4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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281 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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290 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
291 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
294 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
295 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
296 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
297 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
298 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
299 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
300 License'' in the Emacs manual.
302 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
303 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
304 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
306 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
307 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
308 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
309 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
317 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
319 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
320 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
322 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
323 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
324 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
325 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
326 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
327 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
328 License'' in the Emacs manual.
330 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
331 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
332 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
334 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
335 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
336 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
337 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
343 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
345 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
350 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
352 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
353 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
354 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
355 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
356 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
357 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
358 License'' in the Emacs manual.
360 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
361 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
362 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
364 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
365 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
366 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
367 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
376 @top The gnus Newsreader
380 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
381 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
382 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
385 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
386 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
387 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
388 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
389 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
390 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
392 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
403 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
404 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
406 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
407 being accused of plagiarism:
409 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
410 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
411 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
412 can even read news with it!
414 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
415 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
416 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
417 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
418 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
424 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
425 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
426 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
427 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
428 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
429 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
430 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
431 * Various:: General purpose settings.
432 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
433 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
434 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
435 * Key Index:: Key Index.
438 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
442 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
443 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
444 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
445 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
446 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
447 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
448 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
449 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
450 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
451 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
452 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
456 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
457 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
458 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
462 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
463 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
464 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
465 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
466 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
467 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
468 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
469 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
470 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
471 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
472 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
473 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
474 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
475 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
476 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
477 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
478 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
482 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
483 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
484 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
488 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
489 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
490 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
491 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
492 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
496 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
497 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
498 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
499 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
500 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
504 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
505 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
506 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
507 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
508 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
510 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
511 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
512 * Threading:: How threads are made.
513 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
514 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
515 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
516 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
517 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
518 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
519 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
520 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
521 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
522 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
523 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
524 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
525 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
526 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
527 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
528 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
529 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
530 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
531 or reselecting the current group.
532 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
533 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
534 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
535 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
537 Summary Buffer Format
539 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
540 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
541 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
542 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
546 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
547 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
549 Reply, Followup and Post
551 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
552 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
553 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
554 * Canceling and Superseding::
558 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
559 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
560 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
562 * Generic Marking Commands::
563 * Setting Process Marks::
567 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
568 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
569 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
573 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
574 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
576 Customizing Threading
578 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
579 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
580 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
581 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
585 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
586 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
587 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
588 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
589 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
590 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
594 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
595 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
596 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
600 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
601 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
602 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
603 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
604 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
605 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
606 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
607 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
608 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
609 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
611 Alternative Approaches
613 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
614 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
616 Various Summary Stuff
618 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
619 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
620 * Summary Generation Commands::
621 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
625 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
626 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
627 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
628 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
629 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
633 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
634 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
635 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
636 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
637 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
638 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
639 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
640 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
644 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
645 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
646 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
647 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
648 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
649 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
650 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
651 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
655 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
656 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
657 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
658 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
659 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
660 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
661 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
665 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
666 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
670 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
671 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
672 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
676 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
677 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
678 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
679 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
680 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
681 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
682 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
683 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
684 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
685 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
686 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
687 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
688 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
692 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
693 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
694 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
696 Choosing a Mail Back End
698 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
699 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
700 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
701 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
702 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
703 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
708 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
709 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
710 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
711 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
712 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
713 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
717 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
718 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
719 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
723 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
724 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
725 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
726 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
727 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
731 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
735 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
736 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
737 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
741 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
742 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
746 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
747 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
748 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
749 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
750 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
751 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
752 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
753 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
754 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
755 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
759 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
760 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
761 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
765 * Group Agent Commands::
766 * Summary Agent Commands::
767 * Server Agent Commands::
771 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
772 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
773 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
774 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
775 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
776 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
777 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
778 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
779 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
780 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
781 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
782 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
783 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
784 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
785 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
786 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
787 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
791 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
792 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
793 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
794 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
798 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
799 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
800 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
804 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
805 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
806 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
807 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
808 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
809 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
810 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
811 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
812 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
813 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
814 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
815 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
816 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
817 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
818 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
819 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
820 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
821 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
822 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
826 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
827 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
828 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
829 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
830 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
831 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
832 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
833 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
837 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
838 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
839 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
840 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
841 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
845 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
846 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
847 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
848 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
849 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
853 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
854 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
855 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
856 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
857 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
858 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
859 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
860 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
861 * Frequently Asked Questions::
865 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
866 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
867 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
868 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
869 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
870 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
871 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
872 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
873 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
877 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
878 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
879 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
880 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
881 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
885 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
886 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
887 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
888 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
892 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
893 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
894 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
895 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
896 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
897 * Group Info:: The group info format.
898 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
899 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
900 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
904 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
905 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
906 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
907 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
908 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
909 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
913 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
914 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
918 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
919 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
925 @chapter Starting gnus
930 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
931 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
934 @findex gnus-other-frame
935 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
936 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
937 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
939 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
940 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
941 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
943 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
944 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
947 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
948 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
949 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
950 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
951 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
952 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
953 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
954 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
955 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
956 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
957 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
961 @node Finding the News
962 @section Finding the News
965 @vindex gnus-select-method
967 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
968 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
969 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
970 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
973 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
974 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
977 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
980 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
983 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
986 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
987 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
988 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
990 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
992 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
993 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
994 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
995 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
996 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
997 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
999 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1000 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1001 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1002 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1004 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1005 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1006 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1007 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1008 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1009 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1010 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1011 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1012 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1015 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1017 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1018 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1019 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1020 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1021 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1022 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1024 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1026 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1027 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1028 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1029 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1030 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1031 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1034 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1035 you would typically set this variable to
1038 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1042 @node The First Time
1043 @section The First Time
1044 @cindex first time usage
1046 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1047 be subscribed by default.
1049 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1050 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1051 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1052 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1055 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1056 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1057 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1059 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1060 help you with most common problems.
1062 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1063 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1067 @node The Server is Down
1068 @section The Server is Down
1069 @cindex server errors
1071 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1072 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1073 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1075 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1076 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1077 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1078 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1079 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1080 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1081 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1083 @findex gnus-no-server
1084 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1086 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1087 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1088 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1089 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1090 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1091 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1092 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1096 @section Slave Gnusae
1099 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1100 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1101 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1102 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1104 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1105 @code{.newsrc} file.
1107 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1108 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1109 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1110 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1111 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1112 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1113 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1115 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1116 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1117 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1118 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1119 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1120 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1121 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1122 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1124 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1125 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1127 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1128 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1129 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1130 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1131 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1133 @node Fetching a Group
1134 @section Fetching a Group
1135 @cindex fetching a group
1137 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1138 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1139 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1140 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1141 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1142 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1148 @cindex subscription
1150 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1151 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1152 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1153 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1154 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1155 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1156 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1157 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1158 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1161 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1162 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1163 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1167 @node Checking New Groups
1168 @subsection Checking New Groups
1170 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1171 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1172 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1173 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1174 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1175 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1176 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1177 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1178 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1179 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1181 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1182 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1183 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1184 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1185 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1186 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1187 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1188 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1189 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1190 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1191 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1193 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1194 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1195 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1196 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1197 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1198 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1201 @node Subscription Methods
1202 @subsection Subscription Methods
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1205 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1206 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1208 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1209 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1211 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1215 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1216 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1217 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1218 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1219 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1221 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1223 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1224 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1228 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1232 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1233 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1234 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1235 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1236 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1237 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1238 up. Or something like that.
1240 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1241 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1242 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1243 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1244 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1248 Kill all new groups.
1250 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1252 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1253 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1254 topic parameter that looks like
1260 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1263 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1268 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1269 A closely related variable is
1270 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1271 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1272 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1273 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1276 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1277 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1278 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1279 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1282 @node Filtering New Groups
1283 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1285 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1286 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1287 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1290 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1293 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1294 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1295 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1296 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1297 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1298 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1299 subscribing these groups.
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1301 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1303 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1304 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1305 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1306 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1307 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1308 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1309 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1310 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1312 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1313 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1314 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1315 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1316 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1317 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1318 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1319 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1320 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1321 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1324 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1325 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1328 @node Changing Servers
1329 @section Changing Servers
1330 @cindex changing servers
1332 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1333 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1334 very flaky and you want to use another.
1336 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1337 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1341 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1342 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1343 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1344 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1347 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1348 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1349 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1350 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1352 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1353 @findex gnus-change-server
1354 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1355 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1356 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1358 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1360 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1361 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1362 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1363 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1364 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1366 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1367 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1368 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1369 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1371 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1374 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1375 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1376 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1378 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1379 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1380 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1381 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1382 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1383 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1384 cache for all groups).
1388 @section Startup Files
1389 @cindex startup files
1394 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1395 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1397 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1398 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1399 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1400 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1401 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1402 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1403 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1405 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1406 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1407 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1408 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1409 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1410 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1412 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1413 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1414 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1415 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1416 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1417 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1418 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1419 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1420 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1421 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1423 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1424 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1425 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1426 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1427 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1428 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1429 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1430 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1431 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1432 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1433 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1434 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1436 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1437 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1438 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1439 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1441 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1442 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1443 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1444 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1445 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1446 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1447 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1448 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1449 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1450 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1453 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1454 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1456 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1457 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1460 @vindex gnus-init-file
1461 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1462 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1463 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1464 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1465 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1466 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1467 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1468 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1469 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1475 @cindex dribble file
1478 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1479 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1480 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1481 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1482 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1485 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1486 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1489 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1490 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1491 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1493 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1494 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1495 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1496 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1497 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1498 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1500 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1501 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1502 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1505 @node The Active File
1506 @section The Active File
1508 @cindex ignored groups
1510 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1511 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1512 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1514 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1515 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1516 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1517 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1518 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1519 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1520 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1523 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1524 @c if you set it to anything else.
1526 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1528 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1529 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1530 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1532 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1533 you actually subscribe to.
1535 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1536 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1537 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1538 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1540 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1541 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1542 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1543 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1544 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1545 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1547 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1548 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1549 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1552 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1553 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1554 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1555 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1556 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1557 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1559 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1560 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1562 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1563 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1565 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1566 secondary select methods.
1569 @node Startup Variables
1570 @section Startup Variables
1574 @item gnus-load-hook
1575 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1576 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1577 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1578 times you start gnus.
1580 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1581 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1582 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1584 @item gnus-startup-hook
1585 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1586 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1588 @item gnus-started-hook
1589 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1590 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1593 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1595 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1596 generating the group buffer.
1598 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1599 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1600 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1601 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1602 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1603 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1604 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1605 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1607 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1608 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1609 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1610 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1611 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1612 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1614 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1615 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1616 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1618 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1619 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1620 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1622 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1623 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1624 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1625 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1631 @chapter Group Buffer
1632 @cindex group buffer
1634 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1636 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1637 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1638 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1639 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1640 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1641 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1642 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1643 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1644 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1645 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1646 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1647 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1648 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1649 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1650 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1651 @c human rights at 9...
1654 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1655 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1656 long as gnus is active.
1660 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1661 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1662 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1663 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1664 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1665 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1666 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1667 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1673 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1674 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1675 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1676 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1677 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1678 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1679 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1680 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1681 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1682 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1683 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1684 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1685 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1686 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1687 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1688 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1689 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1693 @node Group Buffer Format
1694 @section Group Buffer Format
1697 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1698 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1699 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1703 @node Group Line Specification
1704 @subsection Group Line Specification
1705 @cindex group buffer format
1707 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1708 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1710 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1713 25: news.announce.newusers
1714 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1719 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1720 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1721 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1722 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1724 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1725 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1726 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1727 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1728 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1729 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1731 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1733 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1734 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1735 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1736 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1737 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1739 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1740 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1741 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1743 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1748 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1751 Whether the group is subscribed.
1754 Level of subscribedness.
1757 Number of unread articles.
1760 Number of dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked articles.
1766 Number of read articles.
1769 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1770 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1772 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1773 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1774 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1775 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1776 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1777 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1778 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1779 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1782 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1785 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1794 Newsgroup description.
1797 @samp{m} if moderated.
1800 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1809 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1813 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1816 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1817 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1818 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1819 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1820 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1823 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1825 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1829 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1832 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1836 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1837 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1838 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1839 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1840 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1841 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1846 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1847 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1848 group, or a bogus native group.
1851 @node Group Modeline Specification
1852 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1853 @cindex group modeline
1855 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1856 The mode line can be changed by setting
1857 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1858 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1862 The native news server.
1864 The native select method.
1868 @node Group Highlighting
1869 @subsection Group Highlighting
1870 @cindex highlighting
1871 @cindex group highlighting
1873 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1874 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1875 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1876 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1877 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1879 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1883 (cond (window-system
1884 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1885 (defface my-group-face-1
1886 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1887 (defface my-group-face-2
1888 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1889 (defface my-group-face-3
1890 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1891 (defface my-group-face-4
1892 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1893 (defface my-group-face-5
1894 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1896 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1897 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1898 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1899 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1900 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1901 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1904 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1906 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1913 The number of unread articles in the group.
1917 Whether the group is a mail group.
1919 The level of the group.
1921 The score of the group.
1923 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1925 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1926 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1928 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1929 topic being inserted.
1932 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1933 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1934 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1936 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1937 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1938 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1939 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1940 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1943 @node Group Maneuvering
1944 @section Group Maneuvering
1945 @cindex group movement
1947 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1948 expected, hopefully.
1954 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1955 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1956 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1962 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1963 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1964 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1968 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1969 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1973 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1974 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1978 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1979 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1980 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1984 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1985 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1986 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1989 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1995 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1996 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1997 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2002 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2003 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2004 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2008 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2009 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2010 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2013 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2014 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2015 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2016 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2020 @node Selecting a Group
2021 @section Selecting a Group
2022 @cindex group selection
2027 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2028 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2029 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2030 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2031 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2032 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2033 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2034 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2035 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2036 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2038 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2039 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2040 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2042 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2043 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2048 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2049 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2050 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2051 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2052 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2056 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2057 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2058 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2059 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2060 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2061 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2062 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2063 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2064 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2065 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2068 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2069 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2070 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2071 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2072 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2075 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2076 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2077 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2078 doing any processing of its contents
2079 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2080 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2081 manner will have no permanent effects.
2085 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2086 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2087 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2088 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2089 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2090 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2091 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2092 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2095 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2096 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2097 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2098 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2099 Which article this is is controlled by the
2100 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2106 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2109 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2112 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2114 @item unseen-or-unread
2115 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2116 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2120 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2124 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2125 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2127 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2128 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2129 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2130 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2134 @node Subscription Commands
2135 @section Subscription Commands
2136 @cindex subscription
2144 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2145 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2146 Toggle subscription to the current group
2147 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2153 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2154 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2155 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2156 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2162 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2163 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2164 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2170 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2171 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2174 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2175 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2176 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2177 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2178 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2184 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2185 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2189 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2190 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2193 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2194 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2195 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2196 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2197 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2198 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2199 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2200 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2201 @file{.newsrc} file.
2205 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2215 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2216 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2217 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2218 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2219 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2220 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2225 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2226 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2227 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2231 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2232 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2233 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2235 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2236 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2237 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2238 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2239 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2240 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2247 @section Group Levels
2251 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2252 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2253 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2254 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2255 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2257 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2263 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2264 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2265 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2266 prompted for a level.
2269 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2270 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2271 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2272 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2273 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2274 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2275 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2276 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2277 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2278 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2279 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2280 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2281 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2282 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2283 reasons of efficiency.
2285 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2286 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2288 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2289 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2290 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2291 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2292 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2293 groups are hidden, in a way.
2295 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2296 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2297 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2298 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2299 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2300 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2302 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2303 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2304 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2305 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2306 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2307 list of killed groups.)
2309 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2310 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2311 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2313 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2314 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2315 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2316 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2317 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2318 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2319 relevant valid ranges.
2321 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2322 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2323 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2324 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2325 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2326 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2329 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2330 one with the best level.
2332 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2333 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2334 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2337 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2338 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2339 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2340 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2343 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2344 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2345 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2346 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2348 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2349 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2350 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2351 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2352 to 5. The default is 6.
2356 @section Group Score
2361 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2362 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2363 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2366 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2367 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2368 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2369 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2370 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2371 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2372 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2373 least significant part.))
2375 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2376 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2377 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2378 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2379 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2380 action after each summary exit, you can add
2381 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2382 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2383 slow things down somewhat.
2386 @node Marking Groups
2387 @section Marking Groups
2388 @cindex marking groups
2390 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2391 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2392 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2393 bidding on those groups.
2395 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2396 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2397 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2405 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2406 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2412 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2413 Remove the mark from the current group
2414 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2418 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2419 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2423 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2424 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2428 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2429 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2433 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2434 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2435 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2438 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2440 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2441 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2442 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2443 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2444 the command to be executed.
2447 @node Foreign Groups
2448 @section Foreign Groups
2449 @cindex foreign groups
2451 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2452 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2453 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2454 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2461 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2462 @cindex making groups
2463 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2464 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2465 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2469 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2470 @cindex renaming groups
2471 Rename the current group to something else
2472 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2473 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2479 @findex gnus-group-customize
2480 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2485 @cindex renaming groups
2486 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2487 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2492 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2493 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2497 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2498 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2499 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2503 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2505 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2506 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2511 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2512 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2516 @cindex (ding) archive
2517 @cindex archive group
2518 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2519 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2520 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2521 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2522 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2523 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2524 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2530 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2531 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2532 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2533 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2537 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2539 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2540 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2541 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2546 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2548 Make a group based on some file or other
2549 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2550 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2551 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2552 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2553 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2554 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2555 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2556 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2557 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2561 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2563 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2564 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2568 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2573 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2574 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2575 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2576 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2577 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2578 @xref{Web Searches}.
2580 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2581 to a particular group by using a match string like
2582 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2585 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2586 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2587 This function will delete the current group
2588 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2589 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2590 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2591 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2592 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2597 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2598 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2602 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2603 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2604 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2607 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2610 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2611 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2612 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2613 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2614 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2615 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2619 @node Group Parameters
2620 @section Group Parameters
2621 @cindex group parameters
2623 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2624 Here's an example group parameter list:
2627 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2631 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2632 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2633 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2634 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2636 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2637 is an alist of regexps and values.
2639 The following group parameters can be used:
2644 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2647 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2650 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2651 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2652 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2653 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2654 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2656 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2657 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2658 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2659 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2660 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2661 list address instead.
2663 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2667 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2670 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2673 It is totally ignored
2674 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2675 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2677 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2678 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2679 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2680 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2681 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2683 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2684 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2685 sending the message.
2687 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2688 @cindex Mail List Groups
2689 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2690 entering summary buffer.
2692 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2697 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2698 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2699 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2700 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2701 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2702 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2704 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2705 directly uses this group parameter.
2709 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2710 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2711 of whether it has any unread articles.
2713 @item broken-reply-to
2714 @cindex broken-reply-to
2715 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2716 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2717 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2718 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2719 broken behavior. So there!
2723 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2724 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2728 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2729 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2730 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2735 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2736 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2737 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2738 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2739 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2740 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2741 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2742 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2743 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2747 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2748 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2749 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2751 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2754 @cindex total-expire
2755 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2756 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2757 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2758 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2761 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2765 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2766 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2767 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2768 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2769 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2770 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2773 @cindex score file group parameter
2774 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2775 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2776 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2779 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2780 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2781 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2782 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2785 @cindex admin-address
2786 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2787 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2788 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2789 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2793 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2794 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2798 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2801 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2802 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2805 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2809 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2811 Here are some examples:
2815 Display only unread articles.
2818 Display everything except expirable articles.
2820 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2821 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2825 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2826 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2827 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2828 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2829 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2833 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2834 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2835 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2839 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2840 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2841 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2846 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2847 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2848 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2850 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2852 @item ignored-charsets
2853 @cindex ignored-charset
2854 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2855 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2856 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2858 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2861 @cindex posting-style
2862 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2863 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2864 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2865 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2866 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2868 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2869 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2870 like this in the group parameters:
2875 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2880 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2881 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2885 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2886 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2887 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2888 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2889 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2893 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2894 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2895 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2896 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2898 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2899 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2900 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2901 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2904 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2905 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2909 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2912 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2913 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2914 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2915 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2916 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2917 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2918 @code{eval}ed there.
2920 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2921 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2922 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2923 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2924 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2925 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2926 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2927 parameters for the group.
2930 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2931 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2932 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2933 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2934 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2938 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2939 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2940 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2941 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2942 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2944 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2945 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2949 (setq gnus-parameters
2951 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2952 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2953 (gnus-summary-line-format
2954 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2958 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2962 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2966 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2969 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2970 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2973 @node Listing Groups
2974 @section Listing Groups
2975 @cindex group listing
2977 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2985 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2986 List all groups that have unread articles
2987 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2988 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2989 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2990 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2997 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2998 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2999 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3000 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3001 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3002 unsubscribed groups).
3006 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3007 List all unread groups on a specific level
3008 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3009 with no unread articles.
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3014 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3015 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3016 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3021 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3022 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3026 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3027 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3028 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3032 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3033 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3037 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3038 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3039 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3040 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3041 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3042 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3043 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3044 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3048 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3049 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3050 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3054 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3055 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3056 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3060 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3061 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3065 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3066 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3070 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3071 List groups limited within the current selection
3072 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3076 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3077 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3081 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3082 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3086 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3087 @cindex visible group parameter
3088 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3089 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3090 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3091 get the same effect.
3093 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3094 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3095 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3096 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3097 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3100 @node Sorting Groups
3101 @section Sorting Groups
3102 @cindex sorting groups
3104 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3105 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3106 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3107 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3108 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3109 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3114 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3115 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3116 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3118 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3119 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3120 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3122 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3123 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3124 Sort by group level.
3126 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3127 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3128 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3130 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3131 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3132 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3133 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3135 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3136 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3137 Sort by number of unread articles.
3139 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3140 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3141 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3143 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3144 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3145 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3150 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3151 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3155 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3156 some sorting criteria:
3160 @kindex G S a (Group)
3161 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3162 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3163 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3166 @kindex G S u (Group)
3167 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3168 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3169 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3172 @kindex G S l (Group)
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3174 Sort the group buffer by group level
3175 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3178 @kindex G S v (Group)
3179 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3180 Sort the group buffer by group score
3181 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3184 @kindex G S r (Group)
3185 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3186 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3187 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3190 @kindex G S m (Group)
3191 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3192 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3193 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3197 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3198 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3200 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3201 commands will sort in reverse order.
3203 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3207 @kindex G P a (Group)
3208 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3209 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3210 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3213 @kindex G P u (Group)
3214 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3215 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3216 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3219 @kindex G P l (Group)
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3221 Sort the groups by group level
3222 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3225 @kindex G P v (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3227 Sort the groups by group score
3228 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3231 @kindex G P r (Group)
3232 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3233 Sort the groups by group rank
3234 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3237 @kindex G P m (Group)
3238 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3239 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3240 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3243 @kindex G P s (Group)
3244 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3245 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3249 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3253 @node Group Maintenance
3254 @section Group Maintenance
3255 @cindex bogus groups
3260 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3261 Find bogus groups and delete them
3262 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3266 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3267 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3268 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3269 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3270 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3274 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3275 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3276 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3277 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3278 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3279 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3282 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3283 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3284 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3285 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3290 @node Browse Foreign Server
3291 @section Browse Foreign Server
3292 @cindex foreign servers
3293 @cindex browsing servers
3298 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3299 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3300 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3301 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3304 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3305 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3306 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3307 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3309 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3314 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3315 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3320 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3323 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3324 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3325 Enter the current group and display the first article
3326 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3329 @kindex RET (Browse)
3330 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3331 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3335 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3336 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3337 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3343 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3344 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3348 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3349 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3350 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3355 @section Exiting gnus
3356 @cindex exiting gnus
3358 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3363 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3364 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3365 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3366 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3370 @findex gnus-group-exit
3371 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3372 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3376 @findex gnus-group-quit
3377 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3378 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3381 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3382 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3383 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3384 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3385 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3390 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3391 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3392 trying to customize meta-variables.
3397 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3398 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3399 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3405 @section Group Topics
3408 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3409 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3410 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3411 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3412 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3413 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3417 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3418 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3429 2: alt.religion.emacs
3432 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3434 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3435 13: comp.sources.unix
3438 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3440 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3441 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3442 is a toggling command.)
3444 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3445 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3446 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3447 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3450 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3451 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3452 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3455 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3459 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3460 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3461 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3462 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3463 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3467 @node Topic Commands
3468 @subsection Topic Commands
3469 @cindex topic commands
3471 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3472 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3473 definitions slightly.
3475 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3476 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3477 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3478 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3479 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3480 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3482 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3489 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3490 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3491 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3495 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3497 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3498 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3499 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3500 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3503 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3504 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3505 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3506 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3510 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3511 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3512 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3513 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3519 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3520 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3521 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3525 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3526 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3527 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3530 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3531 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3532 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3533 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3534 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3536 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3537 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3541 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3542 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3549 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3551 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3552 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3553 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3554 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3555 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3556 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3560 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3566 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3567 Move the current group to some other topic
3568 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3569 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3573 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3574 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3578 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3579 Copy the current group to some other topic
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3581 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3585 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3586 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3587 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3591 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3592 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3593 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3597 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3598 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3599 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3600 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3601 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3602 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3603 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3606 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3607 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3611 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3612 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3613 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3617 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3618 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3619 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3623 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3624 Toggle hiding empty topics
3625 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3629 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3630 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3631 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3634 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3635 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3636 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3637 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3640 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3641 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3642 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3643 expiry process (if any)
3644 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3648 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3649 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3652 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3653 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3654 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3658 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3659 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3660 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3663 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3664 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3665 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3668 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3669 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3670 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3674 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3675 @cindex group parameters
3676 @cindex topic parameters
3678 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3679 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3684 @node Topic Variables
3685 @subsection Topic Variables
3686 @cindex topic variables
3688 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3689 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3691 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3692 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3693 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3706 Number of groups in the topic.
3708 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3710 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3713 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3714 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3715 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3718 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3719 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3721 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3722 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3723 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3727 @subsection Topic Sorting
3728 @cindex topic sorting
3730 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3736 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3737 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3738 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3739 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3742 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3743 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3744 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3745 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3748 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3749 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3750 Sort the current topic by group level
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3754 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3755 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3756 Sort the current topic by group score
3757 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3760 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3761 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3762 Sort the current topic by group rank
3763 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3766 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3767 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3768 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3769 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3772 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3773 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3774 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3775 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3779 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3780 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3781 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3782 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3786 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3787 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3791 @node Topic Topology
3792 @subsection Topic Topology
3793 @cindex topic topology
3796 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3802 2: alt.religion.emacs
3805 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3807 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3808 13: comp.sources.unix
3811 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3812 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3813 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3818 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3819 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3823 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3824 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3825 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3826 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3827 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3828 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3830 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3831 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3832 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3835 @node Topic Parameters
3836 @subsection Topic Parameters
3837 @cindex topic parameters
3839 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3840 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3841 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3843 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3848 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3849 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3850 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3853 @item subscribe-level
3854 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3855 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3856 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3860 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3861 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3862 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3863 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3869 2: alt.religion.emacs
3873 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3875 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3876 13: comp.sources.unix
3880 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3881 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3882 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3883 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3884 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3885 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3887 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3888 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3889 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3890 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3891 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3893 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3894 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3895 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3896 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3897 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3898 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3899 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3900 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3903 @node Misc Group Stuff
3904 @section Misc Group Stuff
3907 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3908 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3909 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3910 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3911 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3918 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3919 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3920 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3924 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3925 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3926 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3927 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3928 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3929 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3930 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3934 @findex gnus-group-mail
3935 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3936 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3937 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3938 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3942 @findex gnus-group-news
3943 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3944 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3945 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3947 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3948 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3949 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3950 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3951 for this to work though.
3955 Variables for the group buffer:
3959 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3960 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3961 is called after the group buffer has been
3964 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3965 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3966 is called after the group buffer is
3967 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3970 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3971 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3972 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3973 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3975 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3976 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3977 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3978 whether they are empty or not.
3980 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3981 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3982 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3983 non-ASCII group names.
3987 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3988 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3991 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3992 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3993 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3994 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3995 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3996 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4000 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4001 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4006 @node Scanning New Messages
4007 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4008 @cindex new messages
4009 @cindex scanning new news
4015 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4016 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4017 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4018 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4019 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4020 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4025 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4026 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4027 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4028 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4029 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4030 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4031 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4033 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4034 @cindex activating groups
4036 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4037 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4042 @findex gnus-group-restart
4043 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4044 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4045 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4049 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4050 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4052 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4053 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4057 @node Group Information
4058 @subsection Group Information
4059 @cindex group information
4060 @cindex information on groups
4067 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4068 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4071 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4072 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4073 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4074 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4075 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4076 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4077 for fetching the file.
4079 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4080 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4084 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4086 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4087 @cindex describing groups
4088 @cindex group description
4089 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4090 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4091 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4095 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4096 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4097 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4104 @findex gnus-version
4105 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4109 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4110 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4113 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4116 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4117 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4121 @node Group Timestamp
4122 @subsection Group Timestamp
4124 @cindex group timestamps
4126 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4127 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4128 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4131 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4134 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4136 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4137 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4140 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4141 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4144 This will result in lines looking like:
4147 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4148 0: custom 19961002T012713
4151 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4152 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4156 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4157 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4160 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4161 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4165 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4166 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4167 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4168 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4170 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4176 @subsection File Commands
4177 @cindex file commands
4183 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4184 @vindex gnus-init-file
4185 @cindex reading init file
4186 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4187 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4191 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4192 @cindex saving .newsrc
4193 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4194 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4195 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4198 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4199 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4200 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4205 @node Sieve Commands
4206 @subsection Sieve Commands
4207 @cindex group sieve commands
4209 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4210 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4211 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4212 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4213 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4215 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4216 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4217 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4218 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4219 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4220 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4221 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4222 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4223 regenerate the Sieve script.
4225 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4226 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4227 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4228 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4229 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4230 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4231 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4232 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4233 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4234 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4237 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4238 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4243 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4249 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4250 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4251 @cindex generating sieve script
4252 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4253 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4257 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4258 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4259 @cindex updating sieve script
4260 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4261 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4262 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4267 @node Summary Buffer
4268 @chapter Summary Buffer
4269 @cindex summary buffer
4271 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4272 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4274 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4275 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4277 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4280 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4281 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4282 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4283 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4284 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4285 * Delayed Articles::
4286 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4287 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4288 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4289 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4290 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4291 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4292 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4293 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4294 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4295 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4296 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4297 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4298 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4299 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4300 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4301 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4302 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4303 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4304 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4305 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4306 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4307 or reselecting the current group.
4308 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4309 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4310 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4311 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4315 @node Summary Buffer Format
4316 @section Summary Buffer Format
4317 @cindex summary buffer format
4321 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4322 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4323 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4329 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4330 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4331 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4332 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4335 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4336 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4337 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4338 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4339 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4340 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4341 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4342 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4343 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4344 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4345 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4346 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4347 other function instead:
4350 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4351 'mail-extract-address-components)
4354 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4355 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4356 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4357 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4360 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4361 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4363 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4364 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4365 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4366 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4367 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4369 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4370 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4371 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4372 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4373 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4374 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4376 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4378 The following format specification characters and extended format
4379 specification(s) are understood:
4385 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4386 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4388 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4389 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4390 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4392 Full @code{From} header.
4394 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4396 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4397 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4399 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4400 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4401 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4402 may be more thorough.
4404 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4407 Number of lines in the article.
4409 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4410 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4412 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4414 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4417 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4418 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4420 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4421 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4423 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4424 for adopted articles.
4426 One space for each thread level.
4428 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4430 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4433 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4434 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4435 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4438 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4440 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4441 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4442 default level. If the difference between
4443 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4444 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4452 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4454 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4460 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4461 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4463 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4464 article has any children.
4470 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4471 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4473 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4474 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4475 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4476 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4477 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4478 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4481 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4482 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4483 There can only be one such area.
4485 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4486 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4487 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4488 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4489 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4490 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4492 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4493 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4495 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4498 @node To From Newsgroups
4499 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4503 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4504 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4505 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4506 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4507 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4511 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4512 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4513 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4517 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4518 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4521 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4522 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4525 @findex gnus-extra-header
4526 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4527 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4528 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4531 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4535 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4536 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4537 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4538 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4539 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4540 headers are used instead.
4544 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4545 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4546 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4547 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4550 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4551 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4552 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4553 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4555 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4559 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4561 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4562 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4563 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4564 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4568 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4571 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4572 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4579 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4580 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4583 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4584 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4586 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4587 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4588 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4589 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4591 Here are the elements you can play with:
4597 Unprefixed group name.
4599 Current article number.
4601 Current article score.
4605 Number of unread articles in this group.
4607 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4610 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4611 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4612 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4613 and no unselected ones.
4615 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4616 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4618 Subject of the current article.
4620 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4622 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4624 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4626 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4628 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4630 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4634 @node Summary Highlighting
4635 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4639 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4640 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4641 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4642 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4643 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4645 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4646 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4647 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4648 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4650 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4651 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4652 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4653 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4655 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4656 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4657 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4658 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4659 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4660 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4663 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4664 ((> score default) . bold))
4666 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4667 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4671 @node Summary Maneuvering
4672 @section Summary Maneuvering
4673 @cindex summary movement
4675 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4676 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4678 None of these commands select articles.
4683 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4684 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4685 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4686 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4687 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4691 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4692 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4693 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4694 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4695 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4698 @kindex G g (Summary)
4699 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4700 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4701 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4704 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4705 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4706 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4707 to the group buffer.
4709 Variables related to summary movement:
4713 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4714 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4715 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4716 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4717 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4718 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4719 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4720 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4721 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4722 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4723 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4724 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4725 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4726 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4728 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4729 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4730 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4731 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4732 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4733 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4734 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4736 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4738 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4739 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4740 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4741 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4742 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4744 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4745 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4746 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4747 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4748 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4749 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4750 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4751 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4754 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4755 the given number of lines from the top.
4760 @node Choosing Articles
4761 @section Choosing Articles
4762 @cindex selecting articles
4765 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4766 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4770 @node Choosing Commands
4771 @subsection Choosing Commands
4773 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4774 and they all select and display an article.
4776 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4777 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4781 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4782 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4783 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4784 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4789 @kindex G n (Summary)
4790 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4791 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4792 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4797 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4798 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4799 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4804 @kindex G N (Summary)
4805 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4806 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4811 @kindex G P (Summary)
4812 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4813 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4816 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4817 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4818 Go to the next article with the same subject
4819 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4822 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4823 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4824 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4825 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4829 @kindex G f (Summary)
4831 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4832 Go to the first unread article
4833 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4837 @kindex G b (Summary)
4839 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4840 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4841 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4842 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4847 @kindex G l (Summary)
4848 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4849 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4852 @kindex G o (Summary)
4853 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4855 @cindex article history
4856 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4857 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4858 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4859 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4860 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4861 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4866 @kindex G j (Summary)
4867 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4868 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4869 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4874 @node Choosing Variables
4875 @subsection Choosing Variables
4877 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4880 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4881 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4882 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4883 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4884 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4885 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4887 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4888 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4889 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4890 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4892 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4893 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4894 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4895 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4896 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4897 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4898 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4899 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4900 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4901 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4902 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4903 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4904 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4905 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4910 @node Paging the Article
4911 @section Scrolling the Article
4912 @cindex article scrolling
4917 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4919 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4920 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4921 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4924 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4925 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4926 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4929 @kindex RET (Summary)
4930 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4931 Scroll the current article one line forward
4932 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4935 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4937 Scroll the current article one line backward
4938 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4942 @kindex A g (Summary)
4944 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4945 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4946 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4947 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4948 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4949 the way it came from the server.
4951 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4952 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4953 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4956 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4961 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4966 @kindex A < (Summary)
4967 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4968 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4969 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4974 @kindex A > (Summary)
4975 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4976 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4980 @kindex A s (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4983 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4984 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4988 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4989 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4994 @node Reply Followup and Post
4995 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4998 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4999 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5000 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5001 * Canceling and Superseding::
5005 @node Summary Mail Commands
5006 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5008 @cindex composing mail
5010 Commands for composing a mail message:
5016 @kindex S r (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5019 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5020 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5021 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5022 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5027 @kindex S R (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5029 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5030 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5031 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5032 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5035 @kindex S w (Summary)
5036 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5037 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5038 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5039 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5040 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5043 @kindex S W (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5045 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5046 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5047 the process/prefix convention.
5050 @kindex S v (Summary)
5051 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5052 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5053 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5054 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5055 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5056 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5060 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5061 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5063 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5064 Forward the current article to some other person
5065 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5066 headers of the forwarded article.
5071 @kindex S m (Summary)
5072 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5073 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5074 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5075 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5076 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5081 @kindex S i (Summary)
5082 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5083 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5084 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5085 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5087 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5088 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5089 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5090 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5091 for this to work though.
5094 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5095 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5096 @cindex bouncing mail
5097 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5098 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5099 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5100 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5101 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5102 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5103 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5104 very well fail, though.
5107 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5108 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5109 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5110 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5111 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5112 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5113 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5114 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5115 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5116 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5118 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5119 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5120 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5121 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5122 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5124 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5125 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5128 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5129 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5130 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5131 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5132 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5135 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5137 @cindex crossposting
5138 @cindex excessive crossposting
5139 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5140 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5142 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5143 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5144 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5145 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5146 command understands the process/prefix convention
5147 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5151 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5152 Manual}, for more information.
5155 @node Summary Post Commands
5156 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5158 @cindex composing news
5160 Commands for posting a news article:
5166 @kindex S p (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5169 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5170 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5171 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5176 @kindex S f (Summary)
5177 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5178 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5179 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5183 @kindex S F (Summary)
5185 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5186 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5187 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5188 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5189 process/prefix convention.
5192 @kindex S n (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5194 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5195 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5198 @kindex S N (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5200 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5201 message through mail and include the original message
5202 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5203 the process/prefix convention.
5206 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5207 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5208 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5209 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5210 headers of the forwarded article.
5213 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5214 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5216 @cindex making digests
5217 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5218 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5219 process/prefix convention.
5222 @kindex S u (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5224 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5225 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5226 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5229 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5230 Manual}, for more information.
5233 @node Summary Message Commands
5234 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5238 @kindex S y (Summary)
5239 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5240 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5241 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5242 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5243 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5248 @node Canceling and Superseding
5249 @subsection Canceling Articles
5250 @cindex canceling articles
5251 @cindex superseding articles
5253 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5254 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5256 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5258 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5260 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5261 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5262 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5263 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5264 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5265 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5267 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5268 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5271 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5272 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5273 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5275 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5276 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5277 your original article.
5279 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5281 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5282 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5283 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5286 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5287 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5288 have posted almost the same article twice.
5290 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5291 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5292 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5293 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5294 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5295 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5296 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5297 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5298 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5299 canceled/superseded.
5301 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5303 @node Delayed Articles
5304 @section Delayed Articles
5305 @cindex delayed sending
5306 @cindex send delayed
5308 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5309 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5310 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5311 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5314 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5317 @findex gnus-delay-article
5318 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5319 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5320 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5321 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5325 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5326 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5327 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5328 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5331 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5332 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5333 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5336 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5337 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5338 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5339 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5340 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5341 that means a time tomorrow.
5344 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5345 couple of variables:
5348 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5349 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5350 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5351 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5353 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5354 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5355 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5356 formats described above.
5358 @item gnus-delay-group
5359 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5360 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5361 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5362 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5364 @item gnus-delay-header
5365 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5366 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5367 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5368 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5371 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5372 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5373 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5374 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5375 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5377 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5378 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5379 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5380 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5381 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5382 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5385 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5386 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5387 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5388 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5389 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5390 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5391 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5392 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5394 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5395 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5396 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5397 forget to set that up :-)
5401 @node Marking Articles
5402 @section Marking Articles
5403 @cindex article marking
5404 @cindex article ticking
5407 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5409 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5410 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5411 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5413 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5416 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5417 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5418 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5422 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5426 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5427 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5428 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5432 @node Unread Articles
5433 @subsection Unread Articles
5435 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5440 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5441 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5443 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5444 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5445 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5446 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5447 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5448 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5449 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5452 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5453 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5455 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5456 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5457 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5458 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5462 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5463 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5465 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5470 @subsection Read Articles
5471 @cindex expirable mark
5473 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5478 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5479 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5480 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5483 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5484 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5487 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5488 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5489 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5492 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5493 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5496 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5497 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5500 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5501 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5504 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5505 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5508 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5509 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5512 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5513 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5516 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5517 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5521 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5522 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5523 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5527 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5528 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5530 One more special mark, though:
5534 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5535 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5537 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5538 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5539 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5540 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5546 @subsection Other Marks
5547 @cindex process mark
5550 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5556 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5557 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5558 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5559 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5560 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5563 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5564 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5565 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5566 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5569 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5570 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5571 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5574 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5575 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5576 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5579 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5580 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5581 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5582 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5585 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5586 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5587 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5588 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5589 mark, in which case it simply never appears.
5592 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5593 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5594 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5597 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5598 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5599 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5600 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5601 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5604 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5605 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5606 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5607 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5608 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5609 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5613 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5614 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5615 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5617 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5618 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5619 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5623 @subsection Setting Marks
5624 @cindex setting marks
5626 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5631 @kindex M c (Summary)
5632 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5633 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5634 @cindex mark as unread
5635 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5636 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5642 @kindex M t (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5644 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5645 @xref{Article Caching}.
5650 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5651 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5652 Mark the current article as dormant
5653 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5657 @kindex M d (Summary)
5659 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5660 Mark the current article as read
5661 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5665 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5666 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5667 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5672 @kindex M k (Summary)
5673 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5674 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5675 and then select the next unread article
5676 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5680 @kindex M K (Summary)
5681 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5682 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5683 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5684 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5687 @kindex M C (Summary)
5688 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5689 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5690 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5693 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5694 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5695 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5696 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5699 @kindex M H (Summary)
5700 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5701 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5702 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5705 @kindex M h (Summary)
5706 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5707 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5708 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5711 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5713 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5714 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5717 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5718 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5719 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5720 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5724 @kindex M e (Summary)
5726 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5727 Mark the current article as expirable
5728 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5731 @kindex M b (Summary)
5732 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5733 Set a bookmark in the current article
5734 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5737 @kindex M B (Summary)
5738 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5739 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5740 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5743 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5745 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5746 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5749 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5751 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5752 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5755 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5757 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5758 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5759 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5762 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5763 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5764 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5765 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5766 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5767 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5768 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5769 The default is @code{t}.
5772 @node Generic Marking Commands
5773 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5775 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5776 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5777 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5778 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5779 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5782 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5783 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5786 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5787 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5788 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5789 to list in this manual.
5791 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5792 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5793 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5794 article, you could say something like:
5797 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5798 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5799 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5805 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5806 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5810 @node Setting Process Marks
5811 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5812 @cindex setting process marks
5819 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5821 Mark the current article with the process mark
5822 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5823 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5827 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5828 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5829 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5830 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5833 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5834 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5835 Remove the process mark from all articles
5836 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5839 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5840 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5841 Invert the list of process marked articles
5842 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5845 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5847 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5848 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5851 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5852 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5853 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5854 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5857 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5858 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5859 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5862 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5864 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5865 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5868 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5869 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5870 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5871 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5874 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5876 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5877 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5880 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5882 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5885 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5886 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5887 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5888 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5891 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5893 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5896 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5898 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5899 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5902 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5903 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5904 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5905 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5908 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5909 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5910 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5911 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5914 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5915 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5916 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5917 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5921 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5922 set process marks based on article body contents.
5929 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5930 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5931 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5934 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5935 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5936 additional articles.
5942 @kindex / / (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5944 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5945 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
5949 @kindex / a (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5951 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5952 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
5956 @kindex / x (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5958 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5959 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5960 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
5965 @kindex / u (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5968 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5970 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5971 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5974 @kindex / m (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5976 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5977 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5980 @kindex / t (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5982 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5983 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5984 articles younger than that number of days.
5987 @kindex / n (Summary)
5988 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5989 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5990 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5991 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5994 @kindex / w (Summary)
5995 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5996 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5997 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6001 @kindex / v (Summary)
6002 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6003 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6004 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6007 @kindex / p (Summary)
6008 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6009 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6010 group parameter predicate
6011 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6012 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6016 @kindex M S (Summary)
6017 @kindex / E (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6019 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6020 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6023 @kindex / D (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6025 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6026 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6029 @kindex / * (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6031 Include all cached articles in the limit
6032 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6035 @kindex / d (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6037 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6038 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6041 @kindex / M (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6043 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6046 @kindex / T (Summary)
6047 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6048 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6051 @kindex / c (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6053 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6054 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6057 @kindex / C (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6059 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6060 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6061 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6064 @kindex / N (Summary)
6065 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6066 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6067 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6070 @kindex / o (Summary)
6071 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6072 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6073 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6081 @cindex article threading
6083 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6084 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6085 hierarchical fashion.
6087 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6088 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6089 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6090 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6091 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6092 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6093 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6095 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6099 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6102 A tree-like article structure.
6105 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6108 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6109 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6110 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6111 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6112 called loose threads.
6114 @item thread gathering
6115 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6117 @item sparse threads
6118 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6119 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6125 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6126 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6130 @node Customizing Threading
6131 @subsection Customizing Threading
6132 @cindex customizing threading
6135 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6136 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6137 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6138 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6143 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6146 @cindex loose threads
6149 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6150 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6151 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6152 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6153 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6154 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6156 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6157 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6158 There are four possible values:
6162 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6163 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6164 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6165 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6166 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6171 @cindex adopting articles
6176 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6177 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6178 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6179 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6182 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6183 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6184 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6185 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6186 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6187 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6188 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6191 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6192 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6193 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6197 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6198 display them after one another.
6201 Don't gather loose threads.
6204 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6205 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6206 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6207 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6208 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6209 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6210 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6211 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6212 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6213 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6214 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6216 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6217 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6218 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6221 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6222 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6223 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6224 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6225 simplification is used.
6227 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6228 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6229 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6230 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6232 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6234 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6240 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6241 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6242 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6243 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6248 (mapconcat 'identity
6249 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6251 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6254 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6257 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6258 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6259 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6260 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6261 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6262 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6264 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6267 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6268 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6269 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6271 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6272 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6275 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6276 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6277 Remove excessive whitespace.
6279 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6280 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6281 Remove all whitespace.
6284 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6287 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6288 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6289 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6290 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6291 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6292 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6293 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6294 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6296 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6297 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6298 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6299 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6300 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6301 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6302 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6303 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6304 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6308 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6309 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6310 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6311 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6313 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6314 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6315 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6318 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6322 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6323 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6329 @node Filling In Threads
6330 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6333 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6334 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6335 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6336 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6337 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6338 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6339 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6340 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6341 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6342 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6343 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6344 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6347 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6348 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6349 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6351 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6352 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6353 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6354 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6355 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6356 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6357 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6358 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6359 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6360 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6361 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6362 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6363 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6364 @code{nil} by default.
6366 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6367 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6368 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6369 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6370 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6371 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6372 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6374 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6375 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6376 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6381 @node More Threading
6382 @subsubsection More Threading
6385 @item gnus-show-threads
6386 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6387 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6388 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6389 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6390 slower and more awkward.
6392 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6393 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6394 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6397 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6398 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6399 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6404 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6405 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6406 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6409 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6410 unread, but you get my drift.)
6413 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6414 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6415 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6416 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6417 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6418 threads are expunged.
6420 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6421 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6422 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6425 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6426 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6427 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6428 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6429 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6430 result in a new thread.
6432 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6433 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6434 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6437 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6438 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6439 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6440 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6441 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6442 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6443 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6444 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6445 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6446 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6447 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6452 @node Low-Level Threading
6453 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6457 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6458 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6459 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6460 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6461 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6462 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6464 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6465 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6466 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6467 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6468 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6469 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6470 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6471 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6472 meaningful. Here's one example:
6475 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6477 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6478 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6480 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6482 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6489 @node Thread Commands
6490 @subsection Thread Commands
6491 @cindex thread commands
6497 @kindex T k (Summary)
6498 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6499 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6500 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6501 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6502 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6507 @kindex T l (Summary)
6508 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6510 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6511 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6514 @kindex T i (Summary)
6515 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6516 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6517 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6520 @kindex T # (Summary)
6521 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6522 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6523 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6526 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6527 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6528 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6529 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6532 @kindex T T (Summary)
6533 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6534 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6537 @kindex T s (Summary)
6538 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6539 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6540 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6543 @kindex T h (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6545 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6548 @kindex T S (Summary)
6549 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6550 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6553 @kindex T H (Summary)
6554 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6555 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6558 @kindex T t (Summary)
6559 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6560 Re-thread the current article's thread
6561 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6562 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6565 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6567 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6568 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6572 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6573 understand the numeric prefix.
6578 @kindex T n (Summary)
6580 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6582 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6583 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6584 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6587 @kindex T p (Summary)
6589 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6591 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6593 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6596 @kindex T d (Summary)
6597 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6598 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6601 @kindex T u (Summary)
6602 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6603 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6606 @kindex T o (Summary)
6607 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6608 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6611 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6612 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6613 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6614 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6615 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6616 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6617 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6618 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6619 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6620 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6621 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6622 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6626 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6627 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6629 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6630 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6631 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6632 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6633 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6634 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6635 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6636 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6637 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6638 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6639 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6640 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6642 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6643 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6644 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6645 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6646 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6647 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date} and
6648 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6650 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6651 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6652 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6654 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6655 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6656 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6657 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6658 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6659 ascending article order.
6661 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6662 by number, you could do something like:
6665 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6666 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6667 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6668 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6671 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6672 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6673 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6674 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6675 which the articles arrived.
6677 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6681 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6683 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6684 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6687 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6688 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6689 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6690 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6693 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6694 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6695 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6696 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6697 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6698 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6699 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6700 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6701 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6702 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6703 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6704 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6705 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6707 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6711 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6712 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6713 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6718 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6719 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6720 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6721 @cindex article pre-fetch
6724 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6725 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6726 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6727 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6728 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6730 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6731 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6733 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6734 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6735 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6736 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6737 connection is blocked.
6739 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6740 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6741 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6742 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6744 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6745 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6746 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6747 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6750 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6753 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6754 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6755 happen automatically.
6757 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6758 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6759 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6760 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6761 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6762 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6763 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6765 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6766 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6767 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6768 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6769 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6770 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6771 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6772 data structure as the only parameter.
6774 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6777 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6778 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6779 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6780 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6783 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6786 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6787 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6788 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6790 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6791 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6792 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6793 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6797 Remove articles when they are read.
6800 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6803 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6805 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6806 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6807 @c from the next group.
6810 @node Article Caching
6811 @section Article Caching
6812 @cindex article caching
6815 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6816 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6817 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6818 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6819 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6821 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6823 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6824 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6825 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6826 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6827 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6828 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6829 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6830 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6832 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6833 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6834 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6835 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6836 as dormant, and don't worry.
6838 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6840 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6841 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6842 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6843 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6844 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6845 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6846 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6847 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6848 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6849 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6851 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6852 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6853 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6854 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6855 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6856 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6857 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6858 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6859 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6860 not then be downloaded by this command.
6862 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6863 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6864 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6865 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6866 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6867 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6869 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6870 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6871 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6872 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6873 variables, the group is not cached.
6875 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6876 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6877 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6878 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6879 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6880 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6881 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6882 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6883 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6886 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
6887 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
6888 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
6889 where, isn't that cool?
6891 @node Persistent Articles
6892 @section Persistent Articles
6893 @cindex persistent articles
6895 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6896 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6897 useful in my opinion.
6899 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6900 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6901 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6902 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6903 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6904 the expiry going on at the news server.
6906 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6907 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6908 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6914 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6915 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6918 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6919 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6920 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6921 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6925 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6927 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6928 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6929 interested in persistent articles:
6932 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6936 @node Article Backlog
6937 @section Article Backlog
6939 @cindex article backlog
6941 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6942 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6943 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6944 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6945 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6946 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6947 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6948 increase memory usage some.
6950 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6951 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6952 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6953 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6954 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6955 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6956 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6958 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6961 @node Saving Articles
6962 @section Saving Articles
6963 @cindex saving articles
6965 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6966 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6967 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6968 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6969 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6971 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
6972 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
6973 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
6975 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6976 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6977 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6979 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6980 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6981 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6982 deleted before saving.
6988 @kindex O o (Summary)
6990 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6991 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6992 Save the current article using the default article saver
6993 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6996 @kindex O m (Summary)
6997 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6998 Save the current article in mail format
6999 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7002 @kindex O r (Summary)
7003 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7004 Save the current article in rmail format
7005 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7008 @kindex O f (Summary)
7009 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7010 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7011 Save the current article in plain file format
7012 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7015 @kindex O F (Summary)
7016 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7017 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7018 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7021 @kindex O b (Summary)
7022 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7023 Save the current article body in plain file format
7024 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7027 @kindex O h (Summary)
7028 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7029 Save the current article in mh folder format
7030 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7033 @kindex O v (Summary)
7034 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7035 Save the current article in a VM folder
7036 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7040 @kindex O p (Summary)
7042 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7043 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7044 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7047 @kindex O P (Summary)
7048 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7049 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7050 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7051 external program Muttprint (see
7052 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7053 options to use is controlled by the variable
7054 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7058 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7059 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7060 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7061 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7062 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7063 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7064 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7065 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7066 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7067 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7068 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7069 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7073 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7074 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7075 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7076 functions below, or you can create your own.
7080 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7081 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7082 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7083 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7084 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7085 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7086 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7088 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7089 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7090 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7091 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7092 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7093 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7095 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7096 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7097 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7098 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7099 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7100 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7101 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7103 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7104 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7105 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7106 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7107 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7108 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7110 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7111 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7112 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7113 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7114 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7116 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7117 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7118 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7119 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7120 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7123 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7124 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7125 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7126 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7127 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7129 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7130 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7131 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7132 reader to use this setting.
7135 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7136 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7137 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7138 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7141 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7142 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7143 available functions that generate names:
7147 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7148 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7149 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7151 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7152 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7153 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7155 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7156 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7157 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7159 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7160 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7161 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7163 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7164 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7165 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7168 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7169 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7170 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7171 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7172 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7176 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7177 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7178 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7179 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7182 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7183 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7184 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7185 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7186 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7187 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7188 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7189 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7190 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7192 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7193 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7194 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7195 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7197 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7198 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7199 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7202 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7203 lots of mail groups called things like
7204 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7205 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7206 following will do just that:
7209 (defun my-save-name (group)
7210 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7211 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7213 (setq gnus-split-methods
7214 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7219 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7220 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7221 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7222 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7223 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7224 all the files in the top level directory
7225 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7226 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7227 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7228 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7230 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7231 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7232 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7233 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7234 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7237 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7241 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7242 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7243 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7246 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7247 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7248 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7249 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7252 @node Decoding Articles
7253 @section Decoding Articles
7254 @cindex decoding articles
7256 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7257 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7260 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7261 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7262 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7263 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7264 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7265 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7269 @cindex article series
7270 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7271 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7272 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7273 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7274 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7276 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7277 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7278 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7280 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7281 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7282 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7284 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7285 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7286 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7289 @node Uuencoded Articles
7290 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7292 @cindex uuencoded articles
7297 @kindex X u (Summary)
7298 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7299 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7300 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7303 @kindex X U (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7305 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7306 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7309 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7310 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7311 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7314 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7315 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7316 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7317 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7321 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7322 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7323 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7324 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7325 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7327 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7328 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7329 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7330 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7333 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7334 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7335 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7336 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7337 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7338 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7342 @node Shell Archives
7343 @subsection Shell Archives
7345 @cindex shell archives
7346 @cindex shared articles
7348 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7349 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7350 some commands to deal with these:
7355 @kindex X s (Summary)
7356 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7357 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7360 @kindex X S (Summary)
7361 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7362 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7365 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7366 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7367 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7370 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7371 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7372 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7373 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7377 @node PostScript Files
7378 @subsection PostScript Files
7384 @kindex X p (Summary)
7385 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7386 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7389 @kindex X P (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7391 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7392 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7395 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7396 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7397 View the current PostScript series
7398 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7401 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7402 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7403 View and save the current PostScript series
7404 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7409 @subsection Other Files
7413 @kindex X o (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7415 Save the current series
7416 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7419 @kindex X b (Summary)
7420 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7421 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7422 doesn't really work yet.
7426 @node Decoding Variables
7427 @subsection Decoding Variables
7429 Adjective, not verb.
7432 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7433 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7434 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7438 @node Rule Variables
7439 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7440 @cindex rule variables
7442 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7443 variables are of the form
7446 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7453 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7454 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7456 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7457 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7460 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7461 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7464 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7465 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7466 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7467 user and default view rules.
7469 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7470 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7471 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7476 @node Other Decode Variables
7477 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7480 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7482 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7483 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7484 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7485 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7486 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7490 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7491 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7494 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7495 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7496 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7499 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7500 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7501 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7502 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7503 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7506 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7507 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7508 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7510 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7511 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7512 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7513 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7514 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7517 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7518 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7519 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7521 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7522 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7523 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7524 looking for files to display.
7526 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7527 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7528 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7531 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7532 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7533 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7536 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7537 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7538 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7541 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7542 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7543 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7546 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7547 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7548 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7549 decoded articles as unread.
7551 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7552 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7553 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7554 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7556 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7557 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7558 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7560 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7561 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7563 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7564 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7565 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7566 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7568 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7569 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7570 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7571 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7572 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7573 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7574 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7575 simply dropped them.
7580 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7581 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7585 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7586 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7587 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7588 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7589 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7590 for you when you post the article.
7592 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7593 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7594 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7595 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7597 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7598 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7599 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7600 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7601 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7602 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7603 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7605 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7606 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7607 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7608 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7609 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7610 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7611 Default is @code{t}.
7617 @subsection Viewing Files
7618 @cindex viewing files
7619 @cindex pseudo-articles
7621 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7622 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7623 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7624 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7625 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7626 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7627 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7629 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7630 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7631 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7632 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7634 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7635 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7636 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7638 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7639 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7640 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7641 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7642 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7644 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7645 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7646 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7647 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7648 a list of parameters to that command.
7650 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7651 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7652 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7654 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7655 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7656 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7659 @node Article Treatment
7660 @section Article Treatment
7662 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7663 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7664 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7665 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7666 these articles easier.
7669 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7670 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7671 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7672 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7673 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7674 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7675 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7676 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7677 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7678 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7682 @node Article Highlighting
7683 @subsection Article Highlighting
7684 @cindex highlighting
7686 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7687 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7692 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7693 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7694 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7695 Do much highlighting of the current article
7696 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7697 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7700 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7701 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7702 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7703 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7704 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7705 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7706 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7707 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7708 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7709 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7710 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7711 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7714 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7715 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7716 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7718 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7721 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7723 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7724 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7725 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7727 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7728 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7729 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7731 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7732 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7733 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7734 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7735 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7736 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7738 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7739 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7740 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7742 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7743 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7744 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7746 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7747 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7748 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7749 that it's a citation.
7751 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7752 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7753 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7755 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7756 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7757 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7759 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7760 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7761 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7762 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7768 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7769 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7770 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7771 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7772 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7773 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7774 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7775 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7780 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7783 @node Article Fontisizing
7784 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7786 @cindex article emphasis
7788 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7789 @kindex W e (Summary)
7790 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7791 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7792 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7793 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7795 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7796 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7797 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7798 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7799 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7800 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7801 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7802 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7806 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7807 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7808 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7817 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7818 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7819 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7820 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7821 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7822 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7823 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7824 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7825 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7826 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7827 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7828 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7829 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7831 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7832 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7833 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7837 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7840 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7842 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7843 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7844 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7845 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7847 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7850 @node Article Hiding
7851 @subsection Article Hiding
7852 @cindex article hiding
7854 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7855 too much cruft in most articles.
7860 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7861 @findex gnus-article-hide
7862 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7863 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7864 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7867 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7868 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7869 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7873 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7874 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7875 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7876 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7879 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7880 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7881 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7885 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7886 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7887 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7888 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7889 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7890 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7891 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7892 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7896 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7897 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7898 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7899 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7904 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7905 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7906 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7907 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7908 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7909 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7910 articles that have signatures in them do:
7912 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7914 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7916 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7917 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7919 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7922 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7927 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7928 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7929 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7930 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7933 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7934 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7937 @cindex stripping advertisements
7938 @cindex advertisements
7939 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7940 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7941 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7942 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7943 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7944 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7945 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7946 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7947 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7948 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7952 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7953 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7954 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7955 customizing the hiding:
7959 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7960 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7961 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7962 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7963 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7964 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7965 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7970 Starting point of the hidden text.
7972 Ending point of the hidden text.
7974 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7976 Number of lines of hidden text.
7979 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7980 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7981 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7982 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7983 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7988 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7989 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7991 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7992 following two variables:
7995 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7996 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7997 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7998 50), hide the cited text.
8000 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8001 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8002 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8007 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8008 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8009 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8010 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8011 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8012 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8016 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8017 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8018 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8020 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8021 citation customization.
8023 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8027 @node Article Washing
8028 @subsection Article Washing
8030 @cindex article washing
8032 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8033 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8035 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8036 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8039 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8040 articles by default.
8045 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8046 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8050 @kindex W l (Summary)
8051 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8052 Remove page breaks from the current article
8053 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8057 @kindex W r (Summary)
8058 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8059 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8060 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8061 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8062 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8063 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8065 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8066 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8067 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8068 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8072 @kindex W t (Summary)
8074 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
8075 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8076 (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}).
8079 @kindex W v (Summary)
8080 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8081 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8082 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8085 @kindex W m (Summary)
8086 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8087 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8088 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8091 @kindex W o (Summary)
8092 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8093 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8096 @kindex W d (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8098 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8100 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8102 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8103 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8104 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8105 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8108 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8109 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8110 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8111 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8114 @kindex W k (Summary)
8115 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8116 @cindex Outlook Express
8117 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8118 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8121 @kindex W w (Summary)
8122 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8123 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8125 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8129 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8130 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8131 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8134 @kindex W C (Summary)
8135 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8136 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8137 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8140 @kindex W c (Summary)
8141 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8142 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8143 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8144 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8145 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8148 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8149 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8150 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8151 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8152 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8153 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8154 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8156 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8159 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8160 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8161 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8162 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8163 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8166 @kindex W u (Summary)
8167 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8168 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8169 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8170 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8171 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8174 @kindex W h (Summary)
8175 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8176 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8177 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8178 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8180 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8182 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8183 The default is to use the function specified by
8184 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8185 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8186 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8194 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8198 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8201 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8204 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8209 @kindex W b (Summary)
8210 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8211 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8212 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8215 @kindex W B (Summary)
8216 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8217 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8218 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8221 @kindex W p (Summary)
8222 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8223 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8224 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8225 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8226 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8227 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8228 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8231 @kindex W s (Summary)
8232 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8233 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8234 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8237 @kindex W a (Summary)
8238 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8239 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8240 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8243 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8244 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8245 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8246 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8249 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8250 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8251 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8252 lines with a single empty line.
8253 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8256 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8257 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8258 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8259 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8262 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8263 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8264 Do all the three commands above
8265 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8268 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8269 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8270 Remove all blank lines
8271 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8274 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8275 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8276 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8277 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8280 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8281 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8282 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8283 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8287 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8290 @node Article Header
8291 @subsection Article Header
8293 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8298 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8299 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8300 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8303 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8304 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8305 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8306 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8309 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8310 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-header
8311 Fold all the message headers
8312 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8316 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8317 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8318 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8323 @node Article Buttons
8324 @subsection Article Buttons
8327 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8328 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8329 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8330 button on these references.
8332 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8333 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8334 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8339 @item gnus-button-alist
8340 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8341 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8344 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8350 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8351 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8352 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a variable containing a
8353 regexp, useful variables to use include @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8356 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8357 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8358 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8361 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8362 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8363 avoid false matches.
8366 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8369 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8370 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8374 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8377 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8380 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8381 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8382 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8383 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8384 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8387 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8390 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8392 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8393 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8394 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8395 default values of the variables above.
8397 @item gnus-article-button-face
8398 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8399 Face used on buttons.
8401 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8402 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8403 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8407 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8411 @subsection Article Date
8413 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8414 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8415 when the article was sent.
8420 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8421 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8422 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8423 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8426 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8427 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8429 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8430 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8433 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8434 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8435 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8438 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8439 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8440 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8441 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8444 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8445 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8446 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8447 @findex format-time-string
8448 Display the date using a user-defined format
8449 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8450 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8451 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8452 for a list of possible format specs.
8455 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8456 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8457 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8458 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8459 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8460 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8463 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8466 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8467 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8470 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8471 into wonderful absurdities.
8473 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8476 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8479 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8480 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8484 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8485 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8486 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8487 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8488 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8489 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8490 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8494 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8495 preferred format automatically.
8498 @node Article Display
8499 @subsection Article Display
8504 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8505 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8507 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8508 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8510 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8511 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8513 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8514 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8516 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8521 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8522 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8523 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8524 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8527 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8529 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8532 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8533 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8534 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8537 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8538 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8539 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8540 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8543 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8544 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8545 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8546 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8549 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8550 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8551 Remove all images from the article buffer
8552 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8558 @node Article Signature
8559 @subsection Article Signature
8561 @cindex article signature
8563 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8564 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8565 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8566 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8567 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8568 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8569 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8570 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8571 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8574 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8575 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8576 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8577 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8578 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8579 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8580 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8581 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8584 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8587 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8588 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8589 signature when displaying articles.
8593 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8596 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8599 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8600 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8602 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8603 in question is not a signature.
8606 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8607 listed above. Here's an example:
8610 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8611 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8614 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8615 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8616 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8617 signature after all.
8620 @node Article Miscellania
8621 @subsection Article Miscellania
8625 @kindex A t (Summary)
8626 @findex gnus-article-babel
8627 Translate the article from one language to another
8628 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8634 @section MIME Commands
8635 @cindex MIME decoding
8637 @cindex viewing attachments
8639 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8640 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8646 @kindex K v (Summary)
8647 View the @sc{mime} part.
8650 @kindex K o (Summary)
8651 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8654 @kindex K c (Summary)
8655 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8658 @kindex K e (Summary)
8659 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8662 @kindex K i (Summary)
8663 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8666 @kindex K | (Summary)
8667 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8670 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8675 @kindex K b (Summary)
8676 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8677 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8681 @kindex K m (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8683 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8684 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8685 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8686 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8689 @kindex X m (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8691 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8692 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8693 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8696 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8697 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8698 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8699 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8702 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8703 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8704 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8707 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8708 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8709 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8711 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8712 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8713 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8714 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8715 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8716 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8719 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8720 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8721 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8728 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8729 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8730 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8731 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8734 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8737 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8741 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8742 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8743 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8744 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8745 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8746 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8749 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8750 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8751 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8752 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8753 displayed. This variable overrides
8754 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8756 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8757 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8758 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8760 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8761 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8762 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8763 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8764 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8765 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8766 save all jpegs into some directory).
8768 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8771 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8772 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8774 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8775 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8776 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8777 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8778 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8781 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8782 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8783 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8785 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8786 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8787 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8788 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8790 Ready-made functions include@*
8791 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8792 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8793 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8794 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8795 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8796 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8797 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8798 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8799 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8800 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8801 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8802 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8804 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8805 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8807 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8808 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8809 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8812 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8813 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8814 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8815 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8819 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8828 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8829 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8830 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8831 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8832 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8833 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8834 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8836 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8837 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8838 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8839 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8841 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8842 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8843 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8844 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8845 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8846 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8847 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8848 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8850 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8851 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8852 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8853 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8854 quoted-printable header encoding.
8856 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8857 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8858 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8862 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8865 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8866 means encode all charsets),
8868 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8869 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8870 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8877 @cindex coding system aliases
8878 @cindex preferred charset
8880 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8882 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8883 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8886 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8887 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8890 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8891 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8893 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8896 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8899 This will almost do the right thing.
8901 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8905 (codepage-setup 1251)
8906 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8910 @node Article Commands
8911 @section Article Commands
8918 @kindex A P (Summary)
8919 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8920 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8921 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8922 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
8923 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
8924 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
8929 @node Summary Sorting
8930 @section Summary Sorting
8931 @cindex summary sorting
8933 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8934 can't really see why you'd want that.
8939 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8941 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8944 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8945 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8946 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8949 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8950 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8951 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8954 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8956 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8959 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8960 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8961 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8964 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8965 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8966 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8969 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8970 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8971 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8974 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8975 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8976 Sort using the default sorting method
8977 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8980 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8981 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8982 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8983 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8984 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8988 @node Finding the Parent
8989 @section Finding the Parent
8990 @cindex parent articles
8991 @cindex referring articles
8996 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8997 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8998 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8999 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9000 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9001 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9002 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9003 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9004 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9006 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9007 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9008 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9009 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9010 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9014 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9015 @kindex A R (Summary)
9016 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9017 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9020 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9021 @kindex A T (Summary)
9022 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9023 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9024 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9025 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9026 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9027 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9028 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9030 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9031 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9032 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9033 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9034 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9035 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9038 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9039 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9041 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9042 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9043 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9044 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9045 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9046 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9047 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9050 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9051 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9052 by giving this command a prefix.
9054 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9055 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9056 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9057 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9058 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9059 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9062 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9063 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9064 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9067 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9068 then ask Deja if that fails:
9071 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9073 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
9076 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9077 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9078 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9079 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9080 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9081 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9082 support this at all.
9085 @node Alternative Approaches
9086 @section Alternative Approaches
9088 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9089 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9092 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9093 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9098 @subsection Pick and Read
9099 @cindex pick and read
9101 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9102 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9103 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9104 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9106 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9107 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9108 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9109 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9110 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9111 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9113 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9118 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9119 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9120 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9121 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9122 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9123 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9124 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9125 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9128 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9129 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9130 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9131 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9135 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9136 Unpick the thread or article
9137 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9138 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9139 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9140 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9141 the thread or article at that line.
9145 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9146 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9147 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9148 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9149 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9150 will still be visible when you are reading.
9154 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9155 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9156 which is mapped to the same function
9157 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9159 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9162 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9165 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9166 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9168 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9169 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9170 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9172 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9173 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9174 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9175 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9176 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9177 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9178 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9182 @subsection Binary Groups
9183 @cindex binary groups
9185 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9186 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9187 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9188 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9189 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9190 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9191 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9194 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9195 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9196 command, when you have turned on this mode
9197 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9199 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9200 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9204 @section Tree Display
9207 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9208 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9209 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9210 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9213 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9216 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9217 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9218 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9220 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9221 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9222 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9223 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9224 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9226 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9227 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9228 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9229 default is @code{modeline}.
9231 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9232 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9233 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9234 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9235 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9236 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9237 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9243 The name of the poster.
9245 The @code{From} header.
9247 The number of the article.
9249 The opening bracket.
9251 The closing bracket.
9256 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9258 Variables related to the display are:
9261 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9262 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9263 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9264 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9265 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9266 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9268 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9269 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9270 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9271 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9275 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9276 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9277 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9278 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9279 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9280 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9281 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9282 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9283 other windows displayed next to it.
9285 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9289 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9290 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9293 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9294 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9295 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9296 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9297 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9298 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9299 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9303 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9306 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9316 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9320 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9321 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9323 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9325 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9330 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9331 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9332 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9335 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9336 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9337 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9338 (gnus-add-configuration
9342 (summary 0.75 point)
9347 @xref{Window Layout}.
9350 @node Mail Group Commands
9351 @section Mail Group Commands
9352 @cindex mail group commands
9354 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9355 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9357 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9358 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9363 @kindex B e (Summary)
9364 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9365 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9366 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9367 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9368 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9371 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9372 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9373 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9374 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9375 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9376 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9379 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9380 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9381 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9382 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9383 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9384 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9387 @kindex B m (Summary)
9389 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9390 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9391 Move the article from one mail group to another
9392 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9393 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9396 @kindex B c (Summary)
9398 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9399 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9400 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9401 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9402 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9405 @kindex B B (Summary)
9406 @cindex crosspost mail
9407 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9408 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9409 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9410 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9411 be properly updated.
9414 @kindex B i (Summary)
9415 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9416 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9417 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9418 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9421 @kindex B I (Summary)
9422 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9423 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9424 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9425 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9428 @kindex B r (Summary)
9429 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9430 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9431 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9432 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9433 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9434 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9435 (which is the default).
9439 @kindex B w (Summary)
9441 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9442 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9443 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9444 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9445 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9446 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9447 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9450 @kindex B q (Summary)
9451 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9452 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9453 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9454 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9457 @kindex B t (Summary)
9458 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9459 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9460 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9463 @kindex B p (Summary)
9464 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9465 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9466 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9467 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9468 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9469 article from your news server (or rather, from
9470 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9471 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9472 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9473 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9474 just not have arrived yet.
9477 @kindex K E (Summary)
9478 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9479 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9480 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9481 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9482 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9486 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9487 @cindex moving articles
9488 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9489 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9490 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9491 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9492 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9493 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9494 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9497 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9498 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9499 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9500 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9504 @node Various Summary Stuff
9505 @section Various Summary Stuff
9508 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9509 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9510 * Summary Generation Commands::
9511 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9515 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9516 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9517 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9519 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9520 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9521 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9522 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9523 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9524 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9527 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9528 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9529 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9530 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9531 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9533 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9534 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9535 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9538 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9539 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9540 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9541 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9542 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9543 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9544 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9545 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9546 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9547 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9549 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9550 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9551 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9552 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9553 list of articles to be selected.
9555 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9556 the list in one particular group:
9559 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9560 (if (string= group "some.group")
9561 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9565 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9566 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9567 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9568 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9569 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9570 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9571 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9572 buffers. For example:
9575 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9576 '(message-use-followup-to
9577 (gnus-visible-headers .
9578 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9584 @node Summary Group Information
9585 @subsection Summary Group Information
9590 @kindex H f (Summary)
9591 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9592 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9593 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9594 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9595 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9596 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9597 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9598 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9599 be used for fetching the file.
9602 @kindex H d (Summary)
9603 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9604 Give a brief description of the current group
9605 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9606 rereading the description from the server.
9609 @kindex H h (Summary)
9610 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9611 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9612 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9615 @kindex H i (Summary)
9616 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9617 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9621 @node Searching for Articles
9622 @subsection Searching for Articles
9627 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9628 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9629 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9630 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9633 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9634 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9635 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9636 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9640 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9641 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9642 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9643 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9644 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9645 search backward instead.
9647 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9648 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9651 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9652 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9653 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9654 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9657 @node Summary Generation Commands
9658 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9663 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9664 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9665 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9668 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9669 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9670 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9671 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9676 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9677 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9683 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9684 @kindex A D (Summary)
9685 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9686 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9687 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9688 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9689 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9690 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9691 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9692 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9696 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9697 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9698 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9699 several documents into one biiig group
9700 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9701 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9702 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9703 command understands the process/prefix convention
9704 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9707 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9708 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9709 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9710 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9711 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9712 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9716 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9717 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9718 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9721 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9722 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9723 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9724 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9727 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9728 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9729 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9730 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9735 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9736 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9737 @cindex summary exit
9738 @cindex exiting groups
9740 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9741 group and return you to the group buffer.
9747 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9749 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9750 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9751 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9752 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9753 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9754 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9755 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9756 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9757 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9758 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9759 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9763 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9765 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9766 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9767 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9771 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9773 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9774 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9775 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9776 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9779 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9780 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9781 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9782 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9785 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9786 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9787 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9788 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9791 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9792 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9793 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9794 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9795 all articles, both read and unread.
9799 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9800 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9801 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9802 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9803 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9804 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9805 articles, both read and unread.
9808 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9809 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9810 Exit the group and go to the next group
9811 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9814 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9815 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9816 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9817 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9820 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9821 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9822 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9823 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9824 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9825 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9828 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9829 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9830 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9831 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9833 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9834 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9835 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9836 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9837 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9838 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9839 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9840 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9841 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9842 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9843 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9844 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9846 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9848 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9849 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9850 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9851 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9852 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9853 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9854 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9855 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9856 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9859 @node Crosspost Handling
9860 @section Crosspost Handling
9864 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9865 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9866 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9867 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9868 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9869 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9872 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9873 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9874 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9875 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9876 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9878 @cindex cross-posting
9881 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9882 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9883 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9884 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9885 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9886 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9887 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9888 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9889 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9890 the cross reference mechanism.
9892 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9893 @cindex overview.fmt
9894 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9895 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9896 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9897 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9898 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9899 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9902 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9903 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9904 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9909 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9912 @node Duplicate Suppression
9913 @section Duplicate Suppression
9915 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9916 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9917 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9918 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9923 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9924 is evil and not very common.
9927 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9928 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9931 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9932 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9935 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9938 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9939 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9941 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9942 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9943 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9944 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9945 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9946 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9947 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9950 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9951 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9952 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9953 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9954 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9958 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9959 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9960 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9962 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9963 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9964 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9965 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9966 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
9967 session are suppressed.
9969 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9970 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9971 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9972 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9974 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9975 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9976 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9977 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9980 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
9981 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9982 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9983 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9984 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
9985 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9986 to you to figure out, I think.
9991 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9992 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
9993 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
9997 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
9998 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10001 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10002 or newer is recommended.
10006 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10007 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10010 @item mm-verify-option
10011 @vindex mm-verify-option
10012 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10013 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10014 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10016 @item mm-decrypt-option
10017 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10018 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10019 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10020 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10025 @section Mailing List
10027 @kindex A M (summary)
10028 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10029 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10030 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10031 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10032 summary buffer, or say:
10035 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10038 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10043 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10044 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10045 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10048 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10049 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10050 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10053 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10054 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10055 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10059 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10060 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10061 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10064 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10065 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10066 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10069 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10070 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10071 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10075 @node Article Buffer
10076 @chapter Article Buffer
10077 @cindex article buffer
10079 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10080 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10081 tell gnus otherwise.
10084 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10085 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10086 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10087 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10088 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10092 @node Hiding Headers
10093 @section Hiding Headers
10094 @cindex hiding headers
10095 @cindex deleting headers
10097 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10098 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10100 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10101 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10102 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10103 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10104 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10105 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10106 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10107 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10108 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10110 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10114 @item gnus-visible-headers
10115 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10116 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10117 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10118 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10120 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10121 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10124 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10127 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10130 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10131 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10132 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10133 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10134 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10135 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10137 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10138 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10141 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10144 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10147 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10148 variable will have no effect.
10152 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10153 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10154 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10155 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10156 the headers are to be displayed.
10158 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10159 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10162 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10165 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10166 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10168 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10169 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10170 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10171 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10172 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10173 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10174 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10177 These conditions are:
10180 Remove all empty headers.
10182 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10183 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10185 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10186 @code{From} header.
10188 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10191 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10192 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10194 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10197 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10199 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10202 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10205 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10206 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10209 This is also the default value for this variable.
10213 @section Using MIME
10216 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10217 while people stand around yawning.
10219 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10220 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10222 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10223 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10224 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10226 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10227 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10228 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10229 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10230 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10231 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10232 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10233 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10234 not existed yet, sorry).
10236 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10237 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10238 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10239 These can't be avoided.
10241 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10242 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10243 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10244 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10245 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10246 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10247 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10248 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10249 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10252 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10254 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10255 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10256 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10257 buffer when there are nobody else.
10259 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10262 @node Customizing Articles
10263 @section Customizing Articles
10264 @cindex article customization
10266 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10267 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10268 called automatically when you select the articles.
10270 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10271 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10272 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10273 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10275 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10276 for sensible values.
10280 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10283 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10286 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10289 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10292 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10296 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10297 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10298 regexps in the list.
10301 A list where the first element is not a string:
10303 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10304 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10305 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10309 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10313 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10318 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10319 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10320 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10321 considered to contain just a single part.
10323 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10324 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10325 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10326 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10327 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10328 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10329 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10331 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10332 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10333 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10334 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10337 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10338 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10340 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10342 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10343 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10344 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10345 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10346 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10347 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10348 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10349 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10350 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10351 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10352 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10354 @xref{Article Washing}.
10356 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10357 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10358 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10359 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10360 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10361 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10362 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10364 @xref{Article Date}.
10366 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10367 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10368 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10372 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10374 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10376 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10377 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10378 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10382 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10386 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10387 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10388 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10389 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10390 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10391 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10392 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10393 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10395 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10397 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10398 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10399 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10401 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10403 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10404 @item gnus-treat-translate
10405 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10407 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10408 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10409 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10410 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10412 @xref{Article Header}.
10417 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10418 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10419 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10420 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10421 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10425 @node Article Keymap
10426 @section Article Keymap
10428 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10429 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10430 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10431 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10434 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10439 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10440 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10441 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10444 @kindex DEL (Article)
10445 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10446 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10449 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10450 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10451 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10452 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10453 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10456 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10457 @findex gnus-article-mail
10458 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10459 given a prefix, include the mail.
10462 @kindex s (Article)
10463 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10464 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10465 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10468 @kindex ? (Article)
10469 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10470 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10471 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10474 @kindex TAB (Article)
10475 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10476 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10477 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10480 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10481 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10482 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10485 @kindex R (Article)
10486 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10487 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10488 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10489 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10493 @kindex F (Article)
10494 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10495 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10496 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10497 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10505 @section Misc Article
10509 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10510 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10511 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10512 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10515 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10516 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10518 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10519 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10521 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10522 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10523 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10524 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10525 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10526 the contents of the article buffer.
10528 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10529 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10530 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10532 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10533 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10534 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10535 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10537 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10538 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10539 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10540 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10541 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10547 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10548 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10549 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10554 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10557 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10560 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10561 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10562 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10565 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10568 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10571 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10576 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10580 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10582 @item gnus-break-pages
10583 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10584 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10585 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10586 paging will not be done.
10588 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10589 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10590 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10595 @node Composing Messages
10596 @chapter Composing Messages
10597 @cindex composing messages
10600 @cindex sending mail
10605 @cindex using s/mime
10606 @cindex using smime
10608 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10609 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10610 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10611 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10612 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10613 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10616 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10617 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10618 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10619 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10620 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10621 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10622 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10623 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10626 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10627 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10633 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10636 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10637 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10638 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10639 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10641 @item gnus-add-to-list
10642 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10643 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10644 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10646 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10647 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10648 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10649 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10650 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10655 @node Posting Server
10656 @section Posting Server
10658 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10659 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10661 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10663 It can be quite complicated.
10665 @vindex gnus-post-method
10666 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10667 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10668 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10669 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10670 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10671 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10672 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10673 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10674 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10677 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10680 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10681 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10682 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10683 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10685 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10686 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10688 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10689 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10692 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10693 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10695 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10696 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10697 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10698 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10699 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10700 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10701 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10702 package correctly. An example:
10705 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10706 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10709 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10710 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
10711 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
10713 @node Mail and Post
10714 @section Mail and Post
10716 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10720 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10721 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10722 @cindex mailing lists
10724 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10725 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10726 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10727 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10728 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10729 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10730 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10731 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10732 still a pain, though.
10736 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10737 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10738 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10741 @findex ispell-message
10743 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10746 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10747 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10750 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10754 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10755 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10757 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10760 Modify to suit your needs.
10763 @node Archived Messages
10764 @section Archived Messages
10765 @cindex archived messages
10766 @cindex sent messages
10768 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10769 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10770 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10771 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10774 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
10775 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
10778 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10779 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
10780 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10783 (nnfolder "archive"
10784 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10785 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10786 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10787 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10790 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10791 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10792 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10793 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10796 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10797 '(nnfolder "archive"
10798 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10799 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10800 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10803 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10805 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10806 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10807 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10809 This variable can be used to do the following:
10814 Messages will be saved in that group.
10816 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10817 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10818 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10819 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10820 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10821 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10822 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10823 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10827 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10829 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10830 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10833 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10838 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10840 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10843 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10845 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10848 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10850 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10851 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10852 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10853 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10856 More complex stuff:
10858 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10859 '((if (message-news-p)
10864 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10865 messages in one file per month:
10868 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10869 '((if (message-news-p)
10871 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10874 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10875 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10877 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10878 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10879 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10880 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10881 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10882 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10883 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10884 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10885 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10886 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10888 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10889 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10890 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10891 this will disable archiving.
10894 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10895 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10896 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10897 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10898 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10901 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10902 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10903 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10906 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10907 but the latter is the preferred method.
10909 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
10910 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
10911 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10913 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
10914 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
10915 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
10916 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
10917 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
10918 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
10919 changed in the future.
10924 @node Posting Styles
10925 @section Posting Styles
10926 @cindex posting styles
10929 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10931 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10932 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10933 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10936 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10937 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10938 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10939 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10940 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10945 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10946 (organization "What me?"))
10948 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10949 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10950 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10953 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10954 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10955 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10956 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10957 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10958 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10959 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10960 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10962 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10963 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10964 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
10965 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
10966 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. If it's a function symbol, that
10967 function will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol,
10968 then the variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list
10969 will be @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil}
10970 value, then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10972 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10973 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10974 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10975 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
10976 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
10977 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
10978 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
10979 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
10980 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
10981 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
10984 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10985 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10986 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10987 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10988 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10989 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
10990 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
10991 references chars lines xref extra.
10993 @vindex message-reply-headers
10995 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10996 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10997 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10999 @findex message-mail-p
11000 @findex message-news-p
11002 So here's a new example:
11005 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11007 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11009 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11010 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11012 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11013 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11014 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11015 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11016 (signature my-news-signature))
11017 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11018 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11019 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11020 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
11021 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11022 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11023 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11024 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11025 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11026 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11028 (From (save-excursion
11029 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11030 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11032 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11035 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11036 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11037 if you fill many roles.
11044 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11045 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11046 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11047 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11048 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11050 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11051 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11052 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11053 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11054 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11058 @vindex nndraft-directory
11059 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11060 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11061 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11062 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11063 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11064 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11066 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11067 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11070 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11071 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11072 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11073 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11074 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11075 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11076 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11077 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11078 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11079 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11080 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11081 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11082 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11083 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11085 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11086 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11087 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11089 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11090 @kindex D e (Draft)
11091 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11092 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11093 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11095 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11098 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11099 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11100 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11101 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11102 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11103 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11104 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11107 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11108 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11109 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11112 @node Rejected Articles
11113 @section Rejected Articles
11114 @cindex rejected articles
11116 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11117 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11118 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11119 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11121 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11122 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11123 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11124 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11125 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11127 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11128 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11129 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11131 @node Signing and encrypting
11132 @section Signing and encrypting
11134 @cindex using s/mime
11135 @cindex using smime
11137 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11138 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11139 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11140 (@pxref{Security}).
11142 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11143 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11144 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11146 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11147 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11148 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11149 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11150 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11151 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11152 automatically encrypted messages.
11154 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11155 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11156 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11161 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11162 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11164 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11167 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11168 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11170 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11173 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11174 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11176 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11179 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11180 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11182 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11185 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11186 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11188 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11191 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11192 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11194 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11197 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11198 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11199 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11203 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11205 @node Select Methods
11206 @chapter Select Methods
11207 @cindex foreign groups
11208 @cindex select methods
11210 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11211 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11212 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11213 personal mail group.
11215 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11216 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11217 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11218 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11219 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11220 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11222 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11223 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11225 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11228 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11229 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11230 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11231 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11232 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11234 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11237 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11238 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11239 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11240 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11241 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11242 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11243 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11244 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11248 @node Server Buffer
11249 @section Server Buffer
11251 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11252 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11253 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11254 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11255 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11256 back end represents a virtual server.
11258 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11259 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11260 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11261 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11263 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11264 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11265 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11266 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11267 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11268 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11269 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11271 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11272 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11275 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11276 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11277 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11278 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11279 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11280 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11281 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11284 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11285 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11288 @node Server Buffer Format
11289 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11290 @cindex server buffer format
11292 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11293 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11294 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11295 variable, with some simple extensions:
11300 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11303 The name of this server.
11306 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11309 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11312 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11313 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11314 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11315 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11325 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11328 @node Server Commands
11329 @subsection Server Commands
11330 @cindex server commands
11336 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11337 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11341 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11342 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11345 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11346 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11347 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11351 @findex gnus-server-exit
11352 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11356 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11357 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11361 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11362 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11366 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11367 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11371 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11372 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11376 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11377 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11378 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11383 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11384 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11385 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11386 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11391 @node Example Methods
11392 @subsection Example Methods
11394 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11397 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11400 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11406 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11407 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11410 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11411 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11413 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11414 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11418 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11421 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11422 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11424 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11425 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11426 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11430 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11433 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11436 Here's the method for a public spool:
11440 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11441 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11447 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11448 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11449 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11450 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11451 should probably look something like this:
11455 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11456 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11457 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11458 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11461 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11462 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11463 configuration to the example above:
11466 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11469 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11470 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11471 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11475 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11476 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11477 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11478 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11481 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11482 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11483 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11484 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11487 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11488 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11490 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11491 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11493 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11494 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11495 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11497 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11499 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11500 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11501 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11502 will contain the following:
11512 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11513 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11514 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11517 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11518 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11519 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11522 @node Server Variables
11523 @subsection Server Variables
11525 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11526 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11527 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11528 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11529 won't change the "derived" variables.
11531 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11532 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11533 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11534 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11535 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11536 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11537 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11538 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11539 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11543 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11544 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11545 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11549 @node Servers and Methods
11550 @subsection Servers and Methods
11552 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11553 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11554 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11555 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11559 @node Unavailable Servers
11560 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11562 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11563 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11564 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11565 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11566 actually the case or not.
11568 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11569 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11570 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11571 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11572 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11573 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11574 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11575 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11577 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11578 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11580 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11581 with the following commands:
11587 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11588 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11589 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11593 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11594 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11595 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11599 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11600 Mark the current server as unreachable
11601 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11604 @kindex M-o (Server)
11605 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11606 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11607 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11610 @kindex M-c (Server)
11611 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11612 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11613 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11617 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11618 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11619 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11623 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11624 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11630 @section Getting News
11631 @cindex reading news
11632 @cindex news back ends
11634 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11635 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11636 or it can read from a local spool.
11639 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11640 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11648 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11649 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11650 server as the, uhm, address.
11652 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11653 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11654 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11655 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11657 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11658 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11659 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11661 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11666 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11667 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11668 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11670 @cindex authentification
11671 @cindex nntp authentification
11672 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11673 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11674 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11675 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11676 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11677 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11678 present in this hook.
11680 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11681 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11682 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11683 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11684 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11685 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11686 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11687 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11688 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11689 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11690 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11691 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11695 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11698 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11700 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11701 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11702 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11703 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11704 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11705 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11706 @samp{force} is explained below.
11710 Here's an example file:
11713 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11714 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11717 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11718 have to be first, for instance.
11720 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11721 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11722 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11723 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11724 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11725 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11726 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11728 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11729 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11735 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11736 previously mentioned.
11738 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11740 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11741 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11742 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11743 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11744 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11747 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11748 '(("innd" (ding))))
11751 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11753 The default value is
11756 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11757 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11758 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11761 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11762 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11764 @item nntp-maximum-request
11765 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11766 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11767 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11768 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11769 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11770 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11771 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11773 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11774 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11775 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11776 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11777 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11778 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11779 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11780 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11781 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11782 no timeouts are done.
11784 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11785 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11786 @c @cindex PPP connections
11787 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11788 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11789 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11790 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11791 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11792 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11793 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11794 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11795 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11796 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11798 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11799 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11800 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11801 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11802 @c described above.
11804 @item nntp-server-hook
11805 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11806 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11809 @item nntp-buggy-select
11810 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11811 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11813 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11814 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11815 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11816 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11819 @item nntp-xover-commands
11820 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11823 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11824 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11828 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11829 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11830 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11831 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11832 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11833 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11834 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11835 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11836 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11837 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11838 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11840 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11841 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11842 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11844 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11845 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11846 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11847 server closes connection.
11849 @item nntp-record-commands
11850 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11851 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11852 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11853 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11854 that doesn't seem to work.
11856 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11857 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11858 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11859 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11860 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11861 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11862 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11863 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11865 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11866 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11867 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11868 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11869 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11870 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11871 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11874 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11877 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
11878 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
11880 @item nntp-list-options
11881 @vindex nntp-list-options
11882 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
11883 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
11884 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
11885 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
11886 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
11890 (setq gnus-select-method
11891 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11892 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
11895 @item nntp-options-subscribe
11896 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
11897 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
11898 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11899 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11900 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11901 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11904 (setq gnus-select-method
11905 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11906 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
11909 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
11910 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
11911 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
11912 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
11913 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
11914 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
11915 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
11918 (setq gnus-select-method
11919 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
11920 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
11925 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11926 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11927 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11931 @node Direct Functions
11932 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11933 @cindex direct connection functions
11935 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11936 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11937 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11938 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11941 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11942 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11943 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11946 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11947 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11948 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11949 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11950 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11951 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11952 define a server as follows:
11955 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11957 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11959 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11960 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11961 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11962 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11965 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11966 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11967 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11968 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11969 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11970 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11971 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11972 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11976 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11977 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11978 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11981 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11982 session, which is not a good idea.
11986 @node Indirect Functions
11987 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11988 @cindex indirect connection functions
11990 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11991 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11992 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11993 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11994 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11995 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11998 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11999 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12000 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12001 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12002 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12004 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12007 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12008 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12009 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12010 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12013 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12014 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12015 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12016 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12018 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12021 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12022 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12023 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12026 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12027 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12028 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12029 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12031 @item nntp-via-user-password
12032 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12033 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12035 @item nntp-via-envuser
12036 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12037 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12038 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12039 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12041 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12042 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12043 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12044 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12051 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12056 @item nntp-via-user-name
12057 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12058 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12060 @item nntp-via-address
12061 @vindex nntp-via-address
12062 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12067 @node Common Variables
12068 @subsubsection Common Variables
12070 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12071 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12076 @item nntp-pre-command
12077 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12078 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12079 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12080 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12081 wrapper for instance.
12084 @vindex nntp-address
12085 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12087 @item nntp-port-number
12088 @vindex nntp-port-number
12089 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12091 @item nntp-end-of-line
12092 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12093 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12094 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12095 using a non native connection function.
12097 @item nntp-telnet-command
12098 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12099 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12100 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12101 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12103 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12104 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12105 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12112 @subsection News Spool
12116 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12117 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12118 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12121 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12122 anything else) as the address.
12124 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12125 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12126 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12127 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12131 @item nnspool-inews-program
12132 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12133 Program used to post an article.
12135 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12136 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12137 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12139 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12140 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12141 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12142 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12144 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12145 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12146 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12147 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12149 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12150 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12151 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12153 @item nnspool-active-file
12154 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12155 The path to the active file.
12157 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12158 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12159 The path to the group descriptions file.
12161 @item nnspool-history-file
12162 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12163 The path to the news history file.
12165 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12166 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12167 The path to the active date file.
12169 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12170 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12171 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12174 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12175 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12177 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12178 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12179 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12185 @section Getting Mail
12186 @cindex reading mail
12189 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12193 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12194 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12195 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12196 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12197 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12198 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12199 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12200 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12201 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12202 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12203 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12204 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12205 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12209 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12210 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12212 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12213 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12214 of a culture shock.
12216 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12217 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12219 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12220 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12221 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12222 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12224 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12226 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12227 deleted? How awful!
12229 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12230 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12231 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12232 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12235 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12236 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12237 they want to treat a message.
12239 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12240 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12241 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12242 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12243 archived somewhere else.
12245 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12246 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12247 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12248 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12249 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12251 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12252 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12253 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12255 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12256 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12259 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12260 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12261 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12262 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12263 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12265 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12266 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12267 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12268 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12269 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12270 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12274 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12275 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12277 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12278 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12279 and things will happen automatically.
12281 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12282 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12285 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12288 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12289 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12290 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12291 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12292 like any other group.
12294 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12297 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12298 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12299 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12303 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12304 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12305 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12308 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12309 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12310 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12313 @node Splitting Mail
12314 @subsection Splitting Mail
12315 @cindex splitting mail
12316 @cindex mail splitting
12318 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12319 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12320 to be split into groups.
12323 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12324 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12325 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12326 ("mail.other" "")))
12329 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12330 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12331 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12332 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12333 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12334 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12335 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12338 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12341 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12342 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12343 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12344 mail belongs in that group.
12346 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12347 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12348 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12349 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12350 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12351 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12353 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12354 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12355 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12356 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12357 thinks should carry this mail message.
12359 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12360 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12361 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12362 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12364 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12365 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12366 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12367 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12368 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12370 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12373 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12374 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12375 links. If that's the case for you, set
12376 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12377 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12379 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12380 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12381 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12382 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12383 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12384 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12387 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12388 Header lines longer than the value of
12389 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12392 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12393 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12394 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12395 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12396 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12397 can be turned off completely by binding
12398 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12399 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12401 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12402 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12403 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12404 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12405 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12406 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12407 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12408 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12409 month's rent money.
12413 @subsection Mail Sources
12415 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12416 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12420 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12421 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12422 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12426 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12427 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12429 @cindex mail server
12432 @cindex mail source
12434 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12435 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12440 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12443 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12444 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12445 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12448 The following mail source types are available:
12452 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12458 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12459 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
12462 An example file mail source:
12465 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12468 Or using the default path:
12474 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12475 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12476 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12479 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12483 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12486 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12490 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12493 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12495 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12498 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12502 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12503 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12504 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12505 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12506 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12507 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12508 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12509 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12515 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12519 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12523 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12524 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12525 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12526 predicate are considered.
12530 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12534 An example directory mail source:
12537 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12542 Get mail from a POP server.
12548 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12549 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12552 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12553 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12554 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12555 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12556 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12559 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12563 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12567 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12568 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12571 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12574 The valid format specifier characters are:
12578 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12579 included in this string.
12582 The name of the server.
12585 The port number of the server.
12588 The user name to use.
12591 The password to use.
12594 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12595 corresponding keywords.
12598 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12599 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12602 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12603 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12606 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12607 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12610 @item :authentication
12611 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12612 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12616 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
12617 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
12618 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
12619 programs and libraries:
12623 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
12624 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
12625 library @samp{ssl.el}.
12627 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
12628 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
12633 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
12634 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
12638 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12639 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12641 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12642 default user name, and default fetcher:
12648 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12651 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12652 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12655 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12658 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12662 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12663 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12664 contains exactly one mail.
12670 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12671 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12674 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12675 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12677 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12678 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12679 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12682 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12683 from locking problems).
12687 Two example maildir mail sources:
12690 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12691 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12695 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12700 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12701 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12702 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12703 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12706 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12707 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12713 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12714 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12717 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12718 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12721 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12725 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12729 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12730 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12731 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12732 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12734 @item :authentication
12735 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12736 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12737 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12738 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12741 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12742 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12743 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12749 The valid format specifier characters are:
12753 The name of the server.
12756 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12759 The port number of the server.
12762 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12763 corresponding keywords.
12766 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12767 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12770 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12771 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12772 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12773 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12774 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12775 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
12778 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12779 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12780 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12781 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
12784 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12785 after finishing the fetch.
12789 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12792 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12794 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12798 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
12799 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
12800 @uref{www.my-deja.com}.
12802 NOTE: Now @uref{mail.yahoo.com} provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12805 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12806 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12808 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12814 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12815 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12818 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12822 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12826 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12827 folder after finishing the fetch.
12831 An example webmail source:
12834 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12836 :password "secret")
12841 @item Common Keywords
12842 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12848 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12849 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12853 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12858 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12859 useful when you use local mail and news.
12864 @subsubsection Function Interface
12866 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12867 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12868 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12869 consider the following mail-source setting:
12872 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12873 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12876 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12877 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12878 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12879 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12880 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12882 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12885 @node Mail Source Customization
12886 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12888 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12889 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12893 @item mail-source-crash-box
12894 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12895 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12896 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12898 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12899 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12900 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12902 @item mail-source-directory
12903 @vindex mail-source-directory
12904 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12905 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12906 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12909 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12910 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12911 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12912 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12913 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12914 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12916 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12917 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12918 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12920 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12921 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12922 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12923 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12928 @node Fetching Mail
12929 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12931 @vindex mail-sources
12932 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12933 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12934 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12935 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12937 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12938 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12941 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12942 mail server, you'd say something like:
12947 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12948 :password "secret")))
12951 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12955 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12956 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12959 :password "secret")))
12963 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12964 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12965 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12966 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12967 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12968 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12972 @node Mail Back End Variables
12973 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12975 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12979 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12980 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12981 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12982 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12984 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12985 @item nnmail-split-hook
12986 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12987 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12988 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12989 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12990 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12991 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12992 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12993 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12994 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12997 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12998 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12999 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13000 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13001 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13002 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13003 starting to handle the new mail) and
13004 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13005 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13006 default file modes the new mail files get:
13009 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13010 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13012 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13013 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13016 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13017 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13018 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13019 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13020 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13021 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13022 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13024 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13025 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13026 @findex delete-file
13027 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13029 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13030 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13031 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13032 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13033 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13038 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13039 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13040 @cindex mail splitting
13041 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13043 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13044 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13045 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13046 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13047 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13048 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13050 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13053 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13054 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13055 ;; from real errors.
13056 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13058 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13059 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13060 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13061 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13062 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13063 ;; Other mailing lists...
13064 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13065 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13066 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13067 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13068 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13069 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13070 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13071 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13073 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13074 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13078 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13079 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13080 the five possible split syntaxes:
13085 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13086 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13090 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13091 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13092 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13093 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13094 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13095 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13096 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13097 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13100 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13101 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13102 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13103 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13106 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13107 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13110 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13111 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13114 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13115 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13116 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13117 function should return a @var{split}.
13120 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13121 body of the messages:
13124 (defun split-on-body ()
13126 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13127 (goto-char (point-min))
13128 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13132 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13133 when the @code{:} function is run.
13136 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13137 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13138 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13142 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13146 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13147 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13148 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13149 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13150 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13152 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13153 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13154 are expanded as specified by the variable
13155 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13156 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13159 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13160 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13161 when all this splitting is performed.
13163 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13164 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13165 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13168 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13171 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13172 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13174 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13175 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13176 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13177 groupings 1 through 9.
13179 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13180 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13181 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13182 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13183 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13184 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13185 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13186 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13187 it once per thread.
13189 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13190 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13191 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13194 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13195 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13196 ;; other splits go here
13200 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13201 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13202 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13203 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13204 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13205 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13206 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13207 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13208 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13209 unless the group name matches the regexp
13210 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13211 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13212 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13213 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13214 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13215 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13216 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13217 messages goes into the new group.
13220 @node Group Mail Splitting
13221 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13222 @cindex mail splitting
13223 @cindex group mail splitting
13225 @findex gnus-group-split
13226 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13227 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13228 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13229 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13230 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13231 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13232 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13233 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13235 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13236 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13237 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13238 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13240 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13241 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13242 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13243 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13244 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13245 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13246 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13248 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13249 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13250 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13251 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13252 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13253 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13254 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13256 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13257 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13258 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13259 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13260 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13261 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13262 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13263 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13264 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13265 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13266 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13267 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13268 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13270 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13275 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13276 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13278 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13279 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13280 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13281 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13283 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13286 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13287 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13288 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13291 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13292 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13293 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13297 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13298 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13299 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13303 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13306 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13307 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13308 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13309 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13310 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13311 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13312 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13313 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13314 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13316 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13317 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13318 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13319 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13320 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13321 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13322 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13323 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13324 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13326 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13327 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13328 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13329 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13330 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13331 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13334 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13337 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13338 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13339 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13340 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13341 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13344 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13345 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13346 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13347 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13349 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13350 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13351 @cindex incorporating old mail
13352 @cindex import old mail
13354 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13355 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13356 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13359 Doing so can be quite easy.
13361 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13362 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13363 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13364 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13365 your @code{nnml} groups.
13371 Go to the group buffer.
13374 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13375 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13378 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13381 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13382 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13385 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13386 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13389 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13390 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13391 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13392 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13393 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13395 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13396 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13397 using the new mail back end.
13400 @node Expiring Mail
13401 @subsection Expiring Mail
13402 @cindex article expiry
13404 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13405 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13406 different approach to mail reading.
13408 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13409 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13410 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13411 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13412 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13413 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13416 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13417 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13418 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13419 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13420 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13421 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13422 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13423 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13425 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13426 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13427 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13428 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13429 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13430 column in the summary buffer.
13432 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13433 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13434 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13435 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13438 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13440 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13441 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13442 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13445 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13446 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13447 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13448 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13449 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13451 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13452 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13455 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13456 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13459 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13460 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13462 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13463 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13464 don't really mix very well.
13466 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13467 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13468 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13469 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13472 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13473 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13474 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13475 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13478 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13480 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13482 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13484 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13486 ((string= group "important")
13492 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13493 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13495 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13496 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13497 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13500 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13501 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13503 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13504 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13505 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13506 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13507 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13508 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13509 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13510 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13511 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13512 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13513 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13514 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13515 name or @code{delete}.
13517 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13519 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13522 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13523 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13524 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13525 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13526 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13529 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13530 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13531 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13532 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13533 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13536 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13537 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13538 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13539 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13540 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13541 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13543 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13544 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13545 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13546 easier for procmail users.
13548 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13549 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13550 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13551 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13552 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13553 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13554 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13555 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13556 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13557 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13558 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13559 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13560 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13563 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13565 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13566 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13567 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13568 auto-expire turned on.
13572 @subsection Washing Mail
13573 @cindex mail washing
13574 @cindex list server brain damage
13575 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13577 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13578 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13579 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13580 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13581 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13582 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13584 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13585 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13586 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13589 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13590 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13591 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13592 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13595 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13596 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13597 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13598 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13599 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13602 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13603 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13604 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13605 Emacs running on MS machines.
13609 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13610 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13611 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13612 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13615 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13616 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13617 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13618 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13620 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13621 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13622 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13623 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13624 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13625 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13626 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13629 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13630 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13633 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13634 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13637 This can also be done non-destructively with
13638 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13640 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13641 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13642 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13644 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13645 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13647 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13648 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13649 @code{References} headers.
13653 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13654 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13655 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13659 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13660 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13661 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13668 @subsection Duplicates
13670 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13671 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13672 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13673 @cindex duplicate mails
13674 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13675 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13676 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13677 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13678 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13679 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13680 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13681 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13682 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13683 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13684 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13685 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13686 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13688 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13689 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13690 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13691 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13693 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13696 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13697 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13701 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13702 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13703 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13704 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13705 (any mail "mail.misc")
13712 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13713 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13718 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13719 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13720 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13721 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13722 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13725 @node Not Reading Mail
13726 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13728 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13729 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13730 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13732 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13733 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13734 mail, which should help.
13736 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13737 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13738 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13739 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13740 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13741 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13742 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13743 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13744 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13745 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13746 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13748 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13749 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13753 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13754 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13756 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13757 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13758 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13760 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13761 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13762 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
13763 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
13764 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
13765 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
13766 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
13769 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13770 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13771 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13772 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13773 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13774 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13778 @node Unix Mail Box
13779 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13781 @cindex unix mail box
13783 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13784 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13785 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13786 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13787 which group it belongs in.
13789 Virtual server settings:
13792 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13793 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13794 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13797 @item nnmbox-active-file
13798 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13799 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13800 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13802 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13803 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13804 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13805 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13810 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13814 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13815 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13816 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13817 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13818 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13820 Virtual server settings:
13823 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13824 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13825 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13827 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13828 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13829 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13830 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13832 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13833 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13834 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13840 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13842 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13844 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13845 format. It should be used with some caution.
13847 @vindex nnml-directory
13848 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13849 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13850 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13851 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13853 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13856 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13857 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13858 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13859 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13860 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13861 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13862 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13863 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13865 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13866 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13867 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
13868 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
13870 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13872 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13873 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13874 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13875 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13876 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13877 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13878 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13879 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13882 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
13883 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
13884 them next time it starts.
13886 Virtual server settings:
13889 @item nnml-directory
13890 @vindex nnml-directory
13891 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13892 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13895 @item nnml-active-file
13896 @vindex nnml-active-file
13897 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13898 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13900 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13901 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13902 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13903 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13905 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13906 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13907 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13910 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13911 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13912 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13913 default is @code{nil}.
13915 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13916 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13917 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13919 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13920 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13921 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13923 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13924 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13925 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13926 default is @code{nil}.
13928 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13929 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13930 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13932 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
13933 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
13934 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
13939 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13940 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13941 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13942 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13943 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13944 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13945 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13950 @subsubsection MH Spool
13952 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13954 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13955 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13956 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13957 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13959 Virtual server settings:
13962 @item nnmh-directory
13963 @vindex nnmh-directory
13964 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13965 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13968 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13969 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13970 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13974 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13975 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13976 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13977 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13978 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13979 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13980 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13985 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13987 @cindex mbox folders
13988 @cindex mail folders
13990 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13991 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13992 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13995 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13997 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13998 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13999 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14000 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14001 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14002 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14003 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14004 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14005 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14006 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14008 Virtual server settings:
14011 @item nnfolder-directory
14012 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14013 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14014 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14017 @item nnfolder-active-file
14018 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14019 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14021 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14022 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14023 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14024 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14026 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14027 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14028 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14031 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14032 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14033 @cindex backup files
14034 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14035 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14036 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14037 your @file{.emacs} file:
14040 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14041 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14043 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14046 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14047 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14048 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14049 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14050 extract some information from it before removing it.
14052 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14053 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14054 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14055 default is @code{nil}.
14057 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14058 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14059 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14061 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14062 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14063 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14064 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14066 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14067 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14068 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14069 default is @code{nil}.
14071 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14072 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14073 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14075 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14076 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14077 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14078 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14083 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14084 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14085 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14086 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14087 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14088 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14091 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14092 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14094 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14095 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14096 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14097 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14098 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14100 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14101 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14102 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14103 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14104 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14105 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14106 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14107 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14110 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14111 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14112 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14113 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14118 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14119 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14120 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14121 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14122 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14123 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14124 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14125 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14126 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14127 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14128 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14129 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14130 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14135 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14136 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14137 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14138 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14139 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14140 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14141 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14142 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14143 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14144 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14145 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14146 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14147 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14148 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14150 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14151 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14156 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14157 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14158 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14159 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14160 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14161 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14162 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14163 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14164 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14165 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14166 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14167 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14168 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14169 provided by the active file and overviews.
14171 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14172 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14173 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14174 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14175 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14178 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14179 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14184 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14185 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14186 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14187 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14188 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14189 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14190 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14194 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14195 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14196 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14197 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14198 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14199 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14200 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14201 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14202 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14204 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14205 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14206 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14207 friendly mail back end all over.
14211 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14212 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14213 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14214 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14215 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14216 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14217 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14218 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14221 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14222 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14223 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14224 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14225 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14226 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14227 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14228 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14229 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14230 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14231 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14233 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14234 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14235 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14236 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14237 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14238 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14239 This will probably be changed in the future.
14241 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14242 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14243 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14244 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14245 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14248 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14249 parameters slightly different from those of other mail backends.
14251 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14252 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14253 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14254 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14255 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14256 would) to make it use less memory.
14258 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14259 with other backends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14260 depending in part on your filesystem.
14262 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14263 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived backend.
14268 @node Browsing the Web
14269 @section Browsing the Web
14271 @cindex browsing the web
14275 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14276 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14277 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14278 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14279 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14280 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14281 even know what a news group is.
14283 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14284 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14285 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14286 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14287 you mad in the end.
14289 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14292 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14293 interfaces to these sources.
14297 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14298 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14299 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14300 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14301 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14302 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14305 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14307 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14308 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14309 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14310 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14311 though, you should be ok.
14313 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14314 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14315 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14316 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14317 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14319 @node Archiving Mail
14320 @subsection Archiving Mail
14321 @cindex archiving mail
14322 @cindex backup of mail
14324 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14325 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14326 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14327 marks is fairly simple.
14329 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14330 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14333 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14334 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14335 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14336 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14337 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14338 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14339 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14340 before you restore the data.
14342 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14343 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14344 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14345 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14346 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14347 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14348 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14349 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14350 is unnecessary in that case.
14353 @subsection Web Searches
14358 @cindex InReference
14359 @cindex Usenet searches
14360 @cindex searching the Usenet
14362 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14363 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14364 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14365 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14366 searches without having to use a browser.
14368 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14369 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14370 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14371 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14372 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14374 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14375 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14376 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14377 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14378 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14379 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14380 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14381 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14382 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14383 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14386 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14387 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14388 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14389 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14390 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14391 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14393 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14394 to use @code{nnweb}.
14396 Virtual server variables:
14401 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14402 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and
14406 @vindex nnweb-search
14407 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14409 @item nnweb-max-hits
14410 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14411 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14414 @item nnweb-type-definition
14415 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14416 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14417 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14422 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14426 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14429 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14432 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14436 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14443 @subsection Slashdot
14447 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14448 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14449 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14451 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14452 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14455 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14456 '((nnslashdot "")))
14459 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14460 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14461 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14462 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14463 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14466 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14467 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14469 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14470 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14471 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14472 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14473 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14474 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14477 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14480 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14481 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14482 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14483 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14484 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14485 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14486 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14488 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14489 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14490 The login name to use when posting.
14492 @item nnslashdot-password
14493 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14494 The password to use when posting.
14496 @item nnslashdot-directory
14497 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14498 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14499 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14501 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14502 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14503 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14504 news articles and comments. The default is
14505 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14507 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14508 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14509 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14511 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14513 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14514 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14515 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14517 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14519 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14520 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14521 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14523 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14524 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14525 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14526 updated. The default is 0.
14533 @subsection Ultimate
14535 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14537 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14538 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14539 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14540 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14542 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14543 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14544 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14545 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14546 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14547 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14548 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14550 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14553 @item nnultimate-directory
14554 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14555 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14556 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14561 @subsection Web Archive
14563 @cindex Web Archive
14565 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14566 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14567 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14568 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14571 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14572 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14573 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14574 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14575 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14576 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14577 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14579 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14582 @item nnwarchive-directory
14583 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14584 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14585 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14587 @item nnwarchive-login
14588 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14589 The account name on the web server.
14591 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14592 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14593 The password for your account on the web server.
14601 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14602 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14603 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14606 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14607 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14610 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14613 @item nnrss-directory
14614 @vindex nnrss-directory
14615 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14616 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14620 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14621 the summary buffer.
14624 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14625 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14627 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14629 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14630 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14633 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14636 (require 'browse-url)
14638 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14640 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14643 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14644 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14646 (browse-url (cdr url))
14647 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14649 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14650 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14651 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14652 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14655 @node Customizing w3
14656 @subsection Customizing w3
14662 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14663 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14664 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14666 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14667 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14668 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14671 (eval-after-load "w3"
14673 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14674 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14675 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14676 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14678 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14681 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14682 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14691 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14692 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14693 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14694 specify the network address of the server.
14696 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14697 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14698 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14699 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14700 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14702 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14703 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14704 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14705 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14707 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14708 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14709 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14710 usage explained in this section.
14712 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14713 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14714 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14717 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14718 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14719 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14721 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14722 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14723 ; a UW server running on localhost
14725 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14726 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14727 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14728 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14729 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14730 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14731 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14732 (nnimap-stream network))
14733 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14735 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14736 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14737 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14740 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14745 @item nnimap-address
14746 @vindex nnimap-address
14748 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14749 server name if not specified.
14751 @item nnimap-server-port
14752 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14753 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14755 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14758 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14759 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14762 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14763 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14764 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14765 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14766 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14767 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14768 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14770 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14771 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14772 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14775 Example server specification:
14778 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14779 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14780 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14783 @item nnimap-stream
14784 @vindex nnimap-stream
14785 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14786 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14787 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14788 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14790 Example server specification:
14793 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14794 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14797 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14801 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
14802 @samp{imtest} program.
14804 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14806 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14807 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14810 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14811 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14812 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14814 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14816 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14819 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14820 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14821 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14822 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14823 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14824 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14825 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14826 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14827 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14830 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14831 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14832 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14833 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14834 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14835 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14836 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14837 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14838 distribution, for instance).
14840 @vindex imap-shell-program
14841 @vindex imap-shell-host
14842 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14843 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14845 @item nnimap-authenticator
14846 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14848 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14849 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14851 Example server specification:
14854 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14855 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14858 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14862 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
14863 external program @code{imtest}.
14865 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
14868 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
14869 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14871 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14873 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14875 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14878 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14880 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14881 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14882 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14883 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14884 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14885 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14888 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14889 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14890 running in circles yet?
14892 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14893 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14896 The possible options are:
14901 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14904 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14905 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14906 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14907 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14909 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14914 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14915 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14917 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other
14918 @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still
14919 (only) be marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand
14920 out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap} clients. (In other
14921 words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap} has only one.)
14923 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14924 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14927 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14928 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14929 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14930 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14933 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14934 as ticked for other users.
14936 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14938 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14940 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
14941 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14942 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14943 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14945 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14946 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14947 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14948 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14950 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14951 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14953 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14954 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14955 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14961 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14962 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14963 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14968 @node Splitting in IMAP
14969 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
14970 @cindex splitting imap mail
14972 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14973 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14974 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14975 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14976 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14980 Here are the variables of interest:
14984 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14985 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14987 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14989 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14990 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14992 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14994 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14995 @cindex splitting, inbox
14997 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14999 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15000 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15004 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15005 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15008 No nnmail equivalent.
15010 @item nnimap-split-rule
15011 @cindex Splitting, rules
15012 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15014 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15017 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15018 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15019 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15020 Neither did I, we need examples.
15023 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15025 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15026 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15027 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15030 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15031 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15032 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15034 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15035 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15039 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15042 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15043 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15044 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15045 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15047 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15048 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15049 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15050 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15051 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15052 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15054 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15055 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15056 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15058 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15059 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15060 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15062 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15064 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15065 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15066 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15069 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15070 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15071 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15072 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15073 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15074 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15077 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15078 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15079 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15080 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15081 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15082 group/function elements.
15084 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15086 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15088 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15090 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15091 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15093 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15094 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15095 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15098 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15099 @cindex splitting, fancy
15100 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15101 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15103 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15104 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15105 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15107 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15108 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15109 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15110 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15115 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15116 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15119 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15123 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15124 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15125 @cindex editing imap acls
15126 @cindex Access Control Lists
15127 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15129 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15131 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15132 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15133 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15136 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15137 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15138 editing window with detailed instructions.
15140 Some possible uses:
15144 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15145 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15146 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15148 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15149 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15150 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15154 @node Expunging mailboxes
15155 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15159 @cindex Manual expunging
15161 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15163 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15164 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15165 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15167 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15172 @node Other Sources
15173 @section Other Sources
15175 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15176 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15180 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15181 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15182 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15183 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15184 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15188 @node Directory Groups
15189 @subsection Directory Groups
15191 @cindex directory groups
15193 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15194 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15197 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15198 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15199 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15200 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15202 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15203 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15204 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15205 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15206 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15208 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15210 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15211 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15212 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15213 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15216 @node Anything Groups
15217 @subsection Anything Groups
15220 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15221 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15222 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15225 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15226 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15227 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15228 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15229 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15230 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15231 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15232 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15233 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15234 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15237 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15238 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15239 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15240 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15242 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15243 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15244 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15245 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15247 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15248 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15249 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15250 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15251 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15252 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15253 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15254 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15259 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15260 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15261 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15262 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15264 @item nneething-exclude-files
15265 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15266 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15267 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15269 @item nneething-include-files
15270 @vindex nneething-include-files
15271 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15272 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15274 @item nneething-map-file
15275 @vindex nneething-map-file
15276 Name of the map files.
15280 @node Document Groups
15281 @subsection Document Groups
15283 @cindex documentation group
15286 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15287 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15294 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15299 The standard Unix mbox file.
15301 @cindex MMDF mail box
15303 The MMDF mail box format.
15306 Several news articles appended into a file.
15309 @cindex rnews batch files
15310 The rnews batch transport format.
15311 @cindex forwarded messages
15314 Forwarded articles.
15317 Netscape mail boxes.
15320 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15322 @item standard-digest
15323 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15326 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15328 @item lanl-gov-announce
15329 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15331 @item rfc822-forward
15332 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15335 The Outlook mail box.
15338 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15341 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15344 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15347 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15353 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15356 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15362 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15363 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15364 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15367 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15368 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15369 group. And that's it.
15371 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15372 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15373 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15374 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15375 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15376 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15377 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15378 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15379 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15380 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15382 Virtual server variables:
15385 @item nndoc-article-type
15386 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15387 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15388 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15389 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15390 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15391 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15393 @item nndoc-post-type
15394 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15395 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15396 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15401 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15405 @node Document Server Internals
15406 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15408 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15409 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15410 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15411 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15413 First, here's an example document type definition:
15417 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15418 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15421 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15422 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15423 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15424 types can be defined with very few settings:
15427 @item first-article
15428 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15429 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15432 @item article-begin
15433 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15434 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15436 @item head-begin-function
15437 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15440 @item nndoc-head-begin
15441 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15444 @item nndoc-head-end
15445 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15446 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15448 @item body-begin-function
15449 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15453 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15456 @item body-end-function
15457 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15461 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15464 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15465 regexp will be totally ignored.
15469 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15470 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15471 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15472 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15473 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15476 @item prepare-body-function
15477 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15478 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15479 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15481 @item article-transform-function
15482 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15483 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15484 body of the article.
15486 @item generate-head-function
15487 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15488 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15489 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15490 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15494 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15499 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15500 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15501 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15502 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15503 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15504 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15505 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15506 (subtype digest guess))
15509 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15510 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15511 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15512 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15513 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15515 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15516 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15517 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15518 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15519 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
15520 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15521 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15522 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15523 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15524 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15532 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15533 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15534 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15536 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15537 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15538 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15541 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15542 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15543 that interested in doing things properly.
15545 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15546 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15549 First some terminology:
15554 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15555 get news and/or mail from.
15558 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15559 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15562 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15566 @item message packets
15567 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15568 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15569 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15571 @item response packets
15572 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15573 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15574 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15584 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15585 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15586 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15587 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15590 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15593 You put the packet in your home directory.
15596 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15597 the native or secondary server.
15600 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15601 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15604 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15608 You transfer this packet to the server.
15611 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15614 You then repeat until you die.
15618 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15619 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15622 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15623 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15624 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15628 @node SOUP Commands
15629 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15631 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15635 @kindex G s b (Group)
15636 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15637 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15638 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15639 process/prefix convention.
15642 @kindex G s w (Group)
15643 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15644 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15647 @kindex G s s (Group)
15648 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15649 Send all replies from the replies packet
15650 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15653 @kindex G s p (Group)
15654 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15655 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15658 @kindex G s r (Group)
15659 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15660 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15663 @kindex O s (Summary)
15664 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15665 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15666 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15667 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15672 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15677 @item gnus-soup-directory
15678 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15679 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15680 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15682 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15683 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15684 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15685 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15687 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15688 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15689 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15690 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15692 @item gnus-soup-packer
15693 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15694 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15695 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15697 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15698 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15699 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15700 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15702 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15703 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15704 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15706 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15707 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15708 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15709 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15715 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
15718 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15719 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15720 you can read them at leisure.
15722 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15726 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15727 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15728 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15729 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15731 @item nnsoup-directory
15732 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15733 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15734 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15736 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15737 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15738 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15739 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15741 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15742 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15743 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15744 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15745 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15747 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15748 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15749 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15750 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15752 @item nnsoup-active-file
15753 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15754 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15755 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15756 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15757 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15759 @item nnsoup-packer
15760 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15761 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15762 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15764 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15765 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15766 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15767 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15769 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15770 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15771 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15774 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15775 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15776 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15779 @item nnsoup-always-save
15780 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15781 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15787 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15789 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15790 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15791 more for that to happen.
15793 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15794 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15795 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15798 In specific, this is what it does:
15801 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15802 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15805 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15806 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15807 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15810 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15811 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15812 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15815 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15816 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15817 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15819 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15825 @item nngateway-address
15826 @vindex nngateway-address
15827 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15829 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15830 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15831 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15832 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15833 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15834 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15835 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15838 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15839 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15840 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15843 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15846 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
15849 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15852 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15854 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15857 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15858 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15859 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15861 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15863 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15864 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15865 @code{nngateway-address}.
15870 (setq gnus-post-method
15872 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15873 (nngateway-header-transformation
15874 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15882 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15885 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15890 @node Combined Groups
15891 @section Combined Groups
15893 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15897 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15898 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15902 @node Virtual Groups
15903 @subsection Virtual Groups
15905 @cindex virtual groups
15906 @cindex merging groups
15908 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15911 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15912 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15913 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15915 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15916 regexp to match component groups.
15918 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15919 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15920 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
15921 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
15922 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
15923 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
15924 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
15925 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
15927 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15928 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15931 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15934 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15935 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15937 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15938 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15939 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15940 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15943 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15946 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15947 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15948 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15950 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15951 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15952 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15953 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15954 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15956 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15957 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15958 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15960 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15961 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15962 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15963 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15964 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15965 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15966 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15967 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15968 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15969 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15970 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15972 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15973 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15974 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15975 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15976 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15977 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15978 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15980 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15981 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15983 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
15984 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
15988 @node Kibozed Groups
15989 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15993 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15994 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15995 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15996 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15998 @kindex G k (Group)
15999 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16002 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16003 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16004 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16005 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16007 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16008 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16009 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16011 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16012 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16013 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16014 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16015 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16016 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16017 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16018 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16020 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16021 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16022 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16023 Stranger things have happened.
16025 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16026 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16028 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16029 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16030 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16031 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16032 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16033 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16035 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16036 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16039 @node Gnus Unplugged
16040 @section Gnus Unplugged
16045 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16047 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16048 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16049 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16050 read news. Believe it or not.
16052 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16053 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16054 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16055 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16056 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16058 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16059 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16060 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16061 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16062 reading news on a machine.
16064 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
16068 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
16069 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
16073 Then, put the following magical incantation in your @file{.gnus.el}
16077 (setq gnus-agent t)
16081 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
16083 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16086 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16087 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16088 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16089 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16090 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16091 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16092 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16093 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16094 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16095 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16100 @subsection Agent Basics
16102 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16104 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16105 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16106 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16107 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16109 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16110 connected to the net continuously.
16112 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16113 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16115 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16120 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16121 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16122 already fetched while in this mode.
16125 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16126 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16127 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16128 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16129 Source Specifiers}).
16132 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16133 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16134 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16135 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16136 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16139 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16140 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16141 then you read the news offline.
16144 And then you go to step 2.
16147 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16153 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16154 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16155 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16156 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16157 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
16158 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
16161 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16168 @node Agent Categories
16169 @subsection Agent Categories
16171 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16172 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16173 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16174 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16175 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16176 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16177 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16179 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16180 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16181 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16182 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16183 managing categories.
16186 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16187 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16188 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16192 @node Category Syntax
16193 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16195 A category consists of two things.
16199 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16200 are eligible for downloading; and
16203 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16204 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16205 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16208 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16209 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16210 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16211 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16213 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16214 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16215 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16217 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16218 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16219 operators sprinkled in between.
16221 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16223 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16224 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16230 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16231 short (for some value of ``short'').
16233 Here's a more complex predicate:
16242 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16243 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16246 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16247 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16248 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16250 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16251 you want to do, you can write your own.
16255 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16256 lines; default 100.
16259 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16260 lines; default 200.
16263 True iff the article has a download score less than
16264 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16267 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16268 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16271 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16272 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16273 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16282 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16283 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16284 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16287 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16288 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16289 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16290 something along the lines of the following:
16293 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16294 "Say whether an article is old."
16295 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16296 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16299 with the predicate then defined as:
16302 (not my-article-old-p)
16305 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16306 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16310 (require 'gnus-agent)
16311 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16312 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16313 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16316 and simply specify your predicate as:
16322 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16323 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16324 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16325 just don't give a damn.
16327 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16328 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16329 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16330 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16331 parameters like so:
16334 (agent-predicate . short)
16337 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16338 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16339 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16341 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16344 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16347 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16348 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16349 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16352 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16353 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16354 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16355 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16356 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16357 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16359 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16360 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16361 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16362 if it's to be specific to that group.
16364 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16371 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16372 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16378 Category specification
16382 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16388 Group Parameter specification
16391 (agent-score ("from"
16392 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16397 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16403 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16410 Category specification
16413 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16419 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16423 Group Parameter specification
16426 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16429 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16434 Use @code{normal} score files
16436 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16437 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16438 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16439 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16441 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16442 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16443 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16444 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16448 Category Specification
16455 Group Parameter specification
16458 (agent-score . file)
16463 @node Category Buffer
16464 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16466 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16467 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16468 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16470 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16474 @kindex q (Category)
16475 @findex gnus-category-exit
16476 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16479 @kindex k (Category)
16480 @findex gnus-category-kill
16481 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16484 @kindex c (Category)
16485 @findex gnus-category-copy
16486 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16489 @kindex a (Category)
16490 @findex gnus-category-add
16491 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16494 @kindex p (Category)
16495 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16496 Edit the predicate of the current category
16497 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16500 @kindex g (Category)
16501 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16502 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16503 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16506 @kindex s (Category)
16507 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16508 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16509 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16512 @kindex l (Category)
16513 @findex gnus-category-list
16514 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16518 @node Category Variables
16519 @subsubsection Category Variables
16522 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16523 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16524 Hook run in category buffers.
16526 @item gnus-category-line-format
16527 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16528 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16529 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16533 The name of the category.
16536 The number of groups in the category.
16539 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16540 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16541 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16543 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16544 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16545 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16547 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16548 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16549 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16551 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16552 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16553 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16556 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16557 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16558 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16564 @node Agent Commands
16565 @subsection Agent Commands
16567 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16568 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16569 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16573 * Group Agent Commands::
16574 * Summary Agent Commands::
16575 * Server Agent Commands::
16578 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16579 following incantation:
16581 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16583 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16588 @node Group Agent Commands
16589 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16593 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16594 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16595 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16596 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16599 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16600 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16601 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16604 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16605 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16606 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16607 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16610 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16611 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16612 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16613 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16616 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16617 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16618 Add the current group to an Agent category
16619 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16620 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16623 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16624 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16625 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16626 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16627 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16630 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16631 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16632 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16638 @node Summary Agent Commands
16639 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16643 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16644 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16645 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16648 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16649 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16650 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16651 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16654 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16655 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16656 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16659 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16660 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16661 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16664 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16665 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16666 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16667 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16672 @node Server Agent Commands
16673 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16677 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16678 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16679 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16680 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16683 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16684 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16685 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16686 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16692 @subsection Agent Expiry
16694 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16695 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16696 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16697 @cindex Agent expiry
16698 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16701 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16702 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16703 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16704 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16705 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16706 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16708 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
16709 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
16710 expiry in different groups.
16713 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
16719 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
16720 method---it must always match all groups.
16722 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16723 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16724 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16725 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16726 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16728 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
16729 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
16730 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
16731 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
16733 @node Agent and IMAP
16734 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16736 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16737 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16738 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16739 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16741 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16742 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16743 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16744 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16746 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16747 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16748 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16749 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16750 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16752 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16753 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16754 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16755 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16756 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16757 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16759 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16760 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16761 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16762 in the group buffer by default.
16764 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16765 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16770 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16773 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16777 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16778 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16779 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16780 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16781 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16782 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16783 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16784 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16787 @node Outgoing Messages
16788 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16790 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16791 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16792 after posting, and edit them at will.
16794 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16795 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16796 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16797 messages in the draft group.
16801 @node Agent Variables
16802 @subsection Agent Variables
16805 @item gnus-agent-directory
16806 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16807 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16808 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16810 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16811 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16812 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16813 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16814 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16817 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16818 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16819 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16821 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16822 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16823 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16825 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16826 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16827 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
16829 @item gnus-agent-cache
16830 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
16831 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and articles when
16834 @item gnus-agent-go-online
16835 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
16836 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
16837 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
16838 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
16839 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
16840 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
16846 @node Example Setup
16847 @subsection Example Setup
16849 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16850 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16851 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16854 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16855 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16856 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16858 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16859 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16860 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16862 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16863 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16865 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16866 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
16867 (setq gnus-agent t)
16870 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16871 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16874 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16875 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16876 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16877 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16878 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16881 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16882 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16883 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16884 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16885 back all the killed groups.)
16887 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16888 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16889 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16892 @node Batching Agents
16893 @subsection Batching Agents
16895 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16896 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16897 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16901 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16905 @node Agent Caveats
16906 @subsection Agent Caveats
16908 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16909 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16913 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
16917 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16919 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
16923 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16924 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
16925 locally stored articles.
16932 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16933 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16934 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16937 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16938 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16939 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16940 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16941 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16943 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16944 before generating the summary buffer.
16946 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16947 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16948 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16950 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16951 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16952 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16953 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16956 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16957 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16958 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16959 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16960 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16961 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16962 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16963 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16964 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16965 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16966 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16967 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16968 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16969 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16970 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16971 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16972 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16976 @node Summary Score Commands
16977 @section Summary Score Commands
16978 @cindex score commands
16980 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16981 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16982 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16983 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16984 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16986 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16987 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16988 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16989 score file the current one.
16991 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16996 @kindex V s (Summary)
16997 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16998 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17001 @kindex V S (Summary)
17002 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17003 Display the score of the current article
17004 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17007 @kindex V t (Summary)
17008 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17009 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17010 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17013 @kindex V w (Summary)
17014 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17015 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17018 @kindex V R (Summary)
17019 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17020 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17021 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17022 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17023 effect you're having.
17026 @kindex V c (Summary)
17027 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17028 Make a different score file the current
17029 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17032 @kindex V e (Summary)
17033 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17034 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17035 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17039 @kindex V f (Summary)
17040 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17041 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17042 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17045 @kindex V F (Summary)
17046 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17047 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17048 after editing score files.
17051 @kindex V C (Summary)
17052 @findex gnus-score-customize
17053 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17054 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17058 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17063 @kindex V m (Summary)
17064 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17065 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17066 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17069 @kindex V x (Summary)
17070 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17071 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17072 expunge all articles below this score
17073 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17076 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17077 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17080 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17081 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17085 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17086 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17088 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17089 keys are available:
17093 Score on the author name.
17096 Score on the subject line.
17099 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17102 Score on the @code{References} line.
17108 Score on the number of lines.
17111 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17114 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17115 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17118 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17119 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17120 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17129 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17135 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17136 what headers you are scoring on.
17148 Substring matching.
17151 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17180 Greater than number.
17185 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17186 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17187 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17192 Temporary score entry.
17195 Permanent score entry.
17198 Immediately scoring.
17202 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17203 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17204 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17208 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17209 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17210 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17211 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17213 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17214 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17215 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17216 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17217 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17219 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17220 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17221 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17222 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17223 current score file.
17225 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17226 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17227 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17230 @node Group Score Commands
17231 @section Group Score Commands
17232 @cindex group score commands
17234 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17239 @kindex W f (Group)
17240 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17241 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17242 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17243 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17247 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17249 @findex gnus-batch-score
17250 @cindex batch scoring
17252 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17256 @node Score Variables
17257 @section Score Variables
17258 @cindex score variables
17262 @item gnus-use-scoring
17263 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17264 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17265 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17267 @item gnus-kill-killed
17268 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17269 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17270 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17271 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17272 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17273 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17274 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17276 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17277 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17278 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17279 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17280 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17282 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17283 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17284 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17285 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17287 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17288 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17289 @cindex score cache
17290 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17291 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17292 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
17293 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17294 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17295 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17298 @item gnus-save-score
17299 @vindex gnus-save-score
17300 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17301 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17302 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17304 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17305 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17306 across group visits.
17308 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17309 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17310 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17311 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17312 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17313 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17314 manually entered data.
17316 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17317 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17318 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17320 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17321 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17322 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17323 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17324 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17325 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17327 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17328 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17329 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17330 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17332 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17333 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17334 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17335 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17337 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17338 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17339 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17340 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17342 Predefined functions available are:
17345 @item gnus-score-find-single
17346 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17347 Only apply the group's own score file.
17349 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17350 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17351 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17352 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17353 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17354 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17355 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17356 then a regexp match is done.
17358 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17359 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17361 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17362 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17363 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17364 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17366 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17367 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17368 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17369 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17370 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17374 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17375 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17376 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17377 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17378 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17379 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17380 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17383 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17384 overall score file, you could use the value
17386 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17387 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17390 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17391 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17392 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17393 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17394 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17396 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17397 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17398 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17399 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17400 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17401 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17402 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17403 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17405 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17406 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17407 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17409 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17410 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17411 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17412 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17413 threading---according to the current value of
17414 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17415 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17416 simplified in this manner.
17421 @node Score File Format
17422 @section Score File Format
17423 @cindex score file format
17425 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17426 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17427 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17429 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17433 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17435 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17437 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17439 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17444 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17448 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17449 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17450 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17451 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17455 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17456 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17458 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17459 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17460 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17462 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17467 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17468 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17469 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17470 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17471 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17472 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17473 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17474 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17475 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17476 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17477 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17478 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17479 to articles that matches these score entries.
17481 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17482 score entry has one to four elements.
17486 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17487 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17491 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17492 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17493 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17494 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17495 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17496 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17499 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17500 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17501 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17502 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17503 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17506 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17507 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17508 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17509 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17512 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17513 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17514 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17515 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17516 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17517 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17518 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17519 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17520 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17521 instead, if you feel like.
17524 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17525 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17526 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17527 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17528 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17529 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17532 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17536 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17537 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17539 These predicates are true if
17542 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17545 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17546 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17553 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17554 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17555 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17556 it's not. I think.)
17558 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17559 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17560 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17561 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17564 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17565 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17566 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17567 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17568 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17569 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17570 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17574 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17575 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17576 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17577 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17578 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17579 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17580 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17581 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17584 @item Head, Body, All
17585 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17589 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17590 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17591 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17592 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17593 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17594 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17595 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17599 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17600 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17601 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17602 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17603 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17604 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17605 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17606 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17607 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17608 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17609 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17613 @cindex Score File Atoms
17615 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17616 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17619 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17620 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17622 @item mark-and-expunge
17623 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17624 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17627 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17628 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17629 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17630 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17631 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17634 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17635 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17638 @item exclude-files
17639 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17640 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17644 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17645 ignored when handling global score files.
17648 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17649 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17650 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17651 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17654 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17655 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17656 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17657 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17659 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17663 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17666 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17667 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17668 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17669 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17670 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17672 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17673 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17674 scoring rules exist.
17677 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17678 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17679 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17680 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17681 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17682 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17683 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17684 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17685 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17686 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17687 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17691 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17692 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17693 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17694 file for a number of groups.
17697 @cindex local variables
17698 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17699 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17700 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17701 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17702 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17706 @node Score File Editing
17707 @section Score File Editing
17709 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17710 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17711 with a mode for that.
17713 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17714 additional commands:
17719 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17720 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17721 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17722 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17725 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17726 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17727 Insert the current date in numerical format
17728 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17729 you were wondering.
17732 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17733 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17734 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17735 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17736 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17741 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17743 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17744 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17746 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17747 e} to begin editing score files.
17750 @node Adaptive Scoring
17751 @section Adaptive Scoring
17752 @cindex adaptive scoring
17754 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17755 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17756 stupidity, to be precise.
17758 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17759 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17760 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17761 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17762 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17763 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17764 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17765 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17766 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17768 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17769 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17770 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17771 might look something like this:
17774 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17775 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17776 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17777 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17778 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17779 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17780 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17781 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17782 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17783 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17784 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17785 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17788 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17789 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17790 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17791 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17792 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17793 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17796 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17797 will be applied to each article.
17799 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17800 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17801 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17802 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17804 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17805 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17806 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17807 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17809 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17810 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17811 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17812 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17814 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17815 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17816 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17817 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17818 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17819 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17821 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17822 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17823 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17824 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17825 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17826 aspirins afterwards.)
17828 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17829 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17830 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17832 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17833 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17834 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17836 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17837 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17838 let you use different rules in different groups.
17840 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17841 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17842 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17845 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17846 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17847 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17848 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17849 the length of the match is less than
17850 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17851 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17854 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17855 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17856 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17857 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17858 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17861 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17862 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17863 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17864 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17865 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17868 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17869 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17870 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17871 score with 30 points.
17873 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17874 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17875 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17876 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17877 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17879 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17880 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17881 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17882 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17883 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17885 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17886 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17887 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17888 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17890 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17891 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17892 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17893 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17895 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17896 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17897 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17898 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17899 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17901 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17902 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17903 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17905 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17906 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17907 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17908 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17911 @node Home Score File
17912 @section Home Score File
17914 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17915 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17916 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17917 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17919 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17920 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17921 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17923 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17924 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17929 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17933 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17934 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17938 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17942 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17943 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17946 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17947 the home score file.
17950 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17953 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17958 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17961 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17962 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17965 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17966 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17968 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17970 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17971 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17974 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17975 Other functions include
17978 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17979 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17980 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17981 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17985 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17986 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17987 their own home score files:
17990 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17991 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17992 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17993 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17994 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17997 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17998 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17999 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18000 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18001 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18003 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18004 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18005 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18006 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18007 precedence over this variable.
18010 @node Followups To Yourself
18011 @section Followups To Yourself
18013 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18014 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18015 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18016 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18017 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18018 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18022 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18023 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18024 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18027 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18028 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18029 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18033 @vindex message-sent-hook
18034 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18035 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18037 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18041 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18042 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18046 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18047 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18050 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18051 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18056 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18060 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18061 is system-dependent.
18064 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18065 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18066 @cindex scoring on other headers
18068 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18069 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18070 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18071 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18072 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18074 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18075 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18076 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18077 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18078 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18080 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18083 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18084 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18087 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18088 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18089 time if you have much mail.
18091 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18092 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18098 @section Scoring Tips
18099 @cindex scoring tips
18105 @cindex scoring crossposts
18106 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18107 the @code{Xref} header.
18109 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18112 @item Multiple crossposts
18113 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18114 more than, say, 3 groups:
18117 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18121 @item Matching on the body
18122 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18123 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18124 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18125 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18126 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18127 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18128 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18131 @item Marking as read
18132 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18133 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18134 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18138 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18140 @item Negated character classes
18141 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18142 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18143 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18147 @node Reverse Scoring
18148 @section Reverse Scoring
18149 @cindex reverse scoring
18151 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18152 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18153 like this in your score file:
18157 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18162 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18163 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18166 @node Global Score Files
18167 @section Global Score Files
18168 @cindex global score files
18170 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18171 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18172 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18174 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18175 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18176 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18178 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18179 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18180 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18181 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18182 files are applicable to which group.
18184 To use the score file
18185 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18186 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18190 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18191 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18192 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18195 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18197 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18198 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18199 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18200 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18202 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18203 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18205 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18206 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18207 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18208 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18209 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18210 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18212 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18218 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18220 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18222 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18224 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18225 lowered out of existence.
18227 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18228 articles completely.
18231 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18232 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18233 old articles for a long time.
18236 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18237 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18238 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18239 holding our breath yet?
18243 @section Kill Files
18246 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18247 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18248 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18250 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18251 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18252 files into score files.
18254 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18255 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18256 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18257 that isn't a very good idea.
18259 Normal kill files look like this:
18262 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18263 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18267 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18268 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18270 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18271 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18274 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18279 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18280 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18281 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18284 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18285 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18286 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18289 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18294 @kindex M-k (Group)
18295 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18296 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18299 @kindex M-K (Group)
18300 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18301 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18304 Kill file variables:
18307 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18308 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18309 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18310 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18311 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18312 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18313 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18315 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18316 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18317 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18318 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18321 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18322 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18323 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18324 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18325 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18326 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18327 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18328 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18329 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18331 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18332 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18333 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18338 @node Converting Kill Files
18339 @section Converting Kill Files
18341 @cindex converting kill files
18343 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18344 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18345 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18348 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18349 You can fetch it from
18350 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18352 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18353 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18354 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18362 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18363 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18364 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18365 news articles generated every day.
18367 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18368 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18369 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18370 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18371 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18372 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18373 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18374 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18377 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18378 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18381 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18382 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18383 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18384 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18388 @node Using GroupLens
18389 @subsection Using GroupLens
18391 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18393 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18394 better bit in town at the moment.
18396 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18400 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18401 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18402 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18403 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18405 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18406 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18407 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18408 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18410 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18411 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18412 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18416 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18417 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18418 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18419 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18420 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18421 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18424 @node Rating Articles
18425 @subsection Rating Articles
18427 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18428 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18429 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18430 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18433 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18438 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18439 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18440 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18443 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18444 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18445 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18446 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18447 threads in rec.humor.
18451 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18452 the score of the article you're reading.
18457 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18458 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18459 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18462 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18463 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18464 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18468 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18469 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18472 @node Displaying Predictions
18473 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18475 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18476 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18477 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18478 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18479 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18481 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18482 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18483 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18484 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18485 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18486 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18487 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18488 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18489 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18490 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18491 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18492 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18493 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18495 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18496 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18497 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18498 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18500 The following are valid values for that variable.
18503 @item prediction-spot
18504 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18507 @item confidence-interval
18508 A numeric confidence interval.
18510 @item prediction-bar
18511 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18513 @item confidence-bar
18514 Numerical confidence.
18516 @item confidence-spot
18517 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18519 @item prediction-num
18520 Plain-old numeric value.
18522 @item confidence-plus-minus
18523 Prediction +/- confidence.
18528 @node GroupLens Variables
18529 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18533 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18534 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18535 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18536 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18539 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18540 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18543 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18544 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18546 @item grouplens-score-offset
18547 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18548 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18551 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18552 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18553 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18558 @node Advanced Scoring
18559 @section Advanced Scoring
18561 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18562 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18563 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18564 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18565 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18567 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18571 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18572 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18573 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18577 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18578 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18580 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18581 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18582 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18583 non-@code{nil} value.
18585 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18586 operator, and various match operators.
18593 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18594 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18595 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18600 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18601 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18602 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18607 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18608 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18612 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18613 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18614 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18615 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18616 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18617 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18618 the ancestry you want to go.
18620 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18621 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18622 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18623 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18624 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18627 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18628 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18630 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18631 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18634 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18635 when he's talking about Gnus:
18639 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18640 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18646 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18650 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18657 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18658 really don't want to read what he's written:
18662 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18663 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18667 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18668 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18669 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18676 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18677 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18678 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18679 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18683 The possibilities are endless.
18686 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18687 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18689 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18690 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18691 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18692 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18693 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18694 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18695 @samp{subject}) first.
18697 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18698 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18709 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18710 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18716 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18723 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18724 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18729 @section Score Decays
18730 @cindex score decays
18733 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18734 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18735 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18736 use them in any sensible way.
18738 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18739 @findex gnus-decay-score
18740 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18741 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18742 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18743 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18744 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18745 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18746 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18747 definition of that function:
18750 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18752 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18753 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18756 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18758 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18760 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18763 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18764 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18765 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18766 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18770 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18773 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18776 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18780 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18781 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18782 the new score, which should be an integer.
18784 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18785 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18790 @include message.texi
18791 @chapter Emacs MIME
18792 @include emacs-mime.texi
18794 @include sieve.texi
18802 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18803 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18804 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18805 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18806 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18807 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18808 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18809 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18810 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18811 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18812 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18813 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18814 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18815 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
18816 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18817 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18818 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18819 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18820 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18824 @node Process/Prefix
18825 @section Process/Prefix
18826 @cindex process/prefix convention
18828 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18829 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18831 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18832 command to be performed on.
18836 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18837 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18838 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18839 with the current one.
18841 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18842 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18843 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18845 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18846 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18849 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18850 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18852 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18855 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18856 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18857 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18858 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18860 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18861 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18862 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18863 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18864 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18865 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18866 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18867 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18869 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18870 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18871 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18872 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18873 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18877 @section Interactive
18878 @cindex interaction
18882 @item gnus-novice-user
18883 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18884 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18885 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18886 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18887 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18890 @item gnus-expert-user
18891 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18892 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18893 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18894 matter how strange.
18896 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18897 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18898 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18899 is @code{t} by default.
18901 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18902 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18903 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18908 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18909 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18910 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18912 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18913 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18914 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18915 rule of 900 to the current article.
18917 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18918 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18919 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18920 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18921 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18922 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18923 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18925 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18926 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18927 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18928 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18929 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18930 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
18931 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
18932 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18933 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18935 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18936 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18937 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18939 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18943 @node Formatting Variables
18944 @section Formatting Variables
18945 @cindex formatting variables
18947 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18948 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18949 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18950 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18951 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18954 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18955 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18956 lots of percentages everywhere.
18959 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18960 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18961 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18962 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18963 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18964 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18965 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18966 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18969 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18970 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18971 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18972 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18973 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18974 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18975 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18976 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18978 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18979 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18981 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18982 @findex gnus-update-format
18983 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18984 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18985 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18986 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18990 @node Formatting Basics
18991 @subsection Formatting Basics
18993 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18994 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18995 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18997 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18998 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18999 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19000 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19001 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19004 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19005 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19006 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19007 less than 4 characters wide.
19009 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19010 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19013 @node Mode Line Formatting
19014 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19016 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19017 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19018 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19019 with the following two differences:
19024 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19027 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19028 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19029 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19030 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19031 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19032 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19033 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19038 @node Advanced Formatting
19039 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19041 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19042 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19043 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19044 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19046 These are the valid modifiers:
19051 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19055 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19060 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19063 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19068 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19071 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19074 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19077 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19083 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19088 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19089 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19090 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19091 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19092 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19093 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19094 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19096 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19097 last operation, padding.
19099 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19100 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
19101 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
19102 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
19103 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
19104 the look of your lines.
19105 @xref{Compilation}.
19108 @node User-Defined Specs
19109 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19111 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19112 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19113 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19114 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19115 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19116 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19117 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19118 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19119 should protect against that.
19121 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19122 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19124 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19125 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19126 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19127 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19131 @node Formatting Fonts
19132 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19134 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19135 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19136 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19137 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19140 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19141 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19142 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19143 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19144 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19145 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19147 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
19148 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
19149 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
19150 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
19151 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
19152 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
19153 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
19154 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
19156 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19159 ;; Create three face types.
19160 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19161 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19163 ;; We want the article count to be in
19164 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19165 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19166 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19168 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19169 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19171 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19172 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19173 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19176 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19177 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19179 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19180 mode-line variables.
19182 @node Positioning Point
19183 @subsection Positioning Point
19185 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19186 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19187 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19189 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19191 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19192 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19193 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19195 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19196 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19197 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19202 @subsection Tabulation
19204 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19205 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19206 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19207 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19209 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19210 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19212 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19213 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19214 This is the soft tabulator.
19216 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19217 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19218 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19221 @node Wide Characters
19222 @subsection Wide Characters
19224 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19225 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19226 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19228 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19229 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19230 these coutries, that's not true.
19232 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19233 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19234 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19235 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
19239 @node Window Layout
19240 @section Window Layout
19241 @cindex window layout
19243 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19245 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19246 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19247 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19248 @code{t} by default.
19250 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19251 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19253 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19254 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19255 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19258 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19259 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19260 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19264 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19265 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19266 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19267 possible names is listed below.
19269 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19270 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19273 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19277 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19278 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19279 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19280 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19281 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19282 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19283 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19284 size spec per split.
19286 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19287 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19288 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19289 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19290 present) gets focus.
19292 Here's a more complicated example:
19295 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19296 (summary 0.25 point)
19297 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19301 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19302 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19303 occupy, not a percentage.
19305 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19306 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19307 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19308 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19309 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19312 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19315 (article (horizontal 1.0
19320 (summary 0.25 point)
19325 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19326 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19328 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19329 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19330 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19331 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19332 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19334 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19335 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19336 lines from the splits.
19338 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19342 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19343 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19344 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19345 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19346 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19347 size = number | frame-params
19348 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19351 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19352 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19353 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19354 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19356 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19357 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19358 @cindex window height
19359 @cindex window width
19360 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19361 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19362 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19363 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19364 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19365 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19367 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19368 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19369 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19370 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19372 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19373 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19374 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19375 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19376 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19377 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19378 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19379 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19380 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19381 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19382 configuration list.
19385 (gnus-configure-frame
19389 (article 0.3 point))
19397 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19398 @code{frame} split:
19401 (gnus-configure-frame
19404 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19406 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19407 (user-position . t)
19408 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19413 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19414 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19415 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19416 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19417 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19418 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19419 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19420 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19422 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19423 be found in its default value.
19425 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19426 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19427 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19431 (message (horizontal 1.0
19432 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19434 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19439 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19440 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19441 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19446 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19447 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19448 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19449 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19450 (name . "Message"))
19451 (message 1.0 point))))
19454 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19455 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19456 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19457 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19458 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19461 (gnus-add-configuration
19462 '(article (vertical 1.0
19464 (summary .25 point)
19468 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19469 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19470 Gnus has been loaded.
19472 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19473 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19474 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19475 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19476 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19478 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19479 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19480 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19483 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19487 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19488 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19503 (gnus-add-configuration
19506 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19508 (summary 0.16 point)
19511 (gnus-add-configuration
19514 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19515 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19521 @node Faces and Fonts
19522 @section Faces and Fonts
19527 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19528 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19529 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19534 @section Compilation
19535 @cindex compilation
19536 @cindex byte-compilation
19538 @findex gnus-compile
19540 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19541 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19542 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
19543 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
19544 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
19545 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19546 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19547 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19550 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19551 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19552 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19553 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
19554 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19557 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
19558 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19559 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
19560 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
19561 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
19566 @section Mode Lines
19569 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19570 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19571 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19572 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19573 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19574 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19575 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19578 @cindex display-time
19580 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19581 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19582 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19583 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19584 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19585 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19586 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19587 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19590 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19592 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19593 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19595 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19596 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19597 (length display-time-string)))))
19600 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19601 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19602 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19603 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19604 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19607 @node Highlighting and Menus
19608 @section Highlighting and Menus
19610 @cindex highlighting
19613 @vindex gnus-visual
19614 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19615 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19616 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19619 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19620 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19623 @item group-highlight
19624 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19625 @item summary-highlight
19626 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19627 @item article-highlight
19628 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19630 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19632 Create menus in the group buffer.
19634 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19636 Create menus in the article buffer.
19638 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19640 Create menus in the server buffer.
19642 Create menus in the score buffers.
19644 Create menus in all buffers.
19647 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19648 buffers, you could say something like:
19651 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19654 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19657 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19660 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19661 in all Gnus buffers.
19663 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19666 @item gnus-mouse-face
19667 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19668 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19669 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19673 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19677 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19678 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19679 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19681 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19682 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19683 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19685 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19686 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19687 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19689 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19690 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19691 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19693 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19694 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19695 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19697 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19698 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19699 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19710 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19711 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19712 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19713 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19714 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19718 @vindex gnus-carpal
19719 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19720 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19721 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19726 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19727 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19728 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19730 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19731 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19732 Face used on buttons.
19734 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19735 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19736 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19738 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19739 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19740 Buttons in the group buffer.
19742 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19743 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19744 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19746 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19747 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19748 Buttons in the server buffer.
19750 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19751 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19752 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19755 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19756 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19757 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19765 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19766 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19767 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19768 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19769 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19771 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19772 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19773 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19775 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19776 been idle for thirty minutes:
19779 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19782 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19786 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19789 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19790 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19791 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19793 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19794 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19795 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19796 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19798 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19799 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19800 @var{idle} minutes.
19802 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19803 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19806 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19807 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19808 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19810 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19811 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19812 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19813 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19815 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19816 your @file{.gnus} file:
19818 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19820 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19823 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19824 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19825 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19826 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19827 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19828 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19829 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19830 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19831 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19832 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19833 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19835 @findex gnus-demon-init
19836 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19837 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19838 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19839 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19840 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19842 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19843 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19844 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19853 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19854 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19856 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19857 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19858 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19859 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19862 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19863 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19864 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19865 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19867 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19868 this will make spam disappear.
19870 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19873 @item gnus-use-nocem
19874 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19875 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19878 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19879 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19880 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19881 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19882 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19884 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19885 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19886 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19887 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19888 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19889 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19891 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19892 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19894 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19895 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19896 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19897 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19898 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19899 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19900 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19901 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19902 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19903 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19905 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19906 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19909 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19912 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19913 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19916 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19919 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19922 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19923 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19925 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19926 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19927 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19928 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19930 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19931 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19934 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19936 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19944 This might be dangerous, though.
19946 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19947 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19948 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19949 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19951 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19952 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19953 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19954 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19955 might then see old spam.
19957 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19958 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19959 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19960 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19961 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19964 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19965 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19966 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19967 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19971 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19972 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19973 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19974 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19981 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19982 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19983 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19985 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19986 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19987 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19988 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19989 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19990 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19991 @code{undo} function.
19993 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19994 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19995 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19996 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19997 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19998 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19999 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20000 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20001 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20002 never be totally undoable.
20004 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20005 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20007 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20008 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20009 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20010 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20014 @node Predicate Specifiers
20015 @section Predicate Specifiers
20016 @cindex predicate specifiers
20018 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20019 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20020 to type all that much.
20022 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20027 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20028 gnus-article-unread-p)
20031 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20032 functions all take one parameter.
20034 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20035 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20036 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20037 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20042 @section Moderation
20045 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20046 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20047 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20050 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20054 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20057 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20059 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20064 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20065 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20066 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20069 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20070 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20073 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20074 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20078 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20081 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20082 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20086 @node Image Enhancements
20087 @section Image Enhancements
20089 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20090 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20093 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20094 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20095 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20096 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20097 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20110 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20111 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20112 over your shoulder as you read news.
20115 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20116 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20117 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20118 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20119 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20124 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20126 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20135 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20136 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20137 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20138 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20139 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20140 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20141 @code{GIF} formats.
20144 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20145 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20146 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20147 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20148 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20150 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20151 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20152 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20153 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20154 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20155 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20157 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20158 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20161 @node Picon Requirements
20162 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20164 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20165 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20166 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20167 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20169 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20170 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20171 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20172 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20173 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20174 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20177 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20179 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20180 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20183 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20184 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20187 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20188 containing the Picons databases.
20190 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20193 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20194 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20199 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20207 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20208 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20209 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20210 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20211 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20216 @item gnus-picons-database
20217 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20218 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20219 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20220 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20221 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20222 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20224 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20225 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20226 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20227 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20228 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20229 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20230 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20232 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20233 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20234 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20235 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20236 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20237 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20238 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20239 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20241 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20242 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20243 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20248 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20249 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20251 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20252 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20255 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20257 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20258 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20259 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20260 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20262 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20263 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20264 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20265 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20271 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20272 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20280 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20281 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20282 don't need to worry about.
20286 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20287 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20288 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20289 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20291 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20292 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20293 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20294 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20296 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20297 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20298 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20299 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20300 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20302 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20303 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20304 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20305 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20306 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20307 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20308 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20309 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20311 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20312 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20313 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20314 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20315 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20317 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20318 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20319 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20320 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20321 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20322 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20323 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20325 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20326 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20327 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20328 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20330 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20331 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20332 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20333 Defaults to @code{t}.
20335 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20336 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20337 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20338 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20340 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20341 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20342 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20344 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20345 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20346 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20347 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20349 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20350 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20352 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20353 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20354 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20355 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20356 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20357 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20358 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20359 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20370 @subsection Smileys
20375 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20380 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20381 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20383 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20384 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20387 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20390 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20391 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20392 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20393 text and maps that to file names.
20395 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20396 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20397 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20398 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20399 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20400 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20402 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20403 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20405 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20406 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20407 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20409 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20410 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20414 @item smiley-data-directory
20415 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20416 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20418 @item smiley-flesh-color
20419 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20420 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20422 @item smiley-features-color
20423 @vindex smiley-features-color
20424 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20426 @item smiley-tongue-color
20427 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20428 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20430 @item smiley-circle-color
20431 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20432 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20434 @item smiley-mouse-face
20435 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20436 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20445 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20446 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20447 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20451 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20452 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20453 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20454 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20462 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20463 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20464 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20465 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20467 The variable that controls this is the
20468 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20469 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20470 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20471 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20472 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20474 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20475 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20476 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20477 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20480 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20481 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20482 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20483 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20484 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20485 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20486 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20487 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20489 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20492 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20493 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20495 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20496 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20497 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20498 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20499 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20500 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20502 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a file as the parameter, and then
20503 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20504 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20506 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20507 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20510 (setq message-required-news-headers
20511 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20512 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20515 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20518 (setq message-required-news-headers
20519 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20520 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20521 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20522 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20527 @subsection Toolbar
20537 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20538 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20539 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20540 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20541 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20543 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20544 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20545 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20547 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20548 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20549 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20551 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20552 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20553 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20559 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20562 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20563 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20564 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20565 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20566 unusual directory structure.
20568 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20569 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20570 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20571 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20573 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20574 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20575 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20576 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20577 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20578 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20580 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20581 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20582 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20596 @node Fuzzy Matching
20597 @section Fuzzy Matching
20598 @cindex fuzzy matching
20600 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20601 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20603 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20604 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20605 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20607 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20608 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20609 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20610 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20611 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20614 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20615 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20619 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20621 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20622 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20623 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20624 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20625 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20626 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20627 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20628 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20631 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20632 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20633 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20634 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
20635 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
20636 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20640 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20641 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20643 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20644 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20645 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20646 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20647 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20648 part of the mail address.)
20651 (setq message-default-news-headers
20652 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20655 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20656 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20661 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20662 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20663 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20669 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20670 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20671 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20672 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20674 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
20675 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20676 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20677 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20678 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20679 your fancy split rule in this way:
20684 (to "larsi" "misc")
20688 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20689 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20690 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20691 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20692 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20694 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20695 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20696 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20697 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20698 cosmic balance somewhat.
20700 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20701 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20702 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20703 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20706 @node Various Various
20707 @section Various Various
20713 @item gnus-home-directory
20714 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
20715 defaults to @file{~/}.
20717 @item gnus-directory
20718 @vindex gnus-directory
20719 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
20720 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
20721 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
20723 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
20724 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
20725 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
20726 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
20728 @item gnus-default-directory
20729 @vindex gnus-default-directory
20730 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
20731 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
20732 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
20733 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
20734 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
20735 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
20738 @vindex gnus-verbose
20739 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
20740 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
20741 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
20742 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
20743 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
20745 @item gnus-verbose-backends
20746 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
20747 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
20748 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
20750 @item nnheader-max-head-length
20751 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
20752 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
20753 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
20754 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
20755 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
20756 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
20757 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
20758 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
20759 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
20761 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
20762 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
20763 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
20764 read when doing the operation described above.
20766 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20767 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20769 @cindex invalid characters in file names
20770 @cindex characters in file names
20771 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
20772 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
20773 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
20776 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20780 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
20781 Windows (phooey) systems.
20783 @item gnus-hidden-properties
20784 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
20785 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
20786 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
20787 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
20789 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
20790 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
20791 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
20792 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
20793 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
20795 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
20796 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
20797 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
20799 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20800 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20802 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
20803 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
20804 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
20805 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
20808 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
20816 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
20817 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
20819 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
20821 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
20827 Not because of victories @*
20830 but for the common sunshine,@*
20832 the largess of the spring.
20836 but for the day's work done@*
20837 as well as I was able;@*
20838 not for a seat upon the dais@*
20839 but at the common table.@*
20844 @chapter Appendices
20847 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
20848 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
20849 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
20850 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
20851 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20852 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20853 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20854 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20855 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20862 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
20864 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
20865 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
20866 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
20867 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
20868 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
20875 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20876 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20878 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20879 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20880 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20881 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20882 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20884 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20885 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20886 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20887 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20888 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20889 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20891 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20892 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20893 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20894 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20897 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20898 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20899 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20900 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20901 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20902 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20903 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20904 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20905 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20909 @node Gnus Versions
20910 @subsection Gnus Versions
20912 @cindex September Gnus
20914 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20915 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20919 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20920 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20921 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20923 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20924 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20926 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20927 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20929 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20930 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20932 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20933 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20936 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20938 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20939 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20940 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20941 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20942 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20943 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20946 @node Other Gnus Versions
20947 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20950 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20951 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20952 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20953 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20955 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20956 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20957 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20958 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20965 What's the point of Gnus?
20967 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20968 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20969 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20970 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20971 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20972 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20973 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20974 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20975 keep track of millions of people who post?
20977 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20978 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20979 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20980 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20981 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20982 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20983 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20984 every one of you to explore and invent.
20986 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20987 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20990 @node Compatibility
20991 @subsection Compatibility
20993 @cindex compatibility
20994 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20995 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20996 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
21001 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
21005 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
21008 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
21011 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
21012 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
21013 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
21014 important variables have their values copied into their global
21015 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
21016 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
21018 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
21019 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
21020 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
21021 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
21022 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
21026 @cindex highlighting
21027 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
21028 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
21029 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
21030 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
21031 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
21032 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
21035 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
21036 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
21037 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
21038 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
21040 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
21041 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
21042 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
21043 to stop doing it the old way.
21045 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
21047 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21049 @cindex reporting bugs
21051 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
21052 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
21053 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
21055 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
21056 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
21057 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
21058 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
21063 @subsection Conformity
21065 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
21066 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
21074 There are no known breaches of this standard.
21078 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
21080 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
21081 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
21082 We do have some breaches to this one.
21088 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
21089 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
21090 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
21091 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
21092 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
21097 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
21098 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
21099 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
21100 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
21102 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
21104 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
21106 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
21107 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
21109 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
21112 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
21113 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
21114 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
21115 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
21116 decoding (verification and decryption).
21118 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
21119 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
21120 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
21121 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
21123 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
21124 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
21126 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
21127 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
21128 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
21129 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
21130 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
21131 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
21132 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
21136 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
21137 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
21142 @subsection Emacsen
21148 Gnus should work on :
21156 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
21160 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
21161 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
21162 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
21163 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
21164 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
21166 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
21167 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
21168 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
21172 @node Gnus Development
21173 @subsection Gnus Development
21175 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
21176 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
21177 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
21178 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
21179 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
21180 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
21181 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
21182 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
21184 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
21185 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
21186 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
21187 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
21188 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
21191 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
21192 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
21193 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
21194 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
21195 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
21197 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
21198 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
21199 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
21200 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
21201 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
21202 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
21203 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
21204 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
21205 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
21206 can't be assumed to do so.
21211 @subsection Contributors
21212 @cindex contributors
21214 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
21215 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
21216 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
21217 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
21218 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
21219 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
21220 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
21221 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
21222 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
21223 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
21225 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
21231 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
21234 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
21235 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
21236 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
21237 functionality and stuff.
21240 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
21241 well as numerous other things).
21244 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
21247 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
21250 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
21253 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
21256 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
21257 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
21260 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
21263 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
21264 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21267 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
21270 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
21273 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
21276 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
21279 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
21280 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
21283 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
21286 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
21289 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
21292 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
21296 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
21299 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
21302 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
21305 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
21306 well as autoconf support.
21310 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
21311 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
21313 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
21322 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
21326 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
21336 Alexei V. Barantsev,
21351 Massimo Campostrini,
21356 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
21357 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
21361 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
21364 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
21370 Michael Welsh Duggan,
21375 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
21379 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
21387 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
21389 Michelangelo Grigni,
21393 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
21395 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
21397 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
21404 François Felix Ingrand,
21405 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
21406 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
21408 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
21419 Peter Skov Knudsen,
21420 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
21422 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
21423 Thor Kristoffersen,
21426 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
21444 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
21445 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
21452 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
21457 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
21461 John McClary Prevost,
21467 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
21472 Christian von Roques,
21475 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
21482 Philippe Schnoebelen,
21484 Randal L. Schwartz,
21498 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
21503 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
21519 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
21524 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
21525 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
21526 (550kB and counting).
21528 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
21531 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
21532 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
21536 @subsection New Features
21537 @cindex new features
21540 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
21541 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
21542 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
21543 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
21544 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
21547 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
21548 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
21549 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
21552 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
21554 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
21559 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
21560 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
21563 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
21564 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
21567 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
21570 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
21571 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
21572 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
21575 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
21576 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
21577 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
21578 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21581 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
21582 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21585 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
21586 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
21587 (@pxref{The Active File}).
21590 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
21591 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
21594 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
21595 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
21596 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21599 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
21600 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
21601 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
21604 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
21605 the @file{.emacs} file.
21608 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
21609 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
21612 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
21613 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
21616 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
21617 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21620 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
21621 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
21624 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
21625 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21628 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
21631 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
21632 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
21635 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
21636 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
21639 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
21640 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
21643 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
21646 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
21647 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21650 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
21654 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
21658 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
21659 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
21662 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
21668 @node September Gnus
21669 @subsubsection September Gnus
21673 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
21677 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
21682 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
21683 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
21687 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
21688 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
21692 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
21696 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
21697 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
21700 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
21704 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21707 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
21710 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
21713 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
21717 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
21718 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
21721 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
21725 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
21729 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
21733 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
21737 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
21740 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
21741 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
21744 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
21748 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
21749 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
21752 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
21755 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
21756 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
21757 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21760 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
21764 The Gnus cache is much faster.
21767 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
21771 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
21772 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
21775 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
21776 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
21779 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
21780 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21783 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
21784 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
21785 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
21788 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
21789 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
21792 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
21795 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21798 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
21801 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
21804 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
21805 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
21808 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
21812 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
21815 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
21820 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
21823 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
21827 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21830 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
21834 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
21837 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
21840 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
21841 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21844 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
21845 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
21849 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
21850 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
21853 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
21857 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
21858 buffer to allow easier treatment.
21861 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
21864 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
21868 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
21872 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
21873 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
21876 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
21880 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
21881 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21884 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
21885 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21888 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
21892 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21895 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
21898 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21904 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21906 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21910 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21917 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21920 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21921 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21924 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21925 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21929 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21930 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21933 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21936 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21937 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21940 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21944 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21945 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21949 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21950 Server Internals}).
21953 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21957 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21960 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21961 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21964 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21965 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21966 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21969 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21970 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21973 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21974 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21977 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
21981 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21982 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21985 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21986 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21989 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21993 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21996 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
22000 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
22001 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22004 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
22005 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
22008 A new command for reading collections of documents
22009 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
22010 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
22013 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
22017 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
22018 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
22021 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
22022 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
22023 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
22026 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
22027 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
22031 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
22035 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
22039 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
22044 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
22048 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
22052 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
22053 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
22056 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
22062 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
22064 New features in Gnus 5.6:
22069 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
22070 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
22071 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
22074 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
22075 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
22076 group, which is created automatically.
22079 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
22083 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
22086 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
22087 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
22090 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
22094 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
22097 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
22098 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
22101 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
22104 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
22105 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
22108 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
22109 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
22112 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
22113 control over simplification.
22116 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
22119 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
22123 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
22126 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
22129 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
22130 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
22131 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
22134 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
22135 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
22138 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
22142 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
22143 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
22146 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
22147 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
22150 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
22154 A history of where mails have been split is available.
22157 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
22160 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
22161 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
22164 A new function for citing in Message has been
22165 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
22168 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
22171 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
22175 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
22176 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
22179 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
22180 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
22183 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
22186 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
22190 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
22191 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
22193 New features in Gnus 5.8:
22198 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
22199 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
22201 If you used procmail like in
22204 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
22205 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
22206 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
22207 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
22210 this now has changed to
22214 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
22218 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
22219 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
22222 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
22223 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
22226 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
22227 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
22230 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
22231 called to position point.
22234 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
22235 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
22238 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
22239 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
22242 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
22243 subtly different manner.
22246 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
22247 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
22248 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
22251 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
22259 @section The Manual
22263 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
22264 either @code{texi2dvi}
22266 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
22267 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
22269 to get what you hold in your hands now.
22271 The following conventions have been used:
22276 This is a @samp{string}
22279 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
22282 This is a @file{file}
22285 This is a @code{symbol}
22289 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
22293 (setq flargnoze "yes")
22296 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
22299 (setq flumphel 'yes)
22302 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
22303 ever get them confused.
22307 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
22308 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
22309 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
22310 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
22311 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
22312 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
22313 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
22319 @node On Writing Manuals
22320 @section On Writing Manuals
22322 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
22323 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
22324 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
22325 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
22326 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
22327 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
22330 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
22331 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
22332 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
22335 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
22336 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
22341 @section Terminology
22343 @cindex terminology
22348 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
22349 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
22350 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
22351 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
22352 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
22356 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
22357 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
22358 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
22359 not posting, and replying is not following up.
22363 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
22367 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
22372 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
22373 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
22374 is all done by the back ends.
22378 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
22379 default, way of getting news.
22383 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
22384 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
22389 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
22390 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
22394 A message that has been posted as news.
22397 @cindex mail message
22398 A message that has been mailed.
22402 A mail message or news article
22406 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
22411 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
22416 A line from the head of an article.
22420 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
22421 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
22425 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
22426 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
22427 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
22428 normal @sc{head} format.
22432 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
22433 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
22434 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
22435 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
22436 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
22437 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
22439 @item killed groups
22440 @cindex killed groups
22441 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
22442 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
22444 @item zombie groups
22445 @cindex zombie groups
22446 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
22449 @cindex active file
22450 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
22451 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
22452 is rather large, as you might surmise.
22455 @cindex bogus groups
22456 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
22457 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
22458 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
22461 @cindex activating groups
22462 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
22463 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
22464 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
22468 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
22470 @item select method
22471 @cindex select method
22472 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
22475 @item virtual server
22476 @cindex virtual server
22477 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
22478 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
22479 whole is a virtual server.
22483 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
22484 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
22487 @item ephemeral groups
22488 @cindex ephemeral groups
22489 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
22490 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
22491 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
22494 @cindex solid groups
22495 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
22496 group buffer are solid groups.
22498 @item sparse articles
22499 @cindex sparse articles
22500 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
22501 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
22505 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
22506 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
22510 @cindex thread root
22511 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
22512 articles in the thread.
22516 An article that has responses.
22520 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
22524 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
22525 specified by RFC 1153.
22531 @node Customization
22532 @section Customization
22533 @cindex general customization
22535 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
22536 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
22537 for some quite common situations.
22540 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
22541 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
22542 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
22543 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
22547 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
22548 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
22550 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
22551 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
22552 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
22556 @item gnus-read-active-file
22557 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
22558 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
22559 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22560 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
22561 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
22563 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
22564 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
22565 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
22566 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
22570 @node Slow Terminal Connection
22571 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
22573 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
22574 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
22575 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
22579 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
22580 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
22581 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
22582 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
22583 horizontal and vertical recentering.
22585 @item gnus-visible-headers
22586 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
22587 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
22588 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
22589 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
22591 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
22593 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
22594 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
22595 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
22598 @item gnus-use-full-window
22599 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
22600 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
22601 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
22602 want to read them anyway.
22604 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22605 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
22609 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
22610 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
22611 lines, which might save some time.
22615 @node Little Disk Space
22616 @subsection Little Disk Space
22619 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
22620 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
22624 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
22625 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
22626 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22627 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22630 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
22631 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
22632 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22633 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22636 @item gnus-save-killed-list
22637 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
22638 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
22639 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
22640 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
22646 @subsection Slow Machine
22647 @cindex slow machine
22649 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
22650 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
22652 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22653 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
22655 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
22656 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
22657 summary buffer faster.
22661 @node Troubleshooting
22662 @section Troubleshooting
22663 @cindex troubleshooting
22665 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
22673 Make sure your computer is switched on.
22676 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
22677 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
22681 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
22682 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
22683 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
22684 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
22685 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
22688 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
22692 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
22693 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
22694 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
22695 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
22696 something like that.
22699 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
22702 @cindex reporting bugs
22704 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22706 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
22707 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
22708 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
22709 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
22711 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
22712 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
22713 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
22714 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
22717 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
22718 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
22719 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
22720 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
22721 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
22722 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
22724 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
22725 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
22726 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
22730 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
22731 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
22733 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
22734 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
22736 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
22737 @cindex ding mailing list
22738 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
22739 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
22743 @node Gnus Reference Guide
22744 @section Gnus Reference Guide
22746 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
22747 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
22748 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
22749 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
22752 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
22753 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
22754 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
22755 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
22756 and general methods of operation.
22759 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
22760 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
22761 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
22762 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
22763 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
22764 * Group Info:: The group info format.
22765 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
22766 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
22767 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
22771 @node Gnus Utility Functions
22772 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
22773 @cindex Gnus utility functions
22774 @cindex utility functions
22776 @cindex internal variables
22778 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
22779 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
22780 Below is a list of the most common ones.
22784 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
22785 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
22786 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
22788 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
22789 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
22790 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
22792 @item gnus-group-real-name
22793 @findex gnus-group-real-name
22794 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
22797 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
22798 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
22799 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
22800 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
22802 @item gnus-get-info
22803 @findex gnus-get-info
22804 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
22806 @item gnus-group-unread
22807 @findex gnus-group-unread
22808 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
22812 @findex gnus-active
22813 The active entry for @var{group}.
22815 @item gnus-set-active
22816 @findex gnus-set-active
22817 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
22819 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22820 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22821 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
22824 @item gnus-continuum-version
22825 @findex gnus-continuum-version
22826 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
22827 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
22830 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
22831 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
22832 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
22834 @item gnus-news-group-p
22835 @findex gnus-news-group-p
22836 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
22838 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22839 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22840 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
22842 @item gnus-server-to-method
22843 @findex gnus-server-to-method
22844 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
22846 @item gnus-server-equal
22847 @findex gnus-server-equal
22848 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
22850 @item gnus-group-native-p
22851 @findex gnus-group-native-p
22852 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
22854 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
22855 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
22856 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
22858 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
22859 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
22860 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
22862 @item group-group-find-parameter
22863 @findex group-group-find-parameter
22864 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
22865 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
22867 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
22868 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
22869 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
22871 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
22872 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
22873 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
22875 @item gnus-check-backend-function
22876 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
22877 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
22878 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
22881 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
22885 @item gnus-read-method
22886 @findex gnus-read-method
22887 Prompts the user for a select method.
22892 @node Back End Interface
22893 @subsection Back End Interface
22895 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
22896 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
22897 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
22898 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
22899 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
22900 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22902 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22903 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22904 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22905 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22906 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22907 been opened, the function should fail.
22909 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22910 name. Take this example:
22914 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22915 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22918 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22919 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22921 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22922 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22923 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22925 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22926 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22927 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22929 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22930 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22931 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22932 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22933 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22934 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22937 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22938 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22939 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22940 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22943 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22944 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22945 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22946 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22947 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22948 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22949 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22950 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22951 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22952 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22954 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22955 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22956 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22957 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22958 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22959 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22960 of numbers as long as possible.
22962 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22965 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22968 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22969 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22970 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22971 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22972 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22973 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22977 @node Required Back End Functions
22978 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22982 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22984 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22985 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22986 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22987 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22989 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
22990 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22991 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22992 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22994 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22995 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22996 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22997 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22998 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22999 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
23000 number, do maximum fetches.
23002 Here's an example HEAD:
23005 221 1056 Article retrieved.
23006 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
23007 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
23008 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
23009 Subject: Re: Something very droll
23010 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
23011 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
23013 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
23014 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
23015 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
23019 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
23020 these in the data buffer.
23022 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
23026 head = error / valid-head
23027 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
23028 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
23029 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
23030 header = <text> eol
23033 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
23034 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
23038 nov-buffer = *nov-line
23039 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
23040 field = <text except TAB>
23043 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
23047 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
23049 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
23050 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
23052 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
23053 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
23054 server. In fact, it should do so.
23056 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
23057 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
23060 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
23062 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
23063 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
23066 There should be no data returned.
23069 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
23071 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
23072 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
23073 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
23074 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
23076 There should be no data returned.
23079 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
23081 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
23082 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
23083 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
23084 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
23086 There should be no data returned.
23089 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
23091 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
23093 There should be no data returned.
23096 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
23098 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
23099 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
23100 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
23101 it would be nice if that were possible.
23103 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
23104 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
23105 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
23106 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
23107 into its article buffer.
23109 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
23110 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
23111 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
23112 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
23113 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
23114 on successful article retrieval.
23117 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
23119 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
23120 making @var{group} the current group.
23122 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
23125 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
23128 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
23131 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
23132 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
23133 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
23134 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
23135 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
23136 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
23137 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
23138 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
23139 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
23143 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
23144 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
23145 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
23149 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23151 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
23152 a no-op on most back ends.
23154 There should be no data returned.
23157 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
23159 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
23162 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
23165 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
23166 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
23169 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
23170 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
23171 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
23172 and the highest as 0.
23175 active-file = *active-line
23176 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
23178 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
23181 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
23182 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
23183 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
23186 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
23188 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
23189 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
23190 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
23191 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
23192 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
23193 clear if the posting could not be completed.
23195 There should be no result data from this function.
23200 @node Optional Back End Functions
23201 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
23205 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
23207 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
23208 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
23209 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
23211 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
23212 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
23213 former is in the same format as the data from
23214 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
23215 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
23218 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
23222 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
23224 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
23225 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
23226 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
23227 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
23228 should return the (altered) group info.
23230 There should be no result data from this function.
23233 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
23235 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
23236 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
23237 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
23238 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
23239 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
23240 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
23241 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
23242 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
23244 There should be no result data from this function.
23247 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
23249 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
23250 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
23251 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
23252 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
23253 propagate the mark information to the server.
23255 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
23258 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
23261 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
23262 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
23263 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
23264 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
23265 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
23266 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
23267 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
23268 possible, not limit itself to these.
23270 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
23271 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
23272 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
23273 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
23275 An example action list:
23278 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
23279 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
23280 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
23283 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
23284 mark on (currently not used for anything).
23286 There should be no result data from this function.
23288 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
23290 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
23291 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
23292 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
23293 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
23294 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
23296 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
23297 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
23298 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
23301 There should be no result data from this function.
23304 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
23306 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
23307 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
23308 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
23309 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
23310 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
23311 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
23312 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
23314 There should be no result data from this function.
23317 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
23319 The result data from this function should be a description of
23323 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
23325 description = <text>
23328 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
23330 The result data from this function should be the description of all
23331 groups available on the server.
23334 description-buffer = *description-line
23338 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
23340 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
23341 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
23342 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
23343 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
23344 in the active buffer format.
23346 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
23347 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
23348 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
23349 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
23350 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
23351 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
23352 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
23355 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23357 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
23359 There should be no return data.
23362 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
23364 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
23365 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
23366 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
23367 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
23368 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
23371 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
23374 There should be no result data returned.
23377 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
23380 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
23381 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
23383 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
23384 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
23385 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
23386 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
23387 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
23388 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
23390 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
23391 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
23394 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23395 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23397 There should be no data returned.
23400 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
23402 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
23403 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
23404 this function in short order.
23406 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23407 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23409 There should be no data returned.
23412 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
23414 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
23415 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
23417 There should be no data returned.
23420 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
23422 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
23423 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
23424 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
23426 There should be no data returned.
23429 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
23431 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
23432 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
23434 There should be no data returned.
23439 @node Error Messaging
23440 @subsubsection Error Messaging
23442 @findex nnheader-report
23443 @findex nnheader-get-report
23444 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
23445 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
23446 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
23447 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
23448 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
23449 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
23452 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
23454 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
23457 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
23458 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
23459 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
23460 takes one argument---the server symbol.
23462 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
23463 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
23464 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
23467 @node Writing New Back Ends
23468 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
23470 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
23471 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
23472 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
23473 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
23474 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
23477 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
23478 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
23479 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
23481 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
23482 package called @code{nnoo}.
23484 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
23485 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
23491 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
23492 parameters. For instance:
23495 (nnoo-declare nndir
23499 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
23500 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
23503 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
23504 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
23505 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
23507 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
23508 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
23509 a function in those back ends.
23512 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23513 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23514 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23517 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
23518 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
23519 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
23521 @item nnoo-define-basics
23522 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
23526 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23530 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
23531 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
23532 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
23534 @item nnoo-map-functions
23535 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
23536 functions from the parent back ends.
23539 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23540 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23541 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
23544 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
23545 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
23546 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
23547 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
23550 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
23551 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
23552 haven't already been defined.
23558 nnmh-request-newgroups)
23562 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
23563 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
23564 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
23569 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
23572 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
23573 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23577 (require 'nnheader)
23581 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
23583 (nnoo-declare nndir
23586 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23587 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23588 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23590 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
23591 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
23594 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
23596 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
23597 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
23598 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
23600 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
23601 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
23603 ;;; Interface functions.
23605 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23607 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
23608 (setq nndir-directory
23609 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
23611 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
23612 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
23613 (push `(nndir-current-group
23614 ,(file-name-nondirectory
23615 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23617 (push `(nndir-top-directory
23618 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23620 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
23622 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23623 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23624 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23625 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
23626 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
23630 nnmh-status-message
23632 nnmh-request-newgroups))
23638 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23639 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23641 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
23642 @findex gnus-declare-backend
23643 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
23644 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
23645 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
23647 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
23648 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
23653 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
23656 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
23658 The abilities can be:
23662 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
23664 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
23666 This back end supports both mail and news.
23668 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
23671 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
23672 articles and groups.
23674 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
23675 true for almost all back ends.
23676 @item prompt-address
23677 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
23678 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
23679 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
23683 @node Mail-like Back Ends
23684 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
23686 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
23687 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
23688 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
23689 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
23692 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
23693 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
23694 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
23697 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
23698 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
23701 This function takes four parameters.
23705 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
23708 @item exit-function
23709 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
23711 @item temp-directory
23712 Where the temporary files should be stored.
23715 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
23716 performed for one group only.
23719 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
23720 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
23721 find the article number assigned to this article.
23723 The function also uses the following variables:
23724 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
23725 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
23726 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
23727 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
23731 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
23732 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
23736 @node Score File Syntax
23737 @subsection Score File Syntax
23739 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
23740 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
23741 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
23743 Here's a typical score file:
23747 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
23754 BNF definition of a score file:
23757 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
23758 element = rule / atom
23759 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
23760 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
23761 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
23762 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
23764 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
23765 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
23766 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
23767 date-header = "date"
23768 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23769 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23770 score = "nil" / <integer>
23771 date = "nil" / <natural number>
23772 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
23773 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
23774 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
23775 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
23776 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23777 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23778 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
23779 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23780 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
23781 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
23782 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
23783 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
23784 exclude-files / read-only / touched
23785 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
23786 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
23787 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
23788 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
23789 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
23790 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
23791 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
23792 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
23793 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
23794 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
23795 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
23796 eval = "eval" space <form>
23797 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
23800 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
23803 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
23804 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
23805 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
23806 one looong line, then that's ok.
23808 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
23809 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23813 @subsection Headers
23815 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
23816 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
23817 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
23818 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
23820 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
23821 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
23822 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
23823 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
23824 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
23825 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
23826 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
23828 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
23829 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
23830 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
23831 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
23832 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
23834 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
23835 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
23841 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
23842 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
23844 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
23845 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
23846 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
23847 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
23849 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
23853 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
23856 is transformed into
23859 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
23862 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
23863 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
23866 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
23869 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
23870 is slightly tricky:
23873 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
23879 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
23882 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
23888 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
23895 and is equal to the previous range.
23897 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
23898 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
23899 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
23903 range = simple-range / normal-range
23904 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23905 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23906 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23907 number *[ " " contents ]
23910 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23911 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23912 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23913 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23914 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23919 @subsection Group Info
23921 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23922 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23923 describes the group.
23925 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23926 second is a more complex one:
23929 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23931 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23932 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23934 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23937 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23938 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23939 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23940 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23941 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23942 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23943 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23944 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23945 this section is about.
23947 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23948 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23949 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23951 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23954 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23955 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23956 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23957 group = quote <string> quote
23958 ralevel = rank / level
23959 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23960 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23961 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23963 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23964 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23965 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23966 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23969 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23970 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23973 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23974 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23977 @item gnus-info-group
23978 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23979 @findex gnus-info-group
23980 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23981 Get/set the group name.
23983 @item gnus-info-rank
23984 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23985 @findex gnus-info-rank
23986 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23987 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23989 @item gnus-info-level
23990 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23991 @findex gnus-info-level
23992 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23993 Get/set the group level.
23995 @item gnus-info-score
23996 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23997 @findex gnus-info-score
23998 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23999 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
24001 @item gnus-info-read
24002 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
24003 @findex gnus-info-read
24004 @findex gnus-info-set-read
24005 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
24007 @item gnus-info-marks
24008 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
24009 @findex gnus-info-marks
24010 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
24011 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
24013 @item gnus-info-method
24014 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
24015 @findex gnus-info-method
24016 @findex gnus-info-set-method
24017 Get/set the group select method.
24019 @item gnus-info-params
24020 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
24021 @findex gnus-info-params
24022 @findex gnus-info-set-params
24023 Get/set the group parameters.
24026 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
24027 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
24029 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
24030 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
24031 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
24032 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
24035 @node Extended Interactive
24036 @subsection Extended Interactive
24037 @cindex interactive
24038 @findex gnus-interactive
24040 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
24041 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
24042 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
24045 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
24046 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
24051 The best thing to do would have been to implement
24052 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
24053 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
24054 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
24055 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
24056 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
24057 @code{interactive}.
24059 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
24064 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
24065 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
24069 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
24070 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
24071 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
24074 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
24078 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
24082 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
24088 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
24089 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
24093 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
24094 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
24095 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
24097 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
24098 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
24099 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
24100 Gnus, that's very useful.
24102 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
24103 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
24104 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
24105 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
24106 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
24107 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
24108 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
24109 following function:
24112 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
24116 (,function ,@@args))
24120 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
24121 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
24122 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
24125 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
24126 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
24127 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
24129 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
24130 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
24131 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
24134 @node Various File Formats
24135 @subsection Various File Formats
24138 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
24139 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
24143 @node Active File Format
24144 @subsubsection Active File Format
24146 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
24147 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
24150 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
24153 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
24154 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
24155 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
24156 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
24157 no.general 1000 900 y
24160 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
24163 active = *group-line
24164 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
24165 group = <non-white-space string>
24167 high-number = <non-negative integer>
24168 low-number = <positive integer>
24169 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
24172 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
24173 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
24176 @node Newsgroups File Format
24177 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
24179 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
24180 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
24181 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
24184 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
24185 Here's the definition:
24189 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
24190 group = <non-white-space string>
24192 description = <string>
24197 @node Emacs for Heathens
24198 @section Emacs for Heathens
24200 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
24201 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
24202 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
24203 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
24204 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
24205 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
24206 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
24210 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
24211 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
24216 @subsection Keystrokes
24220 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
24223 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
24226 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
24227 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
24228 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
24229 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
24230 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
24231 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
24233 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
24234 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
24235 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
24236 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
24237 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
24238 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
24239 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
24241 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
24242 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
24243 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
24244 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
24245 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
24246 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
24247 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
24249 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
24250 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
24251 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
24252 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
24253 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
24259 @subsection Emacs Lisp
24261 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
24262 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
24263 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
24264 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
24266 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
24267 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
24268 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
24269 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
24270 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
24271 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
24272 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
24275 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
24276 write the following:
24279 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
24282 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
24283 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
24284 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
24287 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
24288 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
24289 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
24290 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
24291 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
24293 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
24294 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
24295 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
24299 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
24303 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
24306 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
24307 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
24310 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
24313 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
24314 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
24317 @include gnus-faq.texi
24337 @c Local Variables:
24339 @c coding: iso-8859-1
24341 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
24342 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
24343 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
24344 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
24345 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref