @node Expunging mailboxes
14537 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14541 @cindex Manual expunging
14543 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14545 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14546 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14547 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14549 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14554 @node Other Sources
14555 @section Other Sources
14557 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14558 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14562 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14563 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14564 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14565 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14566 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14570 @node Directory Groups
14571 @subsection Directory Groups
14573 @cindex directory groups
14575 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14576 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14579 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14580 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14581 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14582 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14584 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14585 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14586 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14587 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14588 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14590 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14592 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14593 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14594 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14595 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14598 @node Anything Groups
14599 @subsection Anything Groups
14602 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14603 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14604 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14607 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14608 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14609 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14610 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14611 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14612 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14613 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14614 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14615 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14616 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14619 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14620 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14621 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14622 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14624 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14625 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14626 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14627 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14629 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14630 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14631 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14632 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14633 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14634 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14635 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14636 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14641 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14642 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14643 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14644 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14646 @item nneething-exclude-files
14647 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14648 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14649 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14651 @item nneething-include-files
14652 @vindex nneething-include-files
14653 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14654 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14656 @item nneething-map-file
14657 @vindex nneething-map-file
14658 Name of the map files.
14662 @node Document Groups
14663 @subsection Document Groups
14665 @cindex documentation group
14668 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
14669 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
14676 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
14681 The standard Unix mbox file.
14683 @cindex MMDF mail box
14685 The MMDF mail box format.
14688 Several news articles appended into a file.
14691 @cindex rnews batch files
14692 The rnews batch transport format.
14693 @cindex forwarded messages
14696 Forwarded articles.
14699 Netscape mail boxes.
14702 MIME multipart messages.
14704 @item standard-digest
14705 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
14708 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
14711 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
14712 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
14713 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
14716 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
14717 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
14718 group. And that's it.
14720 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
14721 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
14722 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
14723 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
14724 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
14725 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
14726 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
14727 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
14728 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
14729 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
14731 Virtual server variables:
14734 @item nndoc-article-type
14735 @vindex nndoc-article-type
14736 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
14737 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
14738 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
14739 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
14740 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
14742 @item nndoc-post-type
14743 @vindex nndoc-post-type
14744 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
14745 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
14750 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
14754 @node Document Server Internals
14755 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
14757 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
14758 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
14759 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
14760 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
14762 First, here's an example document type definition:
14766 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
14767 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
14770 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
14771 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
14772 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
14773 types can be defined with very few settings:
14776 @item first-article
14777 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
14778 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
14781 @item article-begin
14782 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
14783 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
14785 @item head-begin-function
14786 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
14789 @item nndoc-head-begin
14790 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
14793 @item nndoc-head-end
14794 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
14795 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
14797 @item body-begin-function
14798 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
14802 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
14805 @item body-end-function
14806 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
14810 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
14813 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
14814 regexp will be totally ignored.
14818 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
14819 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
14820 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
14821 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
14822 something that's palatable for Gnus:
14825 @item prepare-body-function
14826 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
14827 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
14828 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
14830 @item article-transform-function
14831 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
14832 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
14833 body of the article.
14835 @item generate-head-function
14836 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
14837 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
14838 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
14839 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
14843 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
14848 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14849 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14850 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
14851 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
14852 (head-end . "^ ?$")
14853 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
14854 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
14855 (subtype digest guess))
14858 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
14859 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
14860 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
14861 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
14862 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
14864 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
14865 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
14866 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
14867 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
14868 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
14869 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
14870 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
14871 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
14872 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
14873 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
14881 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
14882 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
14883 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
14885 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
14886 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
14887 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
14890 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
14891 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
14892 that interested in doing things properly.
14894 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
14895 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
14898 First some terminology:
14903 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
14904 get news and/or mail from.
14907 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
14908 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
14911 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
14915 @item message packets
14916 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
14917 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
14918 default, where @var{x} is a number.
14920 @item response packets
14921 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
14922 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
14923 default, where @var{x} is a number.
14933 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
14934 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
14935 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
14936 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
14939 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
14942 You put the packet in your home directory.
14945 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
14946 the native or secondary server.
14949 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
14950 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
14953 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
14957 You transfer this packet to the server.
14960 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
14963 You then repeat until you die.
14967 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
14968 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
14971 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
14972 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
14973 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
14977 @node SOUP Commands
14978 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
14980 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
14984 @kindex G s b (Group)
14985 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
14986 Pack all unread articles in the current group
14987 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
14988 process/prefix convention.
14991 @kindex G s w (Group)
14992 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
14993 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
14996 @kindex G s s (Group)
14997 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
14998 Send all replies from the replies packet
14999 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15002 @kindex G s p (Group)
15003 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15004 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15007 @kindex G s r (Group)
15008 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15009 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15012 @kindex O s (Summary)
15013 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15014 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15015 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15016 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15021 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15026 @item gnus-soup-directory
15027 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15028 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15029 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15031 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15032 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15033 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15034 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15036 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15037 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15038 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15039 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15041 @item gnus-soup-packer
15042 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15043 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15044 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15046 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15047 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15048 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15049 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15051 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15052 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15053 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15055 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15056 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15057 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15058 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15064 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15067 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15068 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15069 you can read them at leisure.
15071 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15075 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15076 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15077 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15078 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15080 @item nnsoup-directory
15081 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15082 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15083 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15085 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15086 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15087 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15088 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15090 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15091 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15092 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15093 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15094 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15096 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15097 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15098 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15099 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15101 @item nnsoup-active-file
15102 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15103 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15104 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15105 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15106 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15108 @item nnsoup-packer
15109 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15110 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15111 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15113 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15114 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15115 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15116 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15118 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15119 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15120 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15123 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15124 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15125 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15128 @item nnsoup-always-save
15129 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15130 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15136 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15138 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15139 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15140 more for that to happen.
15142 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15143 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15144 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15147 In specific, this is what it does:
15150 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15151 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15154 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15155 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15156 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15159 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15160 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15161 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15164 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15165 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15166 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15168 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15174 @item nngateway-address
15175 @vindex nngateway-address
15176 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15178 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15179 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15180 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15181 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15182 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15183 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15184 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15187 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15188 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15189 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15192 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15195 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15198 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15201 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15203 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15206 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15207 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15208 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15210 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15212 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15213 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15214 @code{nngateway-address}.
15219 (setq gnus-post-method
15221 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15222 (nngateway-header-transformation
15223 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15231 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15234 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15239 @node Combined Groups
15240 @section Combined Groups
15242 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15246 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15247 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15251 @node Virtual Groups
15252 @subsection Virtual Groups
15254 @cindex virtual groups
15255 @cindex merging groups
15257 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15260 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15261 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15262 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15264 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15265 regexp to match component groups.
15267 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15268 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15269 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15270 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15271 the virtual group.)
15273 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15274 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15277 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15280 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15281 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15283 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15284 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15285 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15286 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15289 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15292 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15293 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15294 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15296 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15297 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15298 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15299 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15300 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15302 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15303 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15304 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15306 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15307 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15308 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15309 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15310 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15311 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15312 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15313 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15314 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15315 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15316 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15318 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15319 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15320 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15321 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15322 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15323 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15324 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15326 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15327 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15331 @node Kibozed Groups
15332 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15336 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15337 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15338 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15339 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15341 @kindex G k (Group)
15342 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15345 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15346 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15347 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15348 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15350 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15351 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15352 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15354 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15355 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15356 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15357 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15358 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15359 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15360 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15361 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15363 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15364 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15365 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15366 Stranger things have happened.
15368 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15369 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15371 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15372 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15373 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15374 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15375 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15376 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15378 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15379 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15382 @node Gnus Unplugged
15383 @section Gnus Unplugged
15388 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15390 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15391 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15392 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15393 read news. Believe it or not.
15395 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15396 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15397 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15398 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15399 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15401 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15402 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15403 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15404 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15405 reading news on a machine.
15407 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15411 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15412 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15416 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15417 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15424 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15426 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15429 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15430 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15431 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15432 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15433 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15434 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15435 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15436 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15437 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15438 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15443 @subsection Agent Basics
15445 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15447 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15448 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15449 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15450 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15452 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15453 connected to the net continuously.
15455 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15456 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15458 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15463 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15464 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15465 already fetched while in this mode.
15468 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15469 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15470 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15471 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15472 Source Specifiers}).
15475 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15476 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15477 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15478 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15479 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15482 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15483 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15484 then you read the news offline.
15487 And then you go to step 2.
15490 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15496 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15497 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15498 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15499 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15500 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15501 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15504 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15511 @node Agent Categories
15512 @subsection Agent Categories
15514 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15515 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15516 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15517 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15518 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15519 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15520 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15522 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15523 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15524 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15525 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15526 managing categories.
15529 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15530 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15531 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15535 @node Category Syntax
15536 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15538 A category consists of two things.
15542 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15543 are eligible for downloading; and
15546 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15547 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15548 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15551 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15552 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15553 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15554 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15556 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15557 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15558 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15560 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15561 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15562 operators sprinkled in between.
15564 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15566 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15567 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15573 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15574 short (for some value of ``short'').
15576 Here's a more complex predicate:
15585 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15586 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15589 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15590 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15591 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15593 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15594 you want to do, you can write your own.
15598 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15599 lines; default 100.
15602 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15603 lines; default 200.
15606 True iff the article has a download score less than
15607 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15610 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15611 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15614 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15615 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15616 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15625 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15626 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15627 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15630 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15631 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15632 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15633 something along the lines of the following:
15636 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15637 "Say whether an article is old."
15638 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15639 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15642 with the predicate then defined as:
15645 (not my-article-old-p)
15648 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15649 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15650 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15651 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15654 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15655 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15656 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15659 and simply specify your predicate as:
15665 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
15666 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
15667 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
15668 just don't give a damn.
15670 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
15671 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
15672 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
15673 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
15674 parameters like so:
15677 (agent-predicate . short)
15680 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
15681 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
15682 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
15684 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
15687 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
15690 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
15691 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
15692 predicate is assumed to be a list.
15695 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
15696 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
15697 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
15698 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
15699 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
15700 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
15702 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
15703 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
15704 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
15705 if it's to be specific to that group.
15707 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
15714 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
15715 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
15721 Category specification
15725 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15731 Group Parameter specification
15734 (agent-score ("from"
15735 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15740 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
15746 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
15753 Category specification
15756 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
15762 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
15766 Group Parameter specification
15769 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
15772 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
15777 Use @code{normal} score files
15779 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
15780 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15781 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15782 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15784 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15785 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15786 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15787 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15791 Category Specification
15798 Group Parameter specification
15801 (agent-score . file)
15806 @node Category Buffer
15807 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15809 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15810 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15811 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15813 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15817 @kindex q (Category)
15818 @findex gnus-category-exit
15819 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15822 @kindex k (Category)
15823 @findex gnus-category-kill
15824 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15827 @kindex c (Category)
15828 @findex gnus-category-copy
15829 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15832 @kindex a (Category)
15833 @findex gnus-category-add
15834 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15837 @kindex p (Category)
15838 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15839 Edit the predicate of the current category
15840 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15843 @kindex g (Category)
15844 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15845 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15846 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15849 @kindex s (Category)
15850 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15851 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15852 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15855 @kindex l (Category)
15856 @findex gnus-category-list
15857 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
15861 @node Category Variables
15862 @subsubsection Category Variables
15865 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
15866 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
15867 Hook run in category buffers.
15869 @item gnus-category-line-format
15870 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
15871 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
15872 Variables}). Valid elements are:
15876 The name of the category.
15879 The number of groups in the category.
15882 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
15883 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
15884 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
15886 @item gnus-agent-short-article
15887 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
15888 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
15890 @item gnus-agent-long-article
15891 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
15892 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
15894 @item gnus-agent-low-score
15895 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
15896 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
15899 @item gnus-agent-high-score
15900 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
15901 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
15907 @node Agent Commands
15908 @subsection Agent Commands
15910 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
15911 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
15912 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
15916 * Group Agent Commands::
15917 * Summary Agent Commands::
15918 * Server Agent Commands::
15921 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
15922 following incantation:
15924 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15926 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15931 @node Group Agent Commands
15932 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15936 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15937 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15938 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15939 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15942 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15943 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15944 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15947 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15948 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15949 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15950 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15953 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15954 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15955 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15956 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15959 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15960 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15961 Add the current group to an Agent category
15962 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15963 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15966 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15967 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15968 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15969 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15970 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15973 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15974 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15975 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15981 @node Summary Agent Commands
15982 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15986 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15987 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15988 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15991 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15992 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15993 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15994 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15997 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15998 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15999 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16002 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16003 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16004 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16007 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16008 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16009 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16010 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16015 @node Server Agent Commands
16016 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16020 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16021 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16022 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16023 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16026 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16027 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16028 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16029 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16035 @subsection Agent Expiry
16037 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16038 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16039 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16040 @cindex Agent expiry
16041 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16044 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16045 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16046 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16047 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16048 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16049 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16051 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16052 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16053 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16054 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16055 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16058 @node Agent and IMAP
16059 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16061 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16062 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16063 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16064 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16066 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16067 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16068 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16069 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16071 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16072 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16073 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16074 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16075 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16077 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16078 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16079 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16080 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16081 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16082 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16084 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16085 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16086 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16087 in the group buffer by default.
16089 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16090 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16095 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16098 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16102 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16103 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16104 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16105 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16106 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16107 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16108 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16109 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16112 @node Outgoing Messages
16113 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16115 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16116 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16117 after posting, and edit them at will.
16119 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16120 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16121 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16122 messages in the draft group.
16126 @node Agent Variables
16127 @subsection Agent Variables
16130 @item gnus-agent-directory
16131 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16132 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16133 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16135 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16136 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16137 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16138 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16139 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16142 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16143 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16144 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16146 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16147 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16148 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16153 @node Example Setup
16154 @subsection Example Setup
16156 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16157 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16158 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16161 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16162 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16163 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16165 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16166 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16167 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16169 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16170 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16172 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16176 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16177 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16180 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16181 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16182 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16183 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16184 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16187 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16188 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16189 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16190 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16191 back all the killed groups.)
16193 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16194 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16195 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16198 @node Batching Agents
16199 @subsection Batching Agents
16201 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16202 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16203 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16207 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16211 @node Agent Caveats
16212 @subsection Agent Caveats
16214 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16215 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16219 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16224 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16225 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16231 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16232 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16239 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16240 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16241 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16244 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16245 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16246 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16247 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16248 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16250 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16251 before generating the summary buffer.
16253 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16254 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16255 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16257 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16258 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16259 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16260 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16263 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16264 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16265 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16266 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16267 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16268 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16269 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16270 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16271 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16272 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16273 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16274 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16275 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16276 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16277 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16278 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16279 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16283 @node Summary Score Commands
16284 @section Summary Score Commands
16285 @cindex score commands
16287 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16288 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16289 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16290 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16291 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16293 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16294 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16295 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16296 score file the current one.
16298 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16303 @kindex V s (Summary)
16304 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16305 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16308 @kindex V S (Summary)
16309 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16310 Display the score of the current article
16311 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16314 @kindex V t (Summary)
16315 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16316 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16317 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16320 @kindex V R (Summary)
16321 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16322 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16323 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16324 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16325 effect you're having.
16328 @kindex V c (Summary)
16329 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16330 Make a different score file the current
16331 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16334 @kindex V e (Summary)
16335 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16336 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16337 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16341 @kindex V f (Summary)
16342 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16343 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16344 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16347 @kindex V F (Summary)
16348 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16349 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16350 after editing score files.
16353 @kindex V C (Summary)
16354 @findex gnus-score-customize
16355 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16356 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16360 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16365 @kindex V m (Summary)
16366 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16367 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16368 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16371 @kindex V x (Summary)
16372 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16373 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16374 expunge all articles below this score
16375 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16378 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16379 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16382 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16383 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16387 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16388 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16390 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16391 keys are available:
16395 Score on the author name.
16398 Score on the subject line.
16401 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16404 Score on the @code{References} line.
16410 Score on the number of lines.
16413 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16416 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16417 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16418 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16427 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16433 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16434 what headers you are scoring on.
16446 Substring matching.
16449 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16478 Greater than number.
16483 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16484 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16485 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16489 Temporary score entry.
16492 Permanent score entry.
16495 Immediately scoring.
16500 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16501 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16502 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16503 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16505 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16506 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16507 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16508 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16509 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16511 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16512 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16513 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16514 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16515 current score file.
16517 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16518 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16519 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16522 @node Group Score Commands
16523 @section Group Score Commands
16524 @cindex group score commands
16526 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16531 @kindex W f (Group)
16532 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16533 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16534 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16535 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16539 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16541 @findex gnus-batch-score
16542 @cindex batch scoring
16544 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16548 @node Score Variables
16549 @section Score Variables
16550 @cindex score variables
16554 @item gnus-use-scoring
16555 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16556 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16557 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16559 @item gnus-kill-killed
16560 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16561 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16562 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16563 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16564 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16565 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16566 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16568 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16569 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16570 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16571 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16572 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16574 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16575 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16576 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16577 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16579 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16580 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16581 @cindex score cache
16582 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16583 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16584 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
16585 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16586 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16587 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16590 @item gnus-save-score
16591 @vindex gnus-save-score
16592 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16593 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16594 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16596 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16597 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16598 across group visits.
16600 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16601 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16602 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16603 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16604 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16605 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16606 manually entered data.
16608 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16609 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16610 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16612 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16613 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16614 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16615 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16616 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16617 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16619 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16620 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16621 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16622 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16624 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16625 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16626 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16627 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16629 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16630 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16631 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16632 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16634 Predefined functions available are:
16637 @item gnus-score-find-single
16638 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16639 Only apply the group's own score file.
16641 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16642 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16643 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16644 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16645 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16646 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16647 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16648 then a regexp match is done.
16650 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16651 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16653 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16654 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16655 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16656 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16658 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16659 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16660 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
16661 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
16662 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
16666 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
16667 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
16668 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
16669 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
16670 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
16671 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
16672 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
16675 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
16676 overall score file, you could use the value
16678 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
16679 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
16682 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
16683 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
16684 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
16685 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
16686 are expired. It's 7 by default.
16688 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16689 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16690 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
16691 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
16692 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
16693 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
16694 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
16697 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16698 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16699 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
16701 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
16702 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
16703 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
16704 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
16705 threading---according to the current value of
16706 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
16707 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
16708 simplified in this manner.
16713 @node Score File Format
16714 @section Score File Format
16715 @cindex score file format
16717 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
16718 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
16719 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
16721 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
16725 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
16727 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
16729 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
16731 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
16736 (mark-and-expunge -10)
16740 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
16741 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
16742 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
16743 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
16747 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
16748 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
16750 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
16751 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
16752 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
16754 Six keys are supported by this alist:
16759 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
16760 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
16761 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
16762 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
16763 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
16764 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
16765 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
16766 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
16767 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
16768 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
16769 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
16770 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
16771 to articles that matches these score entries.
16773 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
16774 score entry has one to four elements.
16778 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
16779 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
16783 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
16784 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
16785 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
16786 is successful. If this element is not present, the
16787 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
16788 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16791 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16792 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16793 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16794 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16795 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16798 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16799 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16800 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16801 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16804 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16805 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16806 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16807 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16808 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16809 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16810 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16811 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16812 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16813 instead, if you feel like.
16816 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16817 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16819 These predicates are true if
16822 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16825 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16826 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16833 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16834 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16835 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16836 it's not. I think.)
16838 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
16839 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16840 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16841 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16844 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16845 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16846 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16847 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16848 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16849 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16850 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16854 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16855 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16856 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
16857 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
16858 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
16859 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
16860 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
16861 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
16864 @item Head, Body, All
16865 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
16869 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
16870 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
16871 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
16872 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
16873 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
16874 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
16875 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
16879 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
16880 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
16881 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
16882 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
16883 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
16884 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
16885 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
16886 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
16887 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
16888 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
16889 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
16893 @cindex Score File Atoms
16895 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16896 lower than this number will be marked as read.
16899 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16900 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
16902 @item mark-and-expunge
16903 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16904 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
16907 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
16908 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
16909 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
16910 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
16911 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
16914 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
16915 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
16918 @item exclude-files
16919 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
16920 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
16924 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
16925 ignored when handling global score files.
16928 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
16929 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
16930 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
16931 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
16934 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16935 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16936 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16937 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16939 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16943 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16946 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16947 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16948 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16949 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16950 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16952 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
16953 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
16954 scoring rules exist.
16957 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16958 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16959 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16960 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16961 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16962 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16963 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16964 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16965 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16966 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16967 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16971 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16972 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16973 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16974 file for a number of groups.
16977 @cindex local variables
16978 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16979 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16980 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16981 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16982 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16986 @node Score File Editing
16987 @section Score File Editing
16989 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16990 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16991 with a mode for that.
16993 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16994 additional commands:
16999 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17000 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17001 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17002 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17005 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17006 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17007 Insert the current date in numerical format
17008 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17009 you were wondering.
17012 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17013 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17014 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17015 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17016 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17021 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17023 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17024 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17026 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17027 e} to begin editing score files.
17030 @node Adaptive Scoring
17031 @section Adaptive Scoring
17032 @cindex adaptive scoring
17034 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17035 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17036 stupidity, to be precise.
17038 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17039 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17040 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17041 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17042 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17043 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17044 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17045 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17046 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17048 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17049 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17050 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17051 might look something like this:
17054 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17055 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17056 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17057 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17058 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17059 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17060 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17061 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17062 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17063 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17064 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17065 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17068 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17069 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17070 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17071 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17072 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17073 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17076 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17077 will be applied to each article.
17079 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17080 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17081 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17082 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17084 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17085 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17086 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17087 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17089 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17090 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17091 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17092 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17094 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17095 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17096 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17097 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17098 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17099 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17101 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17102 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17103 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17104 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17105 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17106 aspirins afterwards.)
17108 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17109 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17110 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17112 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17113 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17114 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17116 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17117 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17118 let you use different rules in different groups.
17120 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17121 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17122 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17125 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17126 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17127 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17128 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17129 the length of the match is less than
17130 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17131 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17134 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17135 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17136 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17137 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17138 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17141 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17142 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17143 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17144 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17145 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17148 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17149 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17150 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17151 score with 30 points.
17153 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17154 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17155 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17156 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17157 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17159 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17160 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17161 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17162 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17163 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17165 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17166 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17167 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17168 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17170 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17171 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17172 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17173 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17175 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17176 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17177 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17178 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17179 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17181 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17182 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17183 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17185 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17186 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17187 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17188 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17191 @node Home Score File
17192 @section Home Score File
17194 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17195 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17196 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17197 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17199 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17200 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17201 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17203 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17204 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17209 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17213 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17214 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17218 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17222 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17223 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17226 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17227 the home score file.
17230 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17233 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17238 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17241 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17242 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17245 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17246 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17248 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17250 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17251 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17254 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17255 Other functions include
17258 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17259 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17260 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17261 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17265 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17266 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17267 their own home score files:
17270 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17271 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17272 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17273 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17274 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17277 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17278 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17279 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17280 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17281 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17283 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17284 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17285 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17286 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17287 precedence over this variable.
17290 @node Followups To Yourself
17291 @section Followups To Yourself
17293 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17294 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17295 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17296 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17297 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17298 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17302 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17303 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17304 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17307 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17308 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17309 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17313 @vindex message-sent-hook
17314 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17315 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17317 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17321 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17322 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17326 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17327 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17330 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17331 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17336 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17340 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17341 is system-dependent.
17344 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17345 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17346 @cindex scoring on other headers
17348 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17349 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17350 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17351 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17352 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17354 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17355 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17356 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17357 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17358 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17360 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17363 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17364 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17367 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17368 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17369 time if you have much mail.
17371 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17372 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17378 @section Scoring Tips
17379 @cindex scoring tips
17385 @cindex scoring crossposts
17386 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17387 the @code{Xref} header.
17389 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17392 @item Multiple crossposts
17393 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17394 more than, say, 3 groups:
17397 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17401 @item Matching on the body
17402 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17403 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17404 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17405 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17406 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17407 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17408 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17411 @item Marking as read
17412 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17413 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17414 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17418 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17420 @item Negated character classes
17421 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17422 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17423 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17427 @node Reverse Scoring
17428 @section Reverse Scoring
17429 @cindex reverse scoring
17431 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17432 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17433 like this in your score file:
17437 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17442 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17443 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17446 @node Global Score Files
17447 @section Global Score Files
17448 @cindex global score files
17450 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17451 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17452 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17454 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17455 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17456 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17458 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17459 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17460 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17461 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17462 files are applicable to which group.
17464 To use the score file
17465 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17466 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17470 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17471 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17472 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17475 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17477 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17478 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17479 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17480 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17482 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17483 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17485 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17486 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17487 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17488 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17489 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17490 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17492 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17498 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17500 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17502 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17504 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17505 lowered out of existence.
17507 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17508 articles completely.
17511 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17512 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17513 old articles for a long time.
17516 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17517 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17518 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17519 holding our breath yet?
17523 @section Kill Files
17526 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17527 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17528 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17530 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17531 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17532 files into score files.
17534 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17535 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17536 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17537 that isn't a very good idea.
17539 Normal kill files look like this:
17542 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17543 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17547 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17548 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17550 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17551 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17554 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17559 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17560 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17561 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17564 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17565 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17566 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17569 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17574 @kindex M-k (Group)
17575 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17576 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17579 @kindex M-K (Group)
17580 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17581 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17584 Kill file variables:
17587 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17588 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17589 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17590 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17591 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17592 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17593 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17595 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17596 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17597 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17598 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17601 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17602 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17603 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17604 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17605 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17606 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17607 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17608 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17609 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17611 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17612 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17613 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17618 @node Converting Kill Files
17619 @section Converting Kill Files
17621 @cindex converting kill files
17623 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17624 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17625 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17628 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17629 You can fetch it from
17630 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17632 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17633 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17634 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17642 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17643 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17644 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17645 news articles generated every day.
17647 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17648 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17649 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17650 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17651 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17652 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17653 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17654 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17657 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
17658 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
17661 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
17662 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
17663 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
17664 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
17668 @node Using GroupLens
17669 @subsection Using GroupLens
17671 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
17673 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
17674 better bit in town at the moment.
17676 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
17680 @item gnus-use-grouplens
17681 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
17682 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
17683 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
17685 @item grouplens-pseudonym
17686 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
17687 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
17688 with the Better Bit Bureau.
17690 @item grouplens-newsgroups
17691 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
17692 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
17696 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
17697 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
17698 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
17699 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
17700 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
17701 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
17704 @node Rating Articles
17705 @subsection Rating Articles
17707 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
17708 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
17709 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
17710 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
17713 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
17718 @kindex r (GroupLens)
17719 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
17720 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
17723 @kindex k (GroupLens)
17724 @findex grouplens-score-thread
17725 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
17726 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
17727 threads in rec.humor.
17731 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
17732 the score of the article you're reading.
17737 @kindex n (GroupLens)
17738 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
17739 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
17742 @kindex , (GroupLens)
17743 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
17744 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
17748 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
17749 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
17752 @node Displaying Predictions
17753 @subsection Displaying Predictions
17755 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
17756 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
17757 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
17758 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
17759 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
17761 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
17762 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
17763 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
17764 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
17765 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
17766 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
17767 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
17768 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
17769 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
17770 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
17771 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
17772 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
17773 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
17775 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
17776 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
17777 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
17778 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
17780 The following are valid values for that variable.
17783 @item prediction-spot
17784 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
17787 @item confidence-interval
17788 A numeric confidence interval.
17790 @item prediction-bar
17791 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
17793 @item confidence-bar
17794 Numerical confidence.
17796 @item confidence-spot
17797 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
17799 @item prediction-num
17800 Plain-old numeric value.
17802 @item confidence-plus-minus
17803 Prediction +/- confidence.
17808 @node GroupLens Variables
17809 @subsection GroupLens Variables
17813 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
17814 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
17815 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
17816 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
17819 @item grouplens-bbb-host
17820 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
17823 @item grouplens-bbb-port
17824 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
17826 @item grouplens-score-offset
17827 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17828 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17831 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17832 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17833 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17838 @node Advanced Scoring
17839 @section Advanced Scoring
17841 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17842 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17843 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17844 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17845 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
17847 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
17851 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
17852 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
17853 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
17857 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
17858 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
17860 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
17861 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
17862 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
17863 non-@code{nil} value.
17865 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
17866 operator, and various match operators.
17873 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17874 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
17875 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
17880 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17881 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
17882 then this operator will return @code{false}.
17887 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
17888 logical negation of the value of its argument.
17892 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
17893 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
17894 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
17895 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
17896 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
17897 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
17898 the ancestry you want to go.
17900 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
17901 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
17902 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
17903 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
17904 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
17907 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
17908 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
17910 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
17911 when he's talking about Gnus:
17915 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17916 ("subject" "Gnus"))
17922 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
17926 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17933 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
17934 really don't want to read what he's written:
17938 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17939 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
17943 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
17944 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
17945 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
17952 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
17953 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
17954 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
17955 ("body" "white.*socks"))
17959 The possibilities are endless.
17962 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
17963 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
17965 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
17966 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
17967 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
17968 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
17969 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
17970 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
17971 @samp{subject}) first.
17973 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
17974 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17985 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17986 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17992 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17999 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18000 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18005 @section Score Decays
18006 @cindex score decays
18009 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18010 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18011 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18012 use them in any sensible way.
18014 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18015 @findex gnus-decay-score
18016 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18017 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18018 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18019 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18020 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18021 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18022 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18023 definition of that function:
18026 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18028 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18029 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18032 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18034 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18036 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18039 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18040 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18041 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18042 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18046 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18049 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18052 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18056 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18057 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18058 the new score, which should be an integer.
18060 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18061 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18066 @include message.texi
18067 @chapter Emacs MIME
18068 @include emacs-mime.texi
18070 @include sieve.texi
18078 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18079 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18080 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18081 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18082 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18083 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18084 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18085 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18086 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18087 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18088 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18089 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18090 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18091 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18092 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
18093 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18094 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18095 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18099 @node Process/Prefix
18100 @section Process/Prefix
18101 @cindex process/prefix convention
18103 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18104 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18106 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18107 command to be performed on.
18111 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18112 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18113 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18114 with the current one.
18116 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18117 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18118 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18120 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18121 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18124 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18125 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18127 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18130 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18131 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18132 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18133 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18135 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18136 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18137 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18138 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18139 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18140 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18141 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18142 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18144 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18145 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18146 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18147 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18148 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18152 @section Interactive
18153 @cindex interaction
18157 @item gnus-novice-user
18158 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18159 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18160 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18161 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18162 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18165 @item gnus-expert-user
18166 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18167 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18168 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18169 matter how strange.
18171 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18172 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18173 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18174 is @code{t} by default.
18176 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18177 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18178 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18183 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18184 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18185 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18187 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18188 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18189 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18190 rule of 900 to the current article.
18192 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18193 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18194 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18195 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18196 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18197 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18198 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18200 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18201 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18202 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18203 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18204 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18205 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
18206 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
18207 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18208 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18210 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18211 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18212 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18214 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18218 @node Formatting Variables
18219 @section Formatting Variables
18220 @cindex formatting variables
18222 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18223 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18224 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18225 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18226 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18229 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18230 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18231 lots of percentages everywhere.
18234 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18235 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18236 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18237 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18238 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18239 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18240 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18241 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18244 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18245 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18246 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18247 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18248 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18249 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18250 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18251 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18253 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18254 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18256 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18257 @findex gnus-update-format
18258 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18259 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18260 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18261 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18265 @node Formatting Basics
18266 @subsection Formatting Basics
18268 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18269 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18270 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18272 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18273 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18274 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18275 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18276 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18279 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18280 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18281 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18282 less than 4 characters wide.
18284 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18285 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18287 @node Mode Line Formatting
18288 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18290 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18291 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18292 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18293 with the following two differences:
18298 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18301 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18302 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18303 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18304 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18305 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18306 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18307 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18312 @node Advanced Formatting
18313 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18315 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18316 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18317 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18318 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18320 These are the valid modifiers:
18325 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18329 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18334 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18337 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18342 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18345 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18348 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18351 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18355 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18356 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18357 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18358 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18359 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18360 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18361 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18363 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18364 last operation, padding.
18366 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
18367 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
18368 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
18369 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
18370 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
18371 the look of your lines.
18372 @xref{Compilation}.
18375 @node User-Defined Specs
18376 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18378 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18379 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18380 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18381 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18382 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18383 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18384 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18385 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18386 should protect against that.
18388 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18389 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18391 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18392 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18393 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18394 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18398 @node Formatting Fonts
18399 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18401 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18402 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18403 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18404 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18407 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18408 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18409 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18410 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18411 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18412 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18414 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18415 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18416 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18417 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18418 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18419 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18420 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18421 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18423 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18426 ;; Create three face types.
18427 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18428 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18430 ;; We want the article count to be in
18431 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18432 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18433 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18435 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18436 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18438 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18439 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18440 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18443 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18444 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18446 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18447 mode-line variables.
18449 @node Positioning Point
18450 @subsection Positioning Point
18452 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18453 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18454 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18456 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18458 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18459 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18460 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18462 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18463 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18464 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18469 @subsection Tabulation
18471 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18472 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18473 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18474 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18476 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18477 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18479 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18480 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18481 This is the soft tabulator.
18483 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18484 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18485 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18488 @node Wide Characters
18489 @subsection Wide Characters
18491 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18492 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18493 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18495 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18496 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18497 these coutries, that's not true.
18499 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18500 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18501 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18502 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18506 @node Window Layout
18507 @section Window Layout
18508 @cindex window layout
18510 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18512 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18513 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18514 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18515 @code{t} by default.
18517 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18518 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18520 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18521 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18522 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18525 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18526 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18527 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18531 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18532 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18533 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18534 possible names is listed below.
18536 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18537 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18540 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18544 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18545 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18546 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18547 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18548 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18549 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18550 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18551 size spec per split.
18553 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18554 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18555 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18556 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18557 present) gets focus.
18559 Here's a more complicated example:
18562 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18563 (summary 0.25 point)
18564 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18568 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18569 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18570 occupy, not a percentage.
18572 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18573 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18574 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18575 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18576 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18579 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18582 (article (horizontal 1.0
18587 (summary 0.25 point)
18592 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18593 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18595 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18596 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18597 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18598 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18599 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18601 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18602 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18603 lines from the splits.
18605 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18609 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18610 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18611 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18612 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18613 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18614 size = number | frame-params
18615 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18618 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18619 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18620 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18621 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18623 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18624 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18625 @cindex window height
18626 @cindex window width
18627 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18628 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18629 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18630 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18631 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18632 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18634 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18635 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
18636 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
18637 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
18639 @findex gnus-configure-frame
18640 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
18641 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
18642 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
18643 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
18644 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
18645 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
18646 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
18647 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
18648 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
18649 configuration list.
18652 (gnus-configure-frame
18656 (article 0.3 point))
18664 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
18665 @code{frame} split:
18668 (gnus-configure-frame
18671 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
18673 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
18674 (user-position . t)
18675 (left . -1) (top . 1))
18680 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
18681 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
18682 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
18683 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
18684 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
18685 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
18686 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
18687 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
18689 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
18690 be found in its default value.
18692 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
18693 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
18694 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
18698 (message (horizontal 1.0
18699 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
18701 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
18706 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
18707 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
18708 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
18713 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
18714 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
18715 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
18716 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
18717 (name . "Message"))
18718 (message 1.0 point))))
18721 @findex gnus-add-configuration
18722 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
18723 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
18724 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
18725 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
18728 (gnus-add-configuration
18729 '(article (vertical 1.0
18731 (summary .25 point)
18735 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
18736 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
18737 Gnus has been loaded.
18739 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
18740 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
18741 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
18742 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
18743 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
18745 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
18746 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
18747 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
18750 @subsection Example Window Configurations
18754 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
18755 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
18770 (gnus-add-configuration
18773 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18775 (summary 0.16 point)
18778 (gnus-add-configuration
18781 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18782 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
18788 @node Faces and Fonts
18789 @section Faces and Fonts
18794 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
18795 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
18796 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
18801 @section Compilation
18802 @cindex compilation
18803 @cindex byte-compilation
18805 @findex gnus-compile
18807 Remember all those line format specification variables?
18808 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
18809 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
18810 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
18811 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
18812 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
18813 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
18814 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
18817 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
18818 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
18819 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
18820 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
18821 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18824 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
18825 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
18826 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
18827 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
18828 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
18833 @section Mode Lines
18836 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
18837 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
18838 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
18839 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
18840 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
18841 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
18842 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
18845 @cindex display-time
18847 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
18848 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
18849 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
18850 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
18851 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
18852 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
18853 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
18854 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
18857 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
18859 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
18860 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
18862 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
18863 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
18864 (length display-time-string)))))
18867 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
18868 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
18869 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
18870 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
18871 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
18874 @node Highlighting and Menus
18875 @section Highlighting and Menus
18877 @cindex highlighting
18880 @vindex gnus-visual
18881 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
18882 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
18883 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
18886 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
18887 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
18890 @item group-highlight
18891 Do highlights in the group buffer.
18892 @item summary-highlight
18893 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
18894 @item article-highlight
18895 Do highlights in the article buffer.
18897 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
18899 Create menus in the group buffer.
18901 Create menus in the summary buffers.
18903 Create menus in the article buffer.
18905 Create menus in the browse buffer.
18907 Create menus in the server buffer.
18909 Create menus in the score buffers.
18911 Create menus in all buffers.
18914 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
18915 buffers, you could say something like:
18918 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
18921 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
18924 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
18927 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
18928 in all Gnus buffers.
18930 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
18933 @item gnus-mouse-face
18934 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
18935 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
18936 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
18940 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
18944 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
18945 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
18946 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
18948 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
18949 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
18950 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
18952 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
18953 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
18954 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
18956 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
18957 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
18958 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
18960 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
18961 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
18962 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
18964 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
18965 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
18966 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
18977 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
18978 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
18979 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
18980 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
18981 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
18985 @vindex gnus-carpal
18986 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
18987 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
18988 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
18993 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18994 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18995 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
18997 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
18998 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
18999 Face used on buttons.
19001 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19002 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19003 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19005 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19006 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19007 Buttons in the group buffer.
19009 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19010 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19011 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19013 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19014 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19015 Buttons in the server buffer.
19017 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19018 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19019 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19022 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19023 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19024 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19032 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19033 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19034 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19035 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19036 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19038 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19039 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19040 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19042 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19043 been idle for thirty minutes:
19046 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19049 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19053 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19056 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19057 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19058 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19060 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19061 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19062 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19063 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19065 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19066 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19067 @var{idle} minutes.
19069 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19070 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19073 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19074 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19075 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19077 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19078 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19079 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19080 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19082 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19083 your @file{.gnus} file:
19085 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19087 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19090 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19091 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19092 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19093 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19094 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19095 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19096 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19097 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19098 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19099 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19100 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19102 @findex gnus-demon-init
19103 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19104 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19105 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19106 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19107 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19109 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19110 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19111 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19120 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19121 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19123 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19124 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19125 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19126 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19129 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19130 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19131 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19132 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19134 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19135 this will make spam disappear.
19137 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19140 @item gnus-use-nocem
19141 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19142 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19145 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19146 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19147 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19148 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19149 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19151 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19152 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19153 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19154 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19155 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19156 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19158 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19159 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19161 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19162 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19163 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19164 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19165 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19166 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19167 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19168 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19169 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19170 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19172 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19173 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19176 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19179 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19180 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19183 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19186 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19189 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19190 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19192 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19193 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19194 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19195 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19197 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19198 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19201 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19203 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19211 This might be dangerous, though.
19213 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19214 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19215 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19216 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19218 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19219 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19220 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19221 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19222 might then see old spam.
19224 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19225 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19226 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19227 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19228 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19231 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19232 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19233 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19234 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19238 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19239 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19240 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19241 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19248 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19249 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19250 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19252 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19253 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19254 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19255 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19256 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19257 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19258 @code{undo} function.
19260 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19261 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19262 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19263 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19264 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19265 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19266 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19267 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19268 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19269 never be totally undoable.
19271 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19272 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19274 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19275 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19276 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19277 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19282 @section Moderation
19285 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19286 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19287 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19290 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19294 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19297 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19299 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19304 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19305 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19306 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19309 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19310 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19313 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19314 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19318 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19321 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19322 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19326 @node XEmacs Enhancements
19327 @section XEmacs Enhancements
19330 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
19334 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
19335 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19336 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19337 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19350 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19351 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19352 over your shoulder as you read news.
19355 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19356 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19357 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19358 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19359 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19364 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19366 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19375 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19376 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19377 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19378 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19379 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19380 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19381 @code{GIF} formats.
19384 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19385 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19386 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19387 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19388 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19390 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19391 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19392 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19393 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19394 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19395 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19398 @node Picon Requirements
19399 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19401 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19402 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19403 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19404 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19406 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19407 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19408 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19409 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19410 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19414 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19416 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19417 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19420 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19421 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19424 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19425 containing the Picons databases.
19427 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19430 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19431 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19436 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19444 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19445 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19446 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19447 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19448 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19453 @item gnus-picons-database
19454 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19455 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19456 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19457 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19458 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19459 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19461 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19462 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19463 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19464 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19465 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19466 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19467 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19469 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19470 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19471 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19472 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19473 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19474 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19475 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19476 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19478 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19479 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19480 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19485 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19486 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19488 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19489 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19492 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19494 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19495 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19496 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19497 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19499 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19500 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19501 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19507 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19508 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19516 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19517 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19518 don't need to worry about.
19522 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19523 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19524 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19525 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19527 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19528 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19529 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19530 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19532 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19533 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19534 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19535 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19536 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19538 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19539 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19540 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19541 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19542 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19543 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19544 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19546 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19547 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19548 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19549 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19551 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19552 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19553 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19554 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19555 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19556 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19557 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19559 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19560 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19561 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19562 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19564 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19565 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19566 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19567 Defaults to @code{t}.
19569 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19570 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19571 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19572 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19574 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19575 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19576 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19578 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19579 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19580 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19581 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19583 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19584 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19586 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19587 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19588 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19589 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19590 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19591 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19592 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19593 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19604 @subsection Smileys
19609 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
19614 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
19615 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
19617 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
19618 @file{.gnus.el} file:
19621 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
19624 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
19625 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
19626 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
19627 text and maps that to file names.
19629 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
19630 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
19631 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
19632 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
19633 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
19634 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
19636 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
19637 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
19639 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
19640 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
19641 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
19643 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
19644 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
19648 @item smiley-data-directory
19649 @vindex smiley-data-directory
19650 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
19652 @item smiley-flesh-color
19653 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
19654 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
19656 @item smiley-features-color
19657 @vindex smiley-features-color
19658 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19660 @item smiley-tongue-color
19661 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
19662 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
19664 @item smiley-circle-color
19665 @vindex smiley-circle-color
19666 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19668 @item smiley-mouse-face
19669 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
19670 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
19676 @subsection Toolbar
19686 @item gnus-use-toolbar
19687 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
19688 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
19689 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
19690 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
19692 @item gnus-group-toolbar
19693 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
19694 The toolbar in the group buffer.
19696 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
19697 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
19698 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
19700 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19701 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19702 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
19708 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
19711 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19712 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19713 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
19714 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
19715 unusual directory structure.
19717 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19718 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19719 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
19720 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
19722 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19723 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19724 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
19725 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
19726 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
19727 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
19729 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19730 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19731 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
19745 @node Fuzzy Matching
19746 @section Fuzzy Matching
19747 @cindex fuzzy matching
19749 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
19750 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
19752 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
19753 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
19754 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
19756 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
19757 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
19758 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
19759 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
19760 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
19763 @node Thwarting Email Spam
19764 @section Thwarting Email Spam
19768 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
19770 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
19771 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
19772 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
19773 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
19774 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
19775 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
19776 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
19777 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
19780 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
19781 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
19782 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
19783 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
19784 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
19785 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
19789 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
19790 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
19792 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
19793 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
19794 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
19795 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
19796 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
19797 part of the mail address.)
19800 (setq message-default-news-headers
19801 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
19804 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
19805 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
19810 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
19811 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
19812 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
19818 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
19819 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
19820 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
19821 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
19823 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
19824 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
19825 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
19826 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
19827 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
19828 your fancy split rule in this way:
19833 (to "larsi" "misc")
19837 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
19838 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
19839 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
19840 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
19841 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
19843 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
19844 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
19845 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
19846 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
19847 cosmic balance somewhat.
19849 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
19850 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
19851 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
19852 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
19855 @node Various Various
19856 @section Various Various
19862 @item gnus-home-directory
19863 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
19864 defaults to @file{~/}.
19866 @item gnus-directory
19867 @vindex gnus-directory
19868 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
19869 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
19870 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
19872 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
19873 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
19874 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
19875 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
19877 @item gnus-default-directory
19878 @vindex gnus-default-directory
19879 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
19880 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
19881 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
19882 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
19883 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
19884 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
19887 @vindex gnus-verbose
19888 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
19889 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
19890 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
19891 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
19892 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
19894 @item gnus-verbose-backends
19895 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
19896 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
19897 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
19899 @item nnheader-max-head-length
19900 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
19901 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
19902 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
19903 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
19904 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
19905 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
19906 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
19907 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
19908 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
19910 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
19911 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
19912 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
19913 read when doing the operation described above.
19915 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19916 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19918 @cindex invalid characters in file names
19919 @cindex characters in file names
19920 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
19921 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
19922 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
19925 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19929 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
19930 Windows (phooey) systems.
19932 @item gnus-hidden-properties
19933 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
19934 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
19935 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
19936 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
19938 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
19939 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
19940 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
19941 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
19942 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
19944 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
19945 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
19946 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
19948 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19949 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19951 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
19952 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
19953 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
19954 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
19957 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
19965 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
19966 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
19968 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
19970 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
19976 Not because of victories @*
19979 but for the common sunshine,@*
19981 the largess of the spring.
19985 but for the day's work done@*
19986 as well as I was able;@*
19987 not for a seat upon the dais@*
19988 but at the common table.@*
19993 @chapter Appendices
19996 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
19997 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
19998 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
19999 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20000 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20001 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20002 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20003 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20011 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20012 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20014 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20015 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20016 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20017 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20018 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20020 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20021 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20022 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20023 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20024 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20025 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20027 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20028 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20029 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20030 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20033 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20034 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20035 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20036 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20037 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20038 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20039 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20040 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20041 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20045 @node Gnus Versions
20046 @subsection Gnus Versions
20047 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20049 @cindex September Gnus
20050 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20052 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20053 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20054 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20056 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20057 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20059 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20060 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20062 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20063 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20065 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20066 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20069 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20071 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20072 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20073 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20074 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20075 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20076 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20079 @node Other Gnus Versions
20080 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20083 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20084 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20085 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20086 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20088 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20089 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20090 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20091 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20098 What's the point of Gnus?
20100 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20101 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20102 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20103 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20104 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20105 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20106 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20107 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20108 keep track of millions of people who post?
20110 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20111 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20112 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20113 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20114 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20115 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20116 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20117 every one of you to explore and invent.
20119 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20120 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20123 @node Compatibility
20124 @subsection Compatibility
20126 @cindex compatibility
20127 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20128 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20129 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20134 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20138 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20141 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20144 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20145 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20146 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20147 important variables have their values copied into their global
20148 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20149 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20151 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20152 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20153 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20154 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20155 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20159 @cindex highlighting
20160 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20161 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20162 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20163 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20164 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20165 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20168 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20169 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20170 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20171 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20173 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20174 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20175 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20176 to stop doing it the old way.
20178 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20180 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20182 @cindex reporting bugs
20184 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20185 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20186 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20188 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20189 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20190 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20191 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20196 @subsection Conformity
20198 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20199 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20206 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20210 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20212 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20213 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20214 We do have some breaches to this one.
20220 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20221 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20222 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20223 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20224 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20229 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20230 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20231 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20232 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20236 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20237 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20242 @subsection Emacsen
20248 Gnus should work on :
20256 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
20260 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20261 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20262 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
20263 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
20264 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
20266 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20267 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20268 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20272 @node Gnus Development
20273 @subsection Gnus Development
20275 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20276 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20277 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20278 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20279 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20280 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20281 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20282 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20284 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20285 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20286 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20287 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20288 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20291 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20292 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20293 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20294 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20295 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20297 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20298 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20299 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20300 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20301 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20302 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20303 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20304 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20305 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20306 can't be assumed to do so.
20311 @subsection Contributors
20312 @cindex contributors
20314 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20315 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20316 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20317 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20318 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20319 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20320 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20321 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20322 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20323 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20325 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20331 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20334 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20335 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20336 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20337 functionality and stuff.
20340 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20341 well as numerous other things).
20344 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20347 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20350 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20353 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20356 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20357 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20360 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20363 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20364 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20367 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20370 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20373 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20376 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20379 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20380 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20383 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20386 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20389 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20392 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20396 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20399 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20402 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20405 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20406 well as autoconf support.
20410 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20411 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20413 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20422 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20426 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20436 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20451 Massimo Campostrini,
20456 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20457 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20461 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20464 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20470 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20475 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
20479 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
20487 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
20489 Michelangelo Grigni,
20493 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
20495 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
20497 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
20504 François Felix Ingrand,
20505 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
20506 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
20508 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
20519 Peter Skov Knudsen,
20520 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
20522 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
20523 Thor Kristoffersen,
20526 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
20544 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
20545 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
20552 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
20557 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
20561 John McClary Prevost,
20567 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
20572 Christian von Roques,
20575 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
20582 Philippe Schnoebelen,
20584 Randal L. Schwartz,
20598 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
20603 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
20619 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
20624 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
20625 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
20626 (550kB and counting).
20628 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
20631 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
20632 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
20636 @subsection New Features
20637 @cindex new features
20640 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
20641 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
20642 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
20643 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
20644 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
20647 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
20648 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
20649 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
20652 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
20654 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
20659 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
20660 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
20663 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
20664 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
20667 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
20670 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
20671 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
20672 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
20675 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
20676 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
20677 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
20678 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20681 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
20682 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20685 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
20686 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
20687 (@pxref{The Active File}).
20690 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
20691 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
20694 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
20695 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
20696 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20699 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
20700 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
20701 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
20704 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
20705 the @file{.emacs} file.
20708 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
20709 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20712 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
20713 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
20716 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
20717 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20720 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
20721 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
20724 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
20725 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20728 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
20731 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
20732 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
20735 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
20736 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
20739 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
20740 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
20743 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
20746 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
20747 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20750 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
20754 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
20758 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
20759 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
20762 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
20768 @node September Gnus
20769 @subsubsection September Gnus
20773 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
20777 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
20782 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
20783 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
20787 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
20788 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
20792 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
20796 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
20797 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
20800 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
20804 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20807 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
20810 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
20813 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
20817 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
20818 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
20821 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
20825 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
20829 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
20833 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
20837 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
20840 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
20841 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
20844 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
20848 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
20849 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
20852 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
20855 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
20856 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
20857 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20860 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
20864 The Gnus cache is much faster.
20867 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
20871 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
20872 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20875 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
20876 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
20879 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
20880 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20883 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
20884 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
20885 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
20888 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
20889 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
20892 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
20895 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20898 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
20901 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
20904 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
20905 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
20908 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
20912 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
20915 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
20920 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
20923 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
20927 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20930 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
20934 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
20937 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
20940 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
20941 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20944 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
20945 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
20949 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
20950 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
20953 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
20957 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
20958 buffer to allow easier treatment.
20961 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
20964 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
20968 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
20972 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
20973 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
20976 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
20980 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
20981 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20984 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
20985 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20988 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
20992 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20995 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
20998 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21004 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21006 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21010 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21017 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21020 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21021 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21024 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21025 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21029 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21030 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21033 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21036 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21037 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21040 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21044 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21045 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21049 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21050 Server Internals}).
21053 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21057 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21060 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21061 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21064 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21065 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21066 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21069 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21070 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21073 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21074 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21077 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
21081 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21082 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21085 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21086 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21089 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21093 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21096 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21100 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21101 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21104 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21105 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21108 A new command for reading collections of documents
21109 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
21110 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21113 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21117 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21118 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21121 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21122 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21123 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21126 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21127 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21131 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21135 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21139 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21144 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21148 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21152 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21153 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21156 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21162 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21164 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21169 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21170 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21171 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21174 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21175 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21176 group, which is created automatically.
21179 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21183 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21186 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21187 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21190 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21194 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21197 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21198 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21201 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21204 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21205 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21208 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21209 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21212 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21213 control over simplification.
21216 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21219 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21223 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21226 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21229 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21230 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21231 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21234 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21235 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21238 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21242 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21243 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21246 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21247 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21250 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21254 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21257 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21260 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21261 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21264 A new function for citing in Message has been
21265 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21268 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21271 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21275 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21276 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21279 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21280 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21283 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21286 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21290 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21291 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21293 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21298 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21299 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21301 If you used procmail like in
21304 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21305 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21306 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21307 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21310 this now has changed to
21314 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21318 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21319 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21322 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21323 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21326 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21327 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21330 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21331 called to position point.
21334 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21335 summary buffers and NOV files.
21338 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21339 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21342 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21343 subtly different manner.
21346 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21347 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21348 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21351 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21359 @section The Manual
21363 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21364 either @code{texi2dvi}
21366 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21367 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21369 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21371 The following conventions have been used:
21376 This is a @samp{string}
21379 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21382 This is a @file{file}
21385 This is a @code{symbol}
21389 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21393 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21396 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21399 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21402 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21403 ever get them confused.
21407 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21408 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21409 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21410 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21411 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21412 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21413 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21419 @node On Writing Manuals
21420 @section On Writing Manuals
21422 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21423 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21424 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21425 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21426 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21427 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21430 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21431 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21432 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21435 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21436 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21441 @section Terminology
21443 @cindex terminology
21448 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21449 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21450 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21451 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21452 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21456 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21457 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21458 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21459 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21463 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21467 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21472 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21473 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21474 is all done by the back ends.
21478 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
21479 default, way of getting news.
21483 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21484 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
21489 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21490 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21494 A message that has been posted as news.
21497 @cindex mail message
21498 A message that has been mailed.
21502 A mail message or news article
21506 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21511 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21516 A line from the head of an article.
21520 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21521 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21525 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
21526 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21527 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21528 normal @sc{head} format.
21532 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21533 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21534 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21535 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21536 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21537 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21539 @item killed groups
21540 @cindex killed groups
21541 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21542 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21544 @item zombie groups
21545 @cindex zombie groups
21546 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21549 @cindex active file
21550 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21551 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21552 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21555 @cindex bogus groups
21556 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21557 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21558 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21561 @cindex activating groups
21562 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21563 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21564 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21568 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21570 @item select method
21571 @cindex select method
21572 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
21575 @item virtual server
21576 @cindex virtual server
21577 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21578 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21579 whole is a virtual server.
21583 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21584 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21587 @item ephemeral groups
21588 @cindex ephemeral groups
21589 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21590 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21591 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21594 @cindex solid groups
21595 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21596 group buffer are solid groups.
21598 @item sparse articles
21599 @cindex sparse articles
21600 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21601 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21605 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21606 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21610 @cindex thread root
21611 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21612 articles in the thread.
21616 An article that has responses.
21620 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21624 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21625 specified by RFC 1153.
21631 @node Customization
21632 @section Customization
21633 @cindex general customization
21635 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21636 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21637 for some quite common situations.
21640 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21641 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21642 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21643 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21647 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21648 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21650 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21651 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21652 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21656 @item gnus-read-active-file
21657 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21658 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21659 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21660 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21661 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21663 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21664 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21665 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21666 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21670 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21671 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21673 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21674 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21675 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21679 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21680 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21681 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21682 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21683 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21685 @item gnus-visible-headers
21686 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21687 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21688 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21689 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21691 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21693 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21694 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21695 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21698 @item gnus-use-full-window
21699 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21700 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21701 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21702 want to read them anyway.
21704 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21705 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21708 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21709 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21710 lines, which might save some time.
21714 @node Little Disk Space
21715 @subsection Little Disk Space
21718 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21719 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21723 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21724 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21725 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21726 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21729 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21730 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21731 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21732 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21735 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21736 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21737 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21738 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21739 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21745 @subsection Slow Machine
21746 @cindex slow machine
21748 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21749 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21751 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21752 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21754 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21755 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21756 summary buffer faster.
21760 @node Troubleshooting
21761 @section Troubleshooting
21762 @cindex troubleshooting
21764 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21772 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21775 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21776 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21780 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21781 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
21782 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
21783 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
21784 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21787 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21791 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21792 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21793 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21794 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21795 something like that.
21798 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21801 @cindex reporting bugs
21803 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21805 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21806 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21807 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21808 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21810 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21811 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21812 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21813 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21816 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21817 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21818 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21819 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21820 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21821 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21823 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21824 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21825 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21829 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
21830 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
21832 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21833 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21835 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21836 @cindex ding mailing list
21837 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21838 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21842 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21843 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21845 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21846 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21847 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21848 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21851 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21852 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21853 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21854 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21855 and general methods of operation.
21858 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21859 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21860 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21861 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21862 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21863 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21864 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21865 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21866 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21870 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21871 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21872 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21873 @cindex utility functions
21875 @cindex internal variables
21877 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21878 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21879 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21883 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21884 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21885 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21887 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21888 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21889 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21891 @item gnus-group-real-name
21892 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21893 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21896 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21897 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21898 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21899 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21901 @item gnus-get-info
21902 @findex gnus-get-info
21903 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21905 @item gnus-group-unread
21906 @findex gnus-group-unread
21907 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21911 @findex gnus-active
21912 The active entry for @var{group}.
21914 @item gnus-set-active
21915 @findex gnus-set-active
21916 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21918 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21919 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21920 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21923 @item gnus-continuum-version
21924 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21925 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21926 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21929 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21930 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21931 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21933 @item gnus-news-group-p
21934 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21935 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
21937 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21938 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21939 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21941 @item gnus-server-to-method
21942 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21943 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21945 @item gnus-server-equal
21946 @findex gnus-server-equal
21947 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21949 @item gnus-group-native-p
21950 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21951 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21953 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21954 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21955 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21957 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21958 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21959 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21961 @item group-group-find-parameter
21962 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21963 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21964 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21966 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21967 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21968 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21970 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21971 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21972 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21974 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21975 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21976 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
21977 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21980 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21984 @item gnus-read-method
21985 @findex gnus-read-method
21986 Prompts the user for a select method.
21991 @node Back End Interface
21992 @subsection Back End Interface
21994 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21995 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21996 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
21997 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21998 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21999 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22001 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22002 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22003 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22004 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22005 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22006 been opened, the function should fail.
22008 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22009 name. Take this example:
22013 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22014 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22017 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22018 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22020 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22021 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22022 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22024 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22025 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22026 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22028 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22029 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22030 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22031 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22032 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22033 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22036 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22037 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22038 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22039 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22042 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22043 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22044 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22045 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22046 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22047 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22048 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22049 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22050 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22051 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22053 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22054 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22055 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22056 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22057 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22058 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22059 of numbers as long as possible.
22061 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22064 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22067 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22068 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22069 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22070 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22071 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22072 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22076 @node Required Back End Functions
22077 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22081 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22083 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22084 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22085 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22086 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22088 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22089 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22090 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22091 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22093 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22094 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22095 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22096 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22097 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22098 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22099 number, do maximum fetches.
22101 Here's an example HEAD:
22104 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22105 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22106 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22107 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22108 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22109 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22110 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22112 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22113 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22114 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22118 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22119 these in the data buffer.
22121 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22125 head = error / valid-head
22126 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22127 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22128 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22129 header = <text> eol
22132 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22133 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22137 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22138 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22139 field = <text except TAB>
22142 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22146 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22148 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22149 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22151 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22152 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22153 server. In fact, it should do so.
22155 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22156 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22159 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22161 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22162 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22165 There should be no data returned.
22168 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22170 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22171 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22172 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22173 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22175 There should be no data returned.
22178 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22180 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22181 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22182 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22183 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22185 There should be no data returned.
22188 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22190 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22192 There should be no data returned.
22195 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22197 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22198 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22199 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22200 it would be nice if that were possible.
22202 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22203 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22204 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22205 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22206 into its article buffer.
22208 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22209 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22210 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22211 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22212 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22213 on successful article retrieval.
22216 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22218 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22219 making @var{group} the current group.
22221 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22224 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22227 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22230 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22231 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22232 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22233 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22234 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22235 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22236 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22237 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22240 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22241 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22242 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22246 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22248 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22249 a no-op on most back ends.
22251 There should be no data returned.
22254 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22256 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22259 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22262 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22263 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22266 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22267 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22270 active-file = *active-line
22271 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22273 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22276 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22277 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22278 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22281 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22283 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22284 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22285 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22286 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22287 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22288 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22290 There should be no result data from this function.
22295 @node Optional Back End Functions
22296 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22300 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22302 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22303 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22304 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22306 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22307 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22308 former is in the same format as the data from
22309 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22310 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22313 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22317 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22319 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22320 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22321 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22322 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22323 should return the (altered) group info.
22325 There should be no result data from this function.
22328 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22330 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22331 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22332 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22333 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22334 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22335 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22336 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22337 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22339 There should be no result data from this function.
22342 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22344 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22345 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22346 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22347 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22348 propagate the mark information to the server.
22350 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22353 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22356 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22357 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22358 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22359 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22360 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22361 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22362 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22363 possible, not limit itself to these.
22365 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22366 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22367 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22368 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22370 An example action list:
22373 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22374 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22375 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22378 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22379 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22381 There should be no result data from this function.
22383 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22385 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22386 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22387 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22388 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22389 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22391 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22392 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22393 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22396 There should be no result data from this function.
22399 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22401 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22402 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22403 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22404 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22405 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22406 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22407 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22409 There should be no result data from this function.
22412 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22414 The result data from this function should be a description of
22418 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22420 description = <text>
22423 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22425 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22426 groups available on the server.
22429 description-buffer = *description-line
22433 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22435 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22436 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22437 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22438 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22439 in the active buffer format.
22441 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22442 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22443 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22444 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22445 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22446 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22447 likely that there can be many groups.
22450 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22452 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22454 There should be no return data.
22457 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22459 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22460 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22461 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22462 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22463 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22466 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22469 There should be no result data returned.
22472 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22475 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22476 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22478 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22479 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22480 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22481 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22482 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22483 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22485 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22486 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22489 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22490 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22492 There should be no data returned.
22495 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22497 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22498 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22499 this function in short order.
22501 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22502 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22504 There should be no data returned.
22507 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22509 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22510 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22512 There should be no data returned.
22515 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22517 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22518 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22519 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22521 There should be no data returned.
22524 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22526 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22527 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22529 There should be no data returned.
22534 @node Error Messaging
22535 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22537 @findex nnheader-report
22538 @findex nnheader-get-report
22539 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22540 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22541 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
22542 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22543 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22544 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22547 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22549 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22552 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22553 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22554 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
22555 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22557 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
22558 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
22559 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22562 @node Writing New Back Ends
22563 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
22565 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22566 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22567 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22568 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22569 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22572 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22573 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22574 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22576 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22577 package called @code{nnoo}.
22579 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
22580 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
22586 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22587 parameters. For instance:
22590 (nnoo-declare nndir
22594 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22595 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22598 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22599 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22600 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22602 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22603 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
22604 a function in those back ends.
22607 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22608 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22609 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22612 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22613 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22614 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22616 @item nnoo-define-basics
22617 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
22621 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22625 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22626 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22627 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
22629 @item nnoo-map-functions
22630 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
22631 functions from the parent back ends.
22634 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22635 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22636 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22639 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22640 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22641 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22642 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22645 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
22646 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22647 haven't already been defined.
22653 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22657 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22658 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22659 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22664 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
22667 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22668 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22672 (require 'nnheader)
22676 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22678 (nnoo-declare nndir
22681 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22682 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22683 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22685 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22686 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22689 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
22691 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22692 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22693 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22695 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22696 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22698 ;;; Interface functions.
22700 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22702 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22703 (setq nndir-directory
22704 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22706 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22707 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22708 (push `(nndir-current-group
22709 ,(file-name-nondirectory
22710 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22712 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22713 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22715 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22717 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22718 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22719 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22720 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22721 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22725 nnmh-status-message
22727 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22733 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22734 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22736 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22737 @findex gnus-declare-backend
22738 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
22739 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22740 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22742 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
22743 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22748 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22751 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
22753 The abilities can be:
22757 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22759 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
22761 This back end supports both mail and news.
22763 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
22766 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22767 articles and groups.
22769 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22770 true for almost all back ends.
22771 @item prompt-address
22772 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22773 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
22774 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22778 @node Mail-like Back Ends
22779 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
22781 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
22782 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
22783 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22784 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22787 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22788 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22789 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22792 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22793 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22796 This function takes four parameters.
22800 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
22803 @item exit-function
22804 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22806 @item temp-directory
22807 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22810 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22811 performed for one group only.
22814 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
22815 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22816 find the article number assigned to this article.
22818 The function also uses the following variables:
22819 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22820 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
22821 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22822 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22826 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22827 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22831 @node Score File Syntax
22832 @subsection Score File Syntax
22834 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22835 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22836 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22838 Here's a typical score file:
22842 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22849 BNF definition of a score file:
22852 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22853 element = rule / atom
22854 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22855 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22856 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22857 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22859 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22860 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22861 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22862 date-header = "date"
22863 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22864 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22865 score = "nil" / <integer>
22866 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22867 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22868 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22869 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22870 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22871 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22872 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22873 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22874 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22875 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22876 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22877 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22878 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22879 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22880 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22881 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22882 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22883 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22884 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22885 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22886 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22887 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22888 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22889 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22890 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22891 eval = "eval" space <form>
22892 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22895 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22898 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22899 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22900 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22901 one looong line, then that's ok.
22903 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22904 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22908 @subsection Headers
22910 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22911 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22912 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22913 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22915 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22916 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22917 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22918 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22919 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22920 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22921 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22923 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22924 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22925 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22926 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22927 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22929 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22930 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22936 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22937 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22939 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22940 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22941 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22942 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22944 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22948 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22951 is transformed into
22954 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22957 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22958 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22961 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22964 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22965 is slightly tricky:
22968 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22974 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22977 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22983 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22990 and is equal to the previous range.
22992 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22993 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22994 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22998 range = simple-range / normal-range
22999 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23000 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23001 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23002 number *[ " " contents ]
23005 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23006 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23007 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23008 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23009 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23014 @subsection Group Info
23016 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23017 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23018 describes the group.
23020 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23021 second is a more complex one:
23024 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23026 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23027 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23029 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23032 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23033 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23034 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23035 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23036 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23037 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23038 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23039 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23040 this section is about.
23042 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23043 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23044 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23046 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23049 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23050 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23051 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23052 group = quote <string> quote
23053 ralevel = rank / level
23054 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23055 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23056 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23058 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23059 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23060 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23061 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23064 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23065 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23068 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23069 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23072 @item gnus-info-group
23073 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23074 @findex gnus-info-group
23075 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23076 Get/set the group name.
23078 @item gnus-info-rank
23079 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23080 @findex gnus-info-rank
23081 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23082 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23084 @item gnus-info-level
23085 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23086 @findex gnus-info-level
23087 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23088 Get/set the group level.
23090 @item gnus-info-score
23091 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23092 @findex gnus-info-score
23093 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23094 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23096 @item gnus-info-read
23097 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23098 @findex gnus-info-read
23099 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23100 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23102 @item gnus-info-marks
23103 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23104 @findex gnus-info-marks
23105 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23106 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23108 @item gnus-info-method
23109 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23110 @findex gnus-info-method
23111 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23112 Get/set the group select method.
23114 @item gnus-info-params
23115 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23116 @findex gnus-info-params
23117 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23118 Get/set the group parameters.
23121 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23122 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23124 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23125 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23126 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23127 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23130 @node Extended Interactive
23131 @subsection Extended Interactive
23132 @cindex interactive
23133 @findex gnus-interactive
23135 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23136 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23137 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23140 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23141 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23146 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23147 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23148 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23149 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23150 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23151 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23152 @code{interactive}.
23154 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23159 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23160 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23164 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23165 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23166 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23169 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23173 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23177 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23183 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23184 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23188 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23189 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23190 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23192 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23193 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23194 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23195 Gnus, that's very useful.
23197 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23198 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23199 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23200 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23201 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23202 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23203 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23204 following function:
23207 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23211 (,function ,@@args))
23215 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23216 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23217 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23220 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23221 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23222 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23224 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23225 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23226 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23229 @node Various File Formats
23230 @subsection Various File Formats
23233 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23234 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23238 @node Active File Format
23239 @subsubsection Active File Format
23241 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23242 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23245 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23248 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23249 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23250 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23251 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23252 no.general 1000 900 y
23255 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23258 active = *group-line
23259 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23260 group = <non-white-space string>
23262 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23263 low-number = <positive integer>
23264 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23267 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23268 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23271 @node Newsgroups File Format
23272 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23274 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23275 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23276 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23279 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23280 Here's the definition:
23284 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23285 group = <non-white-space string>
23287 description = <string>
23292 @node Emacs for Heathens
23293 @section Emacs for Heathens
23295 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23296 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23297 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
23298 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23299 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23300 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23301 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23305 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23306 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23311 @subsection Keystrokes
23315 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23318 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23321 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23322 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23323 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23324 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23325 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23326 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23328 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23329 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23330 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23331 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23332 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23333 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23334 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23336 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23337 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
23338 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23339 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23340 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23341 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23342 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23344 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23345 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23346 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23347 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23348 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23354 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23356 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23357 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23358 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23359 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23361 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23362 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23363 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23364 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23365 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23366 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23367 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23370 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23371 write the following:
23374 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23377 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23378 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23379 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23382 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23383 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23384 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23385 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23386 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23388 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23389 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23390 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23394 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23398 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23401 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23402 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23405 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23408 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23409 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23412 @include gnus-faq.texi
23433 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23434 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23435 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23436 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23437 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref