4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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284 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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293 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
295 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
299 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
300 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
301 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
302 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
303 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
304 License'' in the Emacs manual.
306 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
307 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
308 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
310 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
311 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
312 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
313 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
321 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
323 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
324 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
326 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
327 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
328 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
329 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
330 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
331 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
332 License'' in the Emacs manual.
334 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
335 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
336 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
338 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
339 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
340 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
341 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
347 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
349 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
352 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
353 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
355 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
357 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
358 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
359 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
360 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
361 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
362 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
363 License'' in the Emacs manual.
365 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
366 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
367 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
369 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
370 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
371 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
372 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
381 @top The gnus Newsreader
385 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
386 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
387 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
390 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
391 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
392 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
393 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
394 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
395 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
397 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
408 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
409 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
411 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
412 being accused of plagiarism:
414 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
415 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
416 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
417 can even read news with it!
419 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
420 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
421 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
422 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
423 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
429 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
430 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
431 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
432 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
433 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
434 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
435 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
436 * Various:: General purpose settings.
437 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
438 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
439 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
440 * Key Index:: Key Index.
442 Other related manuals
444 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
445 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
446 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
447 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
450 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
454 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
455 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
456 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
457 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
458 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
459 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
460 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
461 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
462 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
463 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
464 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
468 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
469 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
470 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
474 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
475 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
476 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
477 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
478 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
479 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
480 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
481 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
482 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
483 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
484 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
485 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
486 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
487 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
488 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
489 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
490 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
494 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
495 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
496 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
500 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
501 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
502 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
503 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
504 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
508 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
509 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
510 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
511 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
512 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
516 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
517 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
518 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
519 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
520 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
521 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
522 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
523 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
524 * Threading:: How threads are made.
525 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
526 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
527 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
528 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
529 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
530 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
531 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
532 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
533 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
534 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
535 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
536 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
537 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
538 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
539 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
540 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
541 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
542 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
543 or reselecting the current group.
544 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
545 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
546 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
547 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
549 Summary Buffer Format
551 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
552 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
553 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
554 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
558 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
559 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
561 Reply, Followup and Post
563 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
564 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
565 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
566 * Canceling and Superseding::
570 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
571 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
572 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
574 * Generic Marking Commands::
575 * Setting Process Marks::
579 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
580 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
581 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
585 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
586 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
588 Customizing Threading
590 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
591 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
592 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
593 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
597 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
598 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
599 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
600 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
601 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
602 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
606 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
607 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
608 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
612 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
613 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
614 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
615 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
616 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
617 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
618 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
619 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
620 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
621 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
623 Alternative Approaches
625 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
626 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
628 Various Summary Stuff
630 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
631 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
632 * Summary Generation Commands::
633 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
637 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
638 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
639 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
640 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
641 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
645 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
646 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
647 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
648 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
649 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
650 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
651 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
652 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
656 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
657 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
658 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
659 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
660 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
661 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
662 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
663 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
667 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
668 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
669 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
670 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
671 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
672 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
673 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
677 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
678 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
682 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
683 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
684 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
688 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
689 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
690 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
691 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
692 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
693 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
694 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
695 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
696 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
697 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
698 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
699 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
700 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
704 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
705 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
706 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
708 Choosing a Mail Back End
710 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
711 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
712 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
713 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
714 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
715 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
720 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
721 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
722 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
723 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
724 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
725 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
729 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
730 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
731 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
732 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
733 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
737 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
738 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
739 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
740 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
741 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
745 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
749 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
750 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
751 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
755 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
756 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
760 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
761 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
762 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
763 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
764 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
765 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
766 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
767 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
768 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
769 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
770 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
771 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
775 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
776 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
777 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
781 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
782 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
783 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
787 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
788 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
789 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
790 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
791 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
792 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
793 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
794 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
795 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
796 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
797 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
798 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
799 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
800 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
801 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
802 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
803 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
807 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
808 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
809 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
810 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
814 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
815 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
816 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
820 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
821 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
822 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
823 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
824 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
825 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
826 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
827 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
828 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
829 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
830 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
831 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
832 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
833 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
834 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
835 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
836 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
837 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
838 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
842 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
843 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
844 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
845 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
846 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
847 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
848 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
849 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
853 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
854 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
855 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
856 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
860 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
861 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
862 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
863 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
864 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
865 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
869 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
870 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
871 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
872 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
873 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
874 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
875 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
876 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
877 * Frequently Asked Questions::
881 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
882 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
883 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
884 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
885 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
886 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
887 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
888 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
889 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
893 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
894 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
895 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
896 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
897 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
901 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
902 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
903 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
904 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
908 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
909 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
910 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
911 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
912 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
913 * Group Info:: The group info format.
914 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
915 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
916 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
920 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
921 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
922 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
923 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
924 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
925 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
929 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
930 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
934 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
935 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
941 @chapter Starting gnus
946 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
947 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
950 @findex gnus-other-frame
951 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
952 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
953 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
955 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
956 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
957 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
959 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
960 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
963 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
964 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
965 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
966 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
967 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
968 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
969 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
970 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
971 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
972 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
973 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
977 @node Finding the News
978 @section Finding the News
981 @vindex gnus-select-method
983 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
984 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
985 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
986 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
989 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
990 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
993 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
996 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1002 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1003 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1004 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1006 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1008 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1009 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1010 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1011 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1012 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1013 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1015 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1016 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1017 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1018 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1020 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1021 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1022 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1023 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1024 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1025 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1026 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1027 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1028 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1031 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1033 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1034 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1035 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1036 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1037 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1038 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1040 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1042 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1043 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1044 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1045 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1046 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1047 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1050 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1051 you would typically set this variable to
1054 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1058 @node The First Time
1059 @section The First Time
1060 @cindex first time usage
1062 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1063 be subscribed by default.
1065 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1066 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1067 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1068 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1071 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1072 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1073 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1075 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1076 help you with most common problems.
1078 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1079 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1083 @node The Server is Down
1084 @section The Server is Down
1085 @cindex server errors
1087 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1088 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1089 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1091 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1092 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1093 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1094 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1095 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1096 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1097 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1099 @findex gnus-no-server
1100 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1102 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1103 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1104 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1105 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1106 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1107 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1108 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1112 @section Slave Gnusae
1115 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1116 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1117 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1118 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1120 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1121 @file{.newsrc} file.
1123 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1124 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1125 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1126 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1127 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1128 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1129 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1132 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1133 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1134 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1135 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1136 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1137 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1138 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1139 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1141 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1142 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1144 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1145 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1146 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1147 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1148 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1150 @node Fetching a Group
1151 @section Fetching a Group
1152 @cindex fetching a group
1154 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1155 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1156 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1157 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1158 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1159 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1165 @cindex subscription
1167 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1168 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1169 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1170 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1171 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1172 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1173 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1174 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1175 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1178 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1179 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1180 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1184 @node Checking New Groups
1185 @subsection Checking New Groups
1187 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1188 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1189 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1190 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1191 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1192 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1193 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1194 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1195 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1196 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1198 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1199 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1200 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1201 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1202 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1203 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1204 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1205 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1206 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1207 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1208 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1210 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1211 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1212 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1213 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1214 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1215 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1218 @node Subscription Methods
1219 @subsection Subscription Methods
1221 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1222 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1223 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1225 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1226 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1228 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1232 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1234 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1235 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1236 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1240 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1241 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1245 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1247 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1248 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1249 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1250 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1251 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1252 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1253 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1254 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1255 up. Or something like that.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1259 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1260 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1261 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1263 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1265 Kill all new groups.
1267 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1268 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1269 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1270 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1271 topic parameter that looks like
1277 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1280 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1285 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1286 A closely related variable is
1287 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1288 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1289 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1290 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1293 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1294 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1295 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1296 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1299 @node Filtering New Groups
1300 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1302 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1303 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1304 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1307 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1310 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1311 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1312 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1313 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1314 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1315 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1316 subscribing these groups.
1317 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1318 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1320 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1321 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1322 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1323 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1324 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1325 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1326 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1327 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1329 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1330 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1331 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1332 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1333 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1334 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1335 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1336 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1337 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1338 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1341 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1342 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1345 @node Changing Servers
1346 @section Changing Servers
1347 @cindex changing servers
1349 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1350 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1351 very flaky and you want to use another.
1353 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1354 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1358 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1359 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1360 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1361 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1364 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1365 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1366 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1367 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1369 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1370 @findex gnus-change-server
1371 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1372 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1373 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1374 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1375 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1377 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1378 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1379 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1380 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1381 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1383 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1384 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1385 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1386 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1387 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1388 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1390 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1391 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1392 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1393 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1395 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1396 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1397 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1398 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1399 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1400 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1401 cache for all groups).
1405 @section Startup Files
1406 @cindex startup files
1411 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1412 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1414 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1415 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1416 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1417 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1418 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1419 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1420 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1422 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1423 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1424 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1425 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1426 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1427 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1429 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1430 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1431 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1432 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1433 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1434 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1435 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1436 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1437 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1438 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1440 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1441 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1442 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1443 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1444 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1445 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1446 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1447 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1448 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1449 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1450 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1451 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1453 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1454 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1455 @vindex version-control
1456 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1457 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1458 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1459 If you want version control for this file, set
1460 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1461 @code{version-control} variable.
1463 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1464 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1465 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1466 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1467 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1468 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1469 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1470 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1471 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1472 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1475 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1476 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1478 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1479 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1482 @vindex gnus-init-file
1483 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1484 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1485 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1486 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1487 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1488 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1489 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1490 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1491 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1492 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1498 @cindex dribble file
1501 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1502 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1503 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1504 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1505 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1508 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1509 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1512 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1513 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1514 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1516 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1517 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1518 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1519 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1520 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1521 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1523 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1525 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1528 @node The Active File
1529 @section The Active File
1531 @cindex ignored groups
1533 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1534 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1535 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1537 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1538 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1539 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1540 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1541 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1542 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1543 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1546 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1547 @c if you set it to anything else.
1549 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1551 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1552 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1553 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1555 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1556 you actually subscribe to.
1558 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1559 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1560 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1561 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1563 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1564 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1565 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1566 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1567 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1568 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1570 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1571 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1572 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1575 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1576 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1577 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1578 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1579 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1580 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1582 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1583 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1585 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1586 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1588 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1589 secondary select methods.
1592 @node Startup Variables
1593 @section Startup Variables
1597 @item gnus-load-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1599 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1600 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1601 times you start gnus.
1603 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1607 @item gnus-startup-hook
1608 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1609 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1611 @item gnus-started-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1613 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1616 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1619 generating the group buffer.
1621 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1624 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1625 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1626 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1627 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1628 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1630 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1633 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1634 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1635 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1637 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1638 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1639 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1641 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1645 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1646 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1647 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1648 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1654 @chapter Group Buffer
1655 @cindex group buffer
1657 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1659 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1660 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1661 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1662 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1663 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1664 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1665 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1666 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1667 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1668 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1669 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1670 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1671 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1672 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1673 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1674 @c human rights at 9...
1677 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1678 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1679 long as gnus is active.
1683 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1684 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1685 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1686 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1687 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1688 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1689 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1690 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1696 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1697 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1698 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1699 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1700 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1701 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1702 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1703 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1704 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1705 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1706 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1707 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1708 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1709 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1710 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1711 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1712 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1716 @node Group Buffer Format
1717 @section Group Buffer Format
1720 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1721 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1722 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1726 @node Group Line Specification
1727 @subsection Group Line Specification
1728 @cindex group buffer format
1730 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1731 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1733 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1736 25: news.announce.newusers
1737 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1742 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1743 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1744 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1745 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1747 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1748 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1749 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1750 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1751 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1752 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1754 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1756 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1757 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1758 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1759 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1760 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1762 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1763 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1764 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1766 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1771 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1774 Whether the group is subscribed.
1777 Level of subscribedness.
1780 Number of unread articles.
1783 Number of dormant articles.
1786 Number of ticked articles.
1789 Number of read articles.
1792 Number of unseen articles.
1795 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1796 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1798 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1799 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1800 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1801 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1802 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1803 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1804 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1805 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1808 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1811 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1820 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1821 comment element in the group parameters.
1824 Newsgroup description.
1827 @samp{m} if moderated.
1830 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1836 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1842 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1846 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1849 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1850 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1851 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1852 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1853 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1856 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1858 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1862 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1865 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1869 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1870 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1871 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1872 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1873 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1874 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1879 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1880 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1881 group, or a bogus native group.
1884 @node Group Modeline Specification
1885 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1886 @cindex group modeline
1888 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1889 The mode line can be changed by setting
1890 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1891 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1895 The native news server.
1897 The native select method.
1901 @node Group Highlighting
1902 @subsection Group Highlighting
1903 @cindex highlighting
1904 @cindex group highlighting
1906 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1907 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1908 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1909 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1910 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1912 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1916 (cond (window-system
1917 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1918 (defface my-group-face-1
1919 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1920 (defface my-group-face-2
1921 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1922 (defface my-group-face-3
1923 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-4
1925 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1926 (defface my-group-face-5
1927 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1929 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1930 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1931 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1932 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1933 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1934 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1937 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1939 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1946 The number of unread articles in the group.
1950 Whether the group is a mail group.
1952 The level of the group.
1954 The score of the group.
1956 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1958 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1959 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1961 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1962 topic being inserted.
1965 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1966 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1967 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1969 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1970 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1971 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1972 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1973 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1976 @node Group Maneuvering
1977 @section Group Maneuvering
1978 @cindex group movement
1980 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1981 expected, hopefully.
1987 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1988 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1989 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1996 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1997 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2002 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2006 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2007 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2012 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2013 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2017 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2018 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2019 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2022 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2028 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2029 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2030 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2035 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2036 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2037 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2041 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2042 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2043 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2046 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2047 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2048 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2049 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2053 @node Selecting a Group
2054 @section Selecting a Group
2055 @cindex group selection
2060 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2061 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2062 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2063 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2064 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2065 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2066 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2067 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2068 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2069 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2071 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2072 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2073 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2075 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2076 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2081 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2082 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2083 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2084 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2085 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2089 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2090 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2091 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2092 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2093 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2094 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2095 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2096 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2097 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2098 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2101 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2102 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2103 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2104 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2105 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2108 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2109 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2110 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2111 doing any processing of its contents
2112 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2113 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2114 manner will have no permanent effects.
2118 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2119 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2120 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2121 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2122 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2123 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2124 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2125 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2128 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2129 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2130 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2131 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2132 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2133 Which article this is is controlled by the
2134 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2140 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2143 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2146 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2148 @item unseen-or-unread
2149 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2150 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2154 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2158 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2159 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2161 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2162 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2163 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2164 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2168 @node Subscription Commands
2169 @section Subscription Commands
2170 @cindex subscription
2178 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2179 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2180 Toggle subscription to the current group
2181 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2187 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2188 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2189 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2190 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2196 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2197 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2198 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2204 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2205 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2208 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2209 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2210 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2211 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2212 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2218 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2219 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2223 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2224 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2227 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2228 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2229 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2230 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2231 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2232 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2233 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2234 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2235 @file{.newsrc} file.
2239 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2249 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2250 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2251 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2252 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2253 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2254 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2259 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2260 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2261 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2265 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2266 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2267 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2269 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2270 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2271 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2272 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2273 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2274 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2281 @section Group Levels
2285 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2286 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2287 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2288 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2289 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2291 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2297 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2298 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2299 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2300 prompted for a level.
2303 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2304 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2305 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2306 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2307 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2308 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2309 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2310 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2311 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2312 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2313 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2314 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2315 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2316 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2317 reasons of efficiency.
2319 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2320 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2322 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2323 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2324 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2325 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2326 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2327 groups are hidden, in a way.
2329 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2330 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2331 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2332 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2333 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2334 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2336 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2337 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2338 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2339 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2340 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2341 list of killed groups.)
2343 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2344 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2345 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2347 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2348 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2349 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2350 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2351 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2352 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2353 relevant valid ranges.
2355 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2356 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2357 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2358 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2359 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2360 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2363 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2364 one with the best level.
2366 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2367 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2368 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2371 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2372 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2373 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2374 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2377 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2378 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2379 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2380 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2382 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2383 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2384 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2385 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2386 to 5. The default is 6.
2390 @section Group Score
2395 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2396 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2397 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2400 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2401 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2402 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2403 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2404 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2405 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2406 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2407 least significant part.))
2409 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2410 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2411 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2412 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2413 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2414 action after each summary exit, you can add
2415 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2416 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2417 slow things down somewhat.
2420 @node Marking Groups
2421 @section Marking Groups
2422 @cindex marking groups
2424 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2425 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2426 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2427 bidding on those groups.
2429 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2430 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2431 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2439 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2440 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2446 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2447 Remove the mark from the current group
2448 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2452 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2453 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2458 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2462 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2463 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2467 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2468 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2469 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2472 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2474 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2475 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2476 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2477 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2478 the command to be executed.
2481 @node Foreign Groups
2482 @section Foreign Groups
2483 @cindex foreign groups
2485 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2486 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2487 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2488 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2495 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2496 @cindex making groups
2497 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2498 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2499 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2503 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2504 @cindex renaming groups
2505 Rename the current group to something else
2506 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2507 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2513 @findex gnus-group-customize
2514 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2518 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2519 @cindex renaming groups
2520 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2521 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2525 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2526 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2527 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2531 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2532 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2533 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2537 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2539 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2540 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2546 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2550 @cindex (ding) archive
2551 @cindex archive group
2552 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2553 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2554 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2555 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2556 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2557 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2558 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2564 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2565 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2566 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2567 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2571 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2573 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2574 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2575 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2580 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2582 Make a group based on some file or other
2583 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2584 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2585 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2586 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2587 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2588 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2589 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2590 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2591 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2595 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2597 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2598 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2606 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2607 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2608 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2609 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2610 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2611 @xref{Web Searches}.
2613 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2614 to a particular group by using a match string like
2615 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2618 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2619 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2620 This function will delete the current group
2621 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2622 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2623 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2624 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2625 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2630 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2635 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2636 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2637 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2640 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2643 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2644 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2645 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2646 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2647 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2648 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2652 @node Group Parameters
2653 @section Group Parameters
2654 @cindex group parameters
2656 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2657 Here's an example group parameter list:
2660 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2664 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2665 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2666 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2667 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2669 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2670 is an alist of regexps and values.
2672 The following group parameters can be used:
2677 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2680 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2683 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2684 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2685 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2686 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2687 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2689 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2690 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2691 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2692 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2693 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2694 list address instead.
2696 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2700 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2703 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2706 It is totally ignored
2707 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2708 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2710 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2711 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2712 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2713 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2714 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2716 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2717 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2718 sending the message.
2720 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2721 @cindex Mail List Groups
2722 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2723 entering summary buffer.
2725 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2730 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2731 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2732 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2733 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2734 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2735 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2737 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2738 directly uses this group parameter.
2742 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2743 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2744 of whether it has any unread articles.
2746 @item broken-reply-to
2747 @cindex broken-reply-to
2748 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2749 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2750 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2751 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2752 broken behavior. So there!
2756 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2757 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2761 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2762 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2763 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2768 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2769 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2770 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2771 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2772 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2773 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2774 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2775 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2776 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2780 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2781 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2782 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2784 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2787 @cindex total-expire
2788 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2789 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2790 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2791 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2794 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2798 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2799 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2800 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2801 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2802 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2803 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2804 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2807 @cindex score file group parameter
2808 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2809 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2810 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2813 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2814 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2815 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2816 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2819 @cindex admin-address
2820 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2821 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2822 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2823 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2827 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2828 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2832 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2835 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2836 entering the group with C-u @var{integer}.
2839 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2843 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2845 Here are some examples:
2849 Display only unread articles.
2852 Display everything except expirable articles.
2854 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2855 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2859 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2860 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2861 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2862 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2863 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2867 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2868 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2869 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2873 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2874 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2875 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2879 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2880 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2881 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2883 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2885 @item ignored-charsets
2886 @cindex ignored-charset
2887 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2888 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2889 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2891 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2894 @cindex posting-style
2895 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2896 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2897 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2898 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2899 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2901 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2902 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2903 like this in the group parameters:
2908 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2909 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2914 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2915 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2919 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2920 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2921 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2922 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2923 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2927 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2928 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2929 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2930 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2932 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2933 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2934 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2935 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2938 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2939 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2943 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2946 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2947 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2948 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2949 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2950 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2951 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2952 @code{eval}ed there.
2954 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2955 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2956 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2957 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2958 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2959 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2960 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2961 parameters for the group.
2964 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2965 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2966 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2967 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2968 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2972 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2973 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2974 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2975 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2976 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2978 @vindex gnus-parameters
2979 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2980 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2984 (setq gnus-parameters
2986 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2987 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2988 (gnus-summary-line-format
2989 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2993 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2997 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3001 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3004 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3005 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3008 @node Listing Groups
3009 @section Listing Groups
3010 @cindex group listing
3012 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3020 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3021 List all groups that have unread articles
3022 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3023 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3024 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3025 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3032 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3033 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3034 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3035 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3036 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3037 unsubscribed groups).
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3042 List all unread groups on a specific level
3043 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3044 with no unread articles.
3048 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3049 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3050 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3051 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3056 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3057 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3061 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3062 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3063 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3067 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3068 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3072 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3073 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3074 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3075 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3076 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3077 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3078 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3079 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3083 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3084 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3085 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3089 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3090 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3091 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3095 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3096 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3100 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3101 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3105 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3106 List groups limited within the current selection
3107 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3111 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3112 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3116 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3117 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3121 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3122 @cindex visible group parameter
3123 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3124 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3125 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3126 get the same effect.
3128 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3129 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3130 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3131 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3132 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3135 @node Sorting Groups
3136 @section Sorting Groups
3137 @cindex sorting groups
3139 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3140 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3141 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3142 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3143 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3144 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3149 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3150 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3151 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3153 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3154 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3155 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3157 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3158 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3159 Sort by group level.
3161 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3162 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3163 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3165 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3166 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3167 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3168 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3170 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3171 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3172 Sort by number of unread articles.
3174 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3175 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3176 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3178 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3179 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3180 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3185 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3186 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3190 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3191 some sorting criteria:
3195 @kindex G S a (Group)
3196 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3197 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3198 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3201 @kindex G S u (Group)
3202 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3203 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3204 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3207 @kindex G S l (Group)
3208 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3209 Sort the group buffer by group level
3210 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3213 @kindex G S v (Group)
3214 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3215 Sort the group buffer by group score
3216 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3219 @kindex G S r (Group)
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3221 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3222 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3225 @kindex G S m (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3227 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3228 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3231 @kindex G S n (Group)
3232 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3233 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3234 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3238 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3239 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3241 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3242 commands will sort in reverse order.
3244 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3248 @kindex G P a (Group)
3249 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3250 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3251 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3254 @kindex G P u (Group)
3255 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3256 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3257 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3260 @kindex G P l (Group)
3261 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3262 Sort the groups by group level
3263 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3266 @kindex G P v (Group)
3267 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3268 Sort the groups by group score
3269 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3272 @kindex G P r (Group)
3273 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3274 Sort the groups by group rank
3275 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3278 @kindex G P m (Group)
3279 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3280 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3281 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3284 @kindex G P n (Group)
3285 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3286 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3287 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3290 @kindex G P s (Group)
3291 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3292 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3296 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3300 @node Group Maintenance
3301 @section Group Maintenance
3302 @cindex bogus groups
3307 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3308 Find bogus groups and delete them
3309 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3313 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3314 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3315 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3316 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3317 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3321 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3322 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3323 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3324 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3325 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3326 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3329 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3330 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3331 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3332 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3337 @node Browse Foreign Server
3338 @section Browse Foreign Server
3339 @cindex foreign servers
3340 @cindex browsing servers
3345 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3346 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3347 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3348 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3351 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3352 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3353 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3354 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3356 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3361 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3362 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3366 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3367 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3370 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3371 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3372 Enter the current group and display the first article
3373 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3376 @kindex RET (Browse)
3377 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3378 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3382 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3383 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3384 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3390 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3391 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3395 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3396 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3400 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3401 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3402 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3407 @section Exiting gnus
3408 @cindex exiting gnus
3410 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3415 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3416 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3417 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3418 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3422 @findex gnus-group-exit
3423 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3424 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3428 @findex gnus-group-quit
3429 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3430 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3433 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3434 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3435 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3436 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3437 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3438 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3443 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3444 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3445 trying to customize meta-variables.
3450 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3451 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3452 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3458 @section Group Topics
3461 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3462 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3463 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3464 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3465 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3466 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3470 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3471 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3482 2: alt.religion.emacs
3485 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3487 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3488 13: comp.sources.unix
3491 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3493 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3494 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3495 is a toggling command.)
3497 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3498 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3499 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3500 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3503 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3504 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3505 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3508 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3512 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3513 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3514 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3515 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3516 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3520 @node Topic Commands
3521 @subsection Topic Commands
3522 @cindex topic commands
3524 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3525 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3526 definitions slightly.
3528 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3529 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3530 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3531 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3532 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3533 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3535 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3542 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3543 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3544 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3548 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3550 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3551 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3552 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3553 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3556 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3557 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3558 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3559 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3563 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3564 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3565 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3566 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3572 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3573 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3574 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3578 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3579 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3583 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3584 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3585 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3586 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3587 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3589 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3590 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3594 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3595 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3602 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3604 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3605 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3606 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3607 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3608 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3609 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3613 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3619 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3620 Move the current group to some other topic
3621 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3622 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3626 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3627 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3632 Copy the current group to some other topic
3633 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3634 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3638 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3639 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3640 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3644 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3645 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3646 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3650 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3651 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3652 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3653 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3654 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3655 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3656 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3659 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3660 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3664 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3665 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3666 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3670 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3671 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3672 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3676 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3677 Toggle hiding empty topics
3678 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3682 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3683 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3684 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3685 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3688 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3689 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3690 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3691 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3692 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3695 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3696 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3697 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3698 expiry process (if any)
3699 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3703 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3704 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3707 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3708 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3709 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3713 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3714 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3715 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3718 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3719 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3720 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3723 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3724 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3725 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3729 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3730 @cindex group parameters
3731 @cindex topic parameters
3733 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3734 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3739 @node Topic Variables
3740 @subsection Topic Variables
3741 @cindex topic variables
3743 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3744 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3746 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3747 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3748 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3761 Number of groups in the topic.
3763 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3765 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3768 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3769 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3770 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3773 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3774 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3776 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3777 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3778 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3782 @subsection Topic Sorting
3783 @cindex topic sorting
3785 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3791 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3792 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3793 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3794 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3797 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3798 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3799 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3800 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3803 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3804 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3805 Sort the current topic by group level
3806 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3809 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3810 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3811 Sort the current topic by group score
3812 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3815 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3816 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3817 Sort the current topic by group rank
3818 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3821 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3822 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3823 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3824 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3827 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3828 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3829 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3830 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3834 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3835 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3836 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3837 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3841 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3842 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3846 @node Topic Topology
3847 @subsection Topic Topology
3848 @cindex topic topology
3851 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3857 2: alt.religion.emacs
3860 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3862 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3863 13: comp.sources.unix
3866 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3867 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3868 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3873 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3874 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3878 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3879 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3880 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3881 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3882 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3883 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3885 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3886 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3887 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3890 @node Topic Parameters
3891 @subsection Topic Parameters
3892 @cindex topic parameters
3894 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3895 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3896 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3898 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3903 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3904 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3905 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3908 @item subscribe-level
3909 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3910 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3911 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3915 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3916 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3917 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3918 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3924 2: alt.religion.emacs
3928 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3930 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3931 13: comp.sources.unix
3935 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3936 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3937 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3938 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3939 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3940 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3942 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3943 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3944 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3945 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3946 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3948 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3949 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3950 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3951 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3952 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3953 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3954 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3955 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3958 @node Misc Group Stuff
3959 @section Misc Group Stuff
3962 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3963 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3964 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3965 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3966 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3973 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3974 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3975 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3979 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3980 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3981 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3982 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3983 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3984 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3985 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3989 @findex gnus-group-mail
3990 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3991 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3992 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3993 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3997 @findex gnus-group-news
3998 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3999 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4000 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4002 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4003 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4004 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4005 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4006 for this to work though.
4010 Variables for the group buffer:
4014 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4015 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4016 is called after the group buffer has been
4019 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4020 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4021 is called after the group buffer is
4022 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4025 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4026 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4027 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4028 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4030 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4031 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4032 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4033 whether they are empty or not.
4035 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4036 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4037 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4038 non-ASCII group names.
4042 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4043 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4046 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4047 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4048 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4049 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4050 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4051 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4056 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4057 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4062 @node Scanning New Messages
4063 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4064 @cindex new messages
4065 @cindex scanning new news
4071 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4072 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4073 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4074 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4075 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4076 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4081 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4082 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4083 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4084 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4085 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4086 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4087 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4089 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4090 @cindex activating groups
4092 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4093 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4098 @findex gnus-group-restart
4099 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4100 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4101 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4105 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4106 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4108 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4109 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4113 @node Group Information
4114 @subsection Group Information
4115 @cindex group information
4116 @cindex information on groups
4123 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4124 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4127 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4128 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4129 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4130 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4131 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4132 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4133 for fetching the file.
4135 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4136 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4140 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4141 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4143 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4144 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4147 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4148 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4149 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4153 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4154 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4155 @cindex control message
4156 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4157 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4158 group if given a prefix argument.
4160 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4161 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4162 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4163 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4165 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4166 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4167 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4171 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4173 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4174 @cindex describing groups
4175 @cindex group description
4176 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4177 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4178 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4182 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4183 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4184 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4191 @findex gnus-version
4192 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4196 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4197 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4200 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4203 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4204 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4208 @node Group Timestamp
4209 @subsection Group Timestamp
4211 @cindex group timestamps
4213 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4214 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4215 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4218 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4221 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4223 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4224 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4227 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4228 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4231 This will result in lines looking like:
4234 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4235 0: custom 19961002T012713
4238 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4239 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4243 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4244 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4247 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4248 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4252 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4253 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4254 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4255 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4257 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4263 @subsection File Commands
4264 @cindex file commands
4270 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4271 @vindex gnus-init-file
4272 @cindex reading init file
4273 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4274 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4278 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4279 @cindex saving .newsrc
4280 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4281 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4282 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4285 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4286 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4287 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4292 @node Sieve Commands
4293 @subsection Sieve Commands
4294 @cindex group sieve commands
4296 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4297 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4298 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4299 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4300 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4302 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4303 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4304 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4305 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4306 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4307 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4308 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4309 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4310 regenerate the Sieve script.
4312 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4313 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4314 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4315 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4316 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4317 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4318 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4319 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4320 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4321 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4324 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4325 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4330 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4336 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4337 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4338 @cindex generating sieve script
4339 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4340 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4344 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4345 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4346 @cindex updating sieve script
4347 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4348 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4349 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4354 @node Summary Buffer
4355 @chapter Summary Buffer
4356 @cindex summary buffer
4358 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4359 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4361 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4362 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4364 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4367 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4368 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4369 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4370 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4371 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4372 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4373 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4374 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4375 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4376 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4377 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4378 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4379 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4380 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4381 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4382 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4383 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4384 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4385 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4386 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4387 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4388 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4389 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4390 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4391 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4392 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4393 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4394 or reselecting the current group.
4395 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4396 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4397 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4398 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4402 @node Summary Buffer Format
4403 @section Summary Buffer Format
4404 @cindex summary buffer format
4408 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4409 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4410 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4416 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4417 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4418 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4419 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4422 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4423 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4424 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4425 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4426 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4427 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4428 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4429 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4430 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4431 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4432 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4433 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4434 other function instead:
4437 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4438 'mail-extract-address-components)
4441 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4442 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4443 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4444 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4447 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4448 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4450 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4451 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4452 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4453 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4454 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4456 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4457 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4458 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4459 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4460 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4461 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4463 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4465 The following format specification characters and extended format
4466 specification(s) are understood:
4472 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4473 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4475 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4476 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4477 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4479 Full @code{From} header.
4481 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4483 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4486 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4487 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4488 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4489 may be more thorough.
4491 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4494 Number of lines in the article.
4496 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4497 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4499 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4500 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4502 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4504 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4505 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4518 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4519 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4520 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4523 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4524 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4525 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4526 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4528 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4529 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4530 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4531 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4533 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4534 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4535 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4537 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4538 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4539 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4541 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4542 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4543 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4545 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4546 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4547 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4552 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4553 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4555 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4556 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4558 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4559 for adopted articles.
4561 One space for each thread level.
4563 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4565 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4568 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4569 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4570 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4573 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4575 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4576 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4577 default level. If the difference between
4578 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4579 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4587 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4589 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4595 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4596 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4598 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4599 article has any children.
4605 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4606 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4608 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4609 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4610 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4611 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4612 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4613 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4616 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4617 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4618 There can only be one such area.
4620 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4621 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4622 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4623 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4624 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4625 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4627 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4628 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4630 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4633 @node To From Newsgroups
4634 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4638 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4639 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4640 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4641 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4642 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4646 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4647 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4648 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4652 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4653 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4656 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4657 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4660 @findex gnus-extra-header
4661 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4662 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4663 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4666 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4670 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4671 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4672 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4673 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4674 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4675 headers are used instead.
4679 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4680 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4681 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
4682 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4683 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4684 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4687 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4688 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4689 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4690 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4692 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4696 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4698 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4699 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4700 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4701 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4705 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4708 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4709 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4712 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4713 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4714 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4720 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4721 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4724 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4725 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4727 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4728 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4729 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4730 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4732 Here are the elements you can play with:
4738 Unprefixed group name.
4740 Current article number.
4742 Current article score.
4746 Number of unread articles in this group.
4748 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4751 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4752 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4753 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4754 and no unselected ones.
4756 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4757 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4759 Subject of the current article.
4761 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4763 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4765 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4767 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4769 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4771 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4775 @node Summary Highlighting
4776 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4780 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4781 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4782 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4783 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4784 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4786 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4787 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4788 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4789 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4791 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4792 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4793 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4794 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4796 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4797 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4798 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4799 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4800 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4801 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4804 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4805 ((> score default) . bold))
4807 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4808 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4812 @node Summary Maneuvering
4813 @section Summary Maneuvering
4814 @cindex summary movement
4816 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4817 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4819 None of these commands select articles.
4824 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4825 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4826 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4827 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4828 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4832 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4833 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4834 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4835 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4836 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4839 @kindex G g (Summary)
4840 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4841 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4842 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4845 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4846 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4847 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4848 to the group buffer.
4850 Variables related to summary movement:
4854 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4855 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4856 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4857 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4858 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4859 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4860 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4861 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4862 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4863 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4864 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4865 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4866 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4867 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4869 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4870 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4871 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4872 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4873 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4874 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4875 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4877 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4879 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4880 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4881 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4882 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4883 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4885 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4886 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4887 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4888 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4889 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4890 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4891 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4892 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4895 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4896 the given number of lines from the top.
4901 @node Choosing Articles
4902 @section Choosing Articles
4903 @cindex selecting articles
4906 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4907 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4911 @node Choosing Commands
4912 @subsection Choosing Commands
4914 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4915 and they all select and display an article.
4917 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4918 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4922 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4923 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4924 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4925 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4927 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4928 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4929 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @pxref{Paging the Article}.
4934 @kindex G n (Summary)
4935 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4936 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4937 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4942 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4943 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4944 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4949 @kindex G N (Summary)
4950 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4951 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4956 @kindex G P (Summary)
4957 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4958 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4961 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4962 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4963 Go to the next article with the same subject
4964 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4967 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4968 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4969 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4970 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4974 @kindex G f (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4977 Go to the first unread article
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4982 @kindex G b (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4985 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4986 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4987 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4992 @kindex G l (Summary)
4993 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4994 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4997 @kindex G o (Summary)
4998 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5000 @cindex article history
5001 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5003 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5004 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5005 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5006 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5011 @kindex G j (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5013 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5014 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5019 @node Choosing Variables
5020 @subsection Choosing Variables
5022 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5025 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5026 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5027 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5028 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5029 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5030 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5032 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5033 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5034 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5035 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5036 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5037 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5039 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5040 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5041 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5042 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5043 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5044 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5045 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5046 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5047 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5048 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5049 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5050 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5051 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5052 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5057 @node Paging the Article
5058 @section Scrolling the Article
5059 @cindex article scrolling
5064 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5065 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5066 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5067 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5068 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5070 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5071 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5072 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5073 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5074 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5075 what is considered uninteresting with
5076 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5077 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5080 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5082 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5085 @kindex RET (Summary)
5086 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5087 Scroll the current article one line forward
5088 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5091 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5092 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5093 Scroll the current article one line backward
5094 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5098 @kindex A g (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5101 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5102 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5103 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5104 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5105 the way it came from the server.
5107 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5108 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5109 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5112 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5117 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5122 @kindex A < (Summary)
5123 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5124 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5130 @kindex A > (Summary)
5131 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5132 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5136 @kindex A s (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5139 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5144 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5145 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5150 @node Reply Followup and Post
5151 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5154 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5155 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5156 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5157 * Canceling and Superseding::
5161 @node Summary Mail Commands
5162 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5164 @cindex composing mail
5166 Commands for composing a mail message:
5172 @kindex S r (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5175 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5176 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5177 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5178 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5183 @kindex S R (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5185 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5186 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5187 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5188 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5191 @kindex S w (Summary)
5192 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5193 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5194 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5195 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5196 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5199 @kindex S W (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5201 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5202 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5203 the process/prefix convention.
5206 @kindex S v (Summary)
5207 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5208 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5209 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5210 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5211 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5212 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5215 @kindex S V (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5217 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5218 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5219 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5222 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5224 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5225 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5228 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5230 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5231 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5232 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5236 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5237 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5238 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5239 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5240 Forward the current article to some other person
5241 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5242 headers of the forwarded article.
5247 @kindex S m (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5250 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5251 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5252 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5257 @kindex S i (Summary)
5258 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5259 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5260 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5261 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5263 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5264 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5265 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5266 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5267 for this to work though.
5270 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5272 @cindex bouncing mail
5273 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5274 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5275 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5276 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5277 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5278 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5279 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5280 very well fail, though.
5283 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5285 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5286 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5287 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5288 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5289 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5290 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5291 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5292 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5294 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5295 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5296 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5297 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5298 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5300 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5301 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5304 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5306 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5307 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5308 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5311 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5313 @cindex crossposting
5314 @cindex excessive crossposting
5315 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5316 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5318 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5319 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5320 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5321 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5322 command understands the process/prefix convention
5323 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5327 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5328 Manual}, for more information.
5331 @node Summary Post Commands
5332 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5334 @cindex composing news
5336 Commands for posting a news article:
5342 @kindex S p (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5344 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5345 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5346 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5347 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5352 @kindex S f (Summary)
5353 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5354 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5355 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5359 @kindex S F (Summary)
5361 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5362 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5363 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5364 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5365 process/prefix convention.
5368 @kindex S n (Summary)
5369 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5370 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5371 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5374 @kindex S N (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5376 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5377 message through mail and include the original message
5378 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5379 the process/prefix convention.
5382 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5384 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5385 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5386 headers of the forwarded article.
5389 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5390 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5392 @cindex making digests
5393 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5394 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5395 process/prefix convention.
5398 @kindex S u (Summary)
5399 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5400 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5401 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5402 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5405 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5406 Manual}, for more information.
5409 @node Summary Message Commands
5410 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5414 @kindex S y (Summary)
5415 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5416 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5417 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5418 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5419 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5424 @node Canceling and Superseding
5425 @subsection Canceling Articles
5426 @cindex canceling articles
5427 @cindex superseding articles
5429 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5430 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5432 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5434 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5436 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5437 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5438 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5439 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5440 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5441 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5443 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5444 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5447 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5448 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5449 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5451 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5452 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5453 your original article.
5455 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5457 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5458 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5459 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5462 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5463 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5464 have posted almost the same article twice.
5466 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5467 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5468 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5469 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5470 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5471 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5472 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5473 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5474 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5475 canceled/superseded.
5477 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5479 @node Delayed Articles
5480 @section Delayed Articles
5481 @cindex delayed sending
5482 @cindex send delayed
5484 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5485 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5486 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5487 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5490 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5493 @findex gnus-delay-article
5494 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5495 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5496 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5497 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5501 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5502 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5503 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5504 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5507 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5508 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5509 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5512 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5513 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5514 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5515 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5516 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5517 that means a time tomorrow.
5520 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5521 couple of variables:
5524 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5525 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5526 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5527 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5529 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5530 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5531 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5532 formats described above.
5534 @item gnus-delay-group
5535 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5536 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5537 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5538 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5540 @item gnus-delay-header
5541 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5542 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5543 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5544 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5547 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5548 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5549 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5550 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5551 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5553 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5554 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5555 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5556 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5557 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5558 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5559 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5562 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5563 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5565 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5566 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5567 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5568 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5569 argument is ignored.
5571 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5572 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5573 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5577 @node Marking Articles
5578 @section Marking Articles
5579 @cindex article marking
5580 @cindex article ticking
5583 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5585 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5586 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5587 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5589 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5592 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5593 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5594 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5598 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5602 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5603 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5604 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5608 @node Unread Articles
5609 @subsection Unread Articles
5611 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5616 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5617 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5619 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5620 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5621 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5622 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5623 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5624 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5625 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5628 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5629 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5631 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5632 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5633 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5634 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5638 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5639 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5641 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5646 @subsection Read Articles
5647 @cindex expirable mark
5649 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5654 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5655 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5656 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5659 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5660 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5663 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5664 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5665 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5668 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5669 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5672 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5673 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5676 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5677 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5680 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5681 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5684 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5685 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5688 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5689 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5692 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5693 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5697 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5698 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5699 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5703 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5704 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5706 One more special mark, though:
5710 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5711 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5713 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5714 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5715 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5716 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5722 @subsection Other Marks
5723 @cindex process mark
5726 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5732 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5733 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5734 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5735 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5736 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5739 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5740 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5741 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5742 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5745 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5746 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5747 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5750 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5751 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5752 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5755 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5756 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5757 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5758 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5761 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5762 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5763 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5764 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5765 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5766 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5769 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5770 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5771 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5772 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5775 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5776 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5777 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5778 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5779 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5783 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5784 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5785 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5786 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5787 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5788 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5791 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5792 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5793 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5794 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5795 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5796 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5800 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5801 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5802 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5803 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5804 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5807 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5808 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5809 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5810 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5811 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5812 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5816 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5817 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5818 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5820 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5821 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5822 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5826 @subsection Setting Marks
5827 @cindex setting marks
5829 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5834 @kindex M c (Summary)
5835 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5837 @cindex mark as unread
5838 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5839 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5845 @kindex M t (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5847 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5848 @xref{Article Caching}.
5853 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5854 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5855 Mark the current article as dormant
5856 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5860 @kindex M d (Summary)
5862 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5863 Mark the current article as read
5864 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5868 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5869 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5870 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5875 @kindex M k (Summary)
5876 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5877 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5878 and then select the next unread article
5879 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5883 @kindex M K (Summary)
5884 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5886 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5887 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5890 @kindex M C (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5892 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5893 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5896 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5898 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5899 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5902 @kindex M H (Summary)
5903 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5904 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5905 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5908 @kindex M h (Summary)
5909 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5910 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5911 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5914 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5915 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5916 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5917 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5920 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5921 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5922 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5923 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5927 @kindex M e (Summary)
5929 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5930 Mark the current article as expirable
5931 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5934 @kindex M b (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5936 Set a bookmark in the current article
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5940 @kindex M B (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5942 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5946 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5948 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5949 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5952 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5954 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5955 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5958 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5960 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5961 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5962 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5965 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5966 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5967 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5968 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5969 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5970 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5971 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5972 The default is @code{t}.
5975 @node Generic Marking Commands
5976 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5978 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5979 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5980 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5981 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5982 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5985 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5986 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5989 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5990 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5991 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5992 to list in this manual.
5994 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5995 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5996 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5997 article, you could say something like:
6000 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6001 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6002 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6008 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6009 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6013 @node Setting Process Marks
6014 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6015 @cindex setting process marks
6017 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6018 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6019 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6020 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6021 commands into the cache. For more information,
6022 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6029 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6031 Mark the current article with the process mark
6032 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6033 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6037 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6038 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6039 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6040 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6043 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6044 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6045 Remove the process mark from all articles
6046 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6049 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6050 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6051 Invert the list of process marked articles
6052 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6055 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6056 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6057 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6058 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6061 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6062 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6063 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6064 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6067 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6068 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6069 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6073 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6074 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6077 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6079 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6080 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6083 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6084 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6085 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6086 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6089 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6090 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6091 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6092 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6095 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6096 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6097 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6100 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6102 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6103 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6106 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6108 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6111 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6112 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6113 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6114 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6117 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6118 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6119 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6120 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6123 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6124 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6125 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6126 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6129 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6130 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6131 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6132 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6136 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6137 set process marks based on article body contents.
6144 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6145 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6146 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6149 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6150 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6151 additional articles.
6157 @kindex / / (Summary)
6158 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6159 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6160 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6164 @kindex / a (Summary)
6165 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6166 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6167 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6171 @kindex / x (Summary)
6172 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6173 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6174 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6175 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6180 @kindex / u (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6183 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6184 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6185 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6186 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6189 @kindex / m (Summary)
6190 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6191 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6192 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6195 @kindex / t (Summary)
6196 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6197 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6198 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6199 articles younger than that number of days.
6202 @kindex / n (Summary)
6203 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6204 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6205 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6206 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6209 @kindex / w (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6211 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6212 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6216 @kindex / . (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6218 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6219 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6222 @kindex / v (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6224 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6225 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6228 @kindex / p (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6230 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6231 group parameter predicate
6232 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6233 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6237 @kindex M S (Summary)
6238 @kindex / E (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6240 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6241 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6244 @kindex / D (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6246 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6247 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6250 @kindex / * (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6252 Include all cached articles in the limit
6253 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6256 @kindex / d (Summary)
6257 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6258 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6259 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6262 @kindex / M (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6264 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6267 @kindex / T (Summary)
6268 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6269 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6272 @kindex / c (Summary)
6273 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6274 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6275 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6278 @kindex / C (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6280 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6281 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6282 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6285 @kindex / N (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6287 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6288 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6291 @kindex / o (Summary)
6292 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6293 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6294 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6302 @cindex article threading
6304 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6305 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6306 hierarchical fashion.
6308 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6309 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6310 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6311 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6312 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6313 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6314 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6316 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6320 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6323 A tree-like article structure.
6326 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6329 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6330 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6331 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6332 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6333 called loose threads.
6335 @item thread gathering
6336 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6338 @item sparse threads
6339 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6340 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6346 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6347 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6351 @node Customizing Threading
6352 @subsection Customizing Threading
6353 @cindex customizing threading
6356 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6357 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6358 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6359 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6364 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6367 @cindex loose threads
6370 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6371 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6372 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6373 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6374 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6375 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6377 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6378 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6379 There are four possible values:
6383 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6384 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6385 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6386 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6387 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6392 @cindex adopting articles
6397 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6398 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6399 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6400 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6403 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6404 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6405 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6406 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6407 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6408 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6409 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6410 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6411 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6412 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6415 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6416 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6417 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6421 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6422 display them after one another.
6425 Don't gather loose threads.
6428 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6429 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6430 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6431 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6432 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6433 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6434 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6435 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6436 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6437 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6438 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6440 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6441 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6442 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6445 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6446 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6447 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6448 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6449 simplification is used.
6451 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6452 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6453 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6454 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6456 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6458 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6464 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6465 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6466 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6467 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6472 (mapconcat 'identity
6473 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6475 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6478 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6481 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6482 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6483 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6484 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6485 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6486 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6488 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6491 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6492 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6493 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6495 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6496 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6499 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6500 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6501 Remove excessive whitespace.
6503 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6504 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6505 Remove all whitespace.
6508 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6511 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6512 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6513 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6514 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6515 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6516 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6517 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6518 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6520 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6521 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6522 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6523 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6524 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6525 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6526 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6527 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6528 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6532 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6533 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6534 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6535 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6537 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6538 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6539 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6542 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6546 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6547 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6553 @node Filling In Threads
6554 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6557 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6558 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6559 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6560 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6561 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6562 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6563 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6564 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6565 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6566 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6567 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6568 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6571 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6572 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6573 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6575 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6576 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6577 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6578 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6579 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6580 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6581 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6582 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6583 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6584 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6585 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6586 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6587 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6588 @code{nil} by default.
6590 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6591 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6592 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6593 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6594 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6595 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6596 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6598 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6599 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6600 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6605 @node More Threading
6606 @subsubsection More Threading
6609 @item gnus-show-threads
6610 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6611 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6612 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6613 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6614 slower and more awkward.
6616 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6617 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6618 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6621 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6622 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6623 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6628 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6629 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6630 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6633 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6634 unread, but you get my drift.)
6637 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6638 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6639 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6640 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6641 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6642 threads are expunged.
6644 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6645 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6646 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6649 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6650 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6651 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6652 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6653 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6654 result in a new thread.
6656 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6657 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6658 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6661 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6662 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6663 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6664 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6665 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6666 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6667 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6668 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6669 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6670 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6671 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6676 @node Low-Level Threading
6677 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6681 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6682 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6683 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6684 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6685 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6686 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6688 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6689 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6690 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6691 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6692 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6693 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6694 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6695 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6696 meaningful. Here's one example:
6699 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6701 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6702 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6704 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6706 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6713 @node Thread Commands
6714 @subsection Thread Commands
6715 @cindex thread commands
6721 @kindex T k (Summary)
6722 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6723 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6724 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6725 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6726 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6731 @kindex T l (Summary)
6732 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6733 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6734 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6735 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6738 @kindex T i (Summary)
6739 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6740 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6741 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6744 @kindex T # (Summary)
6745 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6746 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6747 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6750 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6751 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6752 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6753 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6756 @kindex T T (Summary)
6757 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6758 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6761 @kindex T s (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6763 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6764 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6767 @kindex T h (Summary)
6768 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6769 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6772 @kindex T S (Summary)
6773 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6774 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6777 @kindex T H (Summary)
6778 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6779 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6782 @kindex T t (Summary)
6783 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6784 Re-thread the current article's thread
6785 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6786 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6789 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6790 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6791 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6792 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6796 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6797 understand the numeric prefix.
6802 @kindex T n (Summary)
6804 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6806 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6807 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6808 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6811 @kindex T p (Summary)
6813 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6815 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6816 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6817 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6820 @kindex T d (Summary)
6821 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6822 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6825 @kindex T u (Summary)
6826 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6827 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6830 @kindex T o (Summary)
6831 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6832 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6835 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6836 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6837 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6838 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6839 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6840 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6841 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6842 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6843 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6844 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6845 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6846 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6850 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6851 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6853 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6854 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6855 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6856 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6857 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6859 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6860 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6861 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6862 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6863 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6864 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6865 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6867 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6868 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6869 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6870 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6871 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6872 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6873 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6876 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6877 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6878 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6880 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6881 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6882 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6883 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6884 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6885 ascending article order.
6887 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6888 by number, you could do something like:
6891 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6892 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6893 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6894 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6897 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6898 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6899 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6900 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6901 which the articles arrived.
6903 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6907 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6909 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6910 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6913 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6914 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6915 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6916 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6919 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6920 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6921 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6922 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6923 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6924 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6925 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6926 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6927 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6928 variable. It is very similar to the
6929 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6930 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6931 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6932 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6933 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6934 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6935 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6937 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6941 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6942 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6943 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6948 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6949 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6950 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6951 @cindex article pre-fetch
6954 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6955 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6956 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6957 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6958 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6960 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6961 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6963 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6964 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6965 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6966 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6967 connection is blocked.
6969 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6970 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6971 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6972 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6974 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6975 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6976 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6977 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6980 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
6983 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6984 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6985 happen automatically.
6987 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6988 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6989 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6990 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6991 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6992 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6993 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6995 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6996 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6997 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6998 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
6999 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7000 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7001 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7002 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7003 article data structure as the only parameter.
7005 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7006 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7009 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7010 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7011 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7012 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7015 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7018 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7019 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7020 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7022 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7023 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7024 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7025 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7029 Remove articles when they are read.
7032 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7035 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7037 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7038 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7039 @c from the next group.
7042 @node Article Caching
7043 @section Article Caching
7044 @cindex article caching
7047 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7048 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7049 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7050 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7051 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7053 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7055 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7056 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7057 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7058 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7059 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7060 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7061 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7062 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7064 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7065 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7066 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7067 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7068 as dormant, and don't worry.
7070 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7072 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7073 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7074 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7075 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7076 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7077 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7078 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7079 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7080 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7081 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7083 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7084 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7085 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7086 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7087 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7088 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7089 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7090 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7091 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7092 not then be downloaded by this command.
7094 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7095 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7096 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7097 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7098 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7099 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7101 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7102 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7103 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7104 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7105 variables, the group is not cached.
7107 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7108 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7109 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7110 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7111 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7112 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7113 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7114 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7115 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7118 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7119 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7120 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7121 where, isn't that cool?
7123 @node Persistent Articles
7124 @section Persistent Articles
7125 @cindex persistent articles
7127 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7128 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7129 useful in my opinion.
7131 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7132 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7133 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7134 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7135 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7136 the expiry going on at the news server.
7138 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7139 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7140 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7146 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7147 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7150 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7151 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7152 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7153 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7157 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7159 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7160 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7161 interested in persistent articles:
7164 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7168 @node Article Backlog
7169 @section Article Backlog
7171 @cindex article backlog
7173 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7174 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7175 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7176 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7177 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7178 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7179 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7180 increase memory usage some.
7182 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7183 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7184 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7185 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7186 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7187 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7188 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7190 The default value is 20.
7193 @node Saving Articles
7194 @section Saving Articles
7195 @cindex saving articles
7197 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7198 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7199 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7200 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7201 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7203 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7204 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7205 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7207 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7208 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7209 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7211 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7212 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7213 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7214 deleted before saving.
7220 @kindex O o (Summary)
7222 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7223 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7224 Save the current article using the default article saver
7225 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7228 @kindex O m (Summary)
7229 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7230 Save the current article in mail format
7231 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7234 @kindex O r (Summary)
7235 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7236 Save the current article in rmail format
7237 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7240 @kindex O f (Summary)
7241 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7242 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7243 Save the current article in plain file format
7244 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7247 @kindex O F (Summary)
7248 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7249 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7250 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7253 @kindex O b (Summary)
7254 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7255 Save the current article body in plain file format
7256 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7259 @kindex O h (Summary)
7260 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7261 Save the current article in mh folder format
7262 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7265 @kindex O v (Summary)
7266 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7267 Save the current article in a VM folder
7268 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7272 @kindex O p (Summary)
7274 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7275 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7276 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7277 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7278 complete headers in the piped output.
7281 @kindex O P (Summary)
7282 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7283 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7284 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7285 external program Muttprint (see
7286 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7287 options to use is controlled by the variable
7288 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7292 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7293 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7294 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7295 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7296 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7297 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7298 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7299 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7300 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7301 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7302 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7303 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7307 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7308 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7309 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7310 functions below, or you can create your own.
7314 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7315 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7316 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7317 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7318 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7319 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7320 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7322 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7323 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7324 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7325 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7326 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7327 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7329 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7330 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7331 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7332 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7333 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7334 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7335 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7337 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7338 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7339 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7340 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7341 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7342 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7344 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7345 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7346 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7347 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7348 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7350 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7351 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7352 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7353 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7354 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7357 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7358 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7359 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7360 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7361 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7363 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7364 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7365 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7366 reader to use this setting.
7369 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7370 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7371 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7372 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7375 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7376 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7377 available functions that generate names:
7381 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7382 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7383 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7385 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7386 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7387 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7389 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7390 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7391 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7393 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7394 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7395 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7397 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7398 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7399 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7402 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7403 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7404 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7405 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7406 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7410 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7411 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7412 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7413 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7416 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7417 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7418 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7419 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7420 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7421 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7422 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7423 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7424 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7426 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7427 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7428 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7429 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7431 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7432 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7433 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7436 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7437 lots of mail groups called things like
7438 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7439 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7440 following will do just that:
7443 (defun my-save-name (group)
7444 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7445 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7447 (setq gnus-split-methods
7448 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7453 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7454 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7455 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7456 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7457 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7458 all the files in the top level directory
7459 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7460 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7461 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7462 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7464 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7465 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7466 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7467 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7468 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7471 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7475 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7476 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7477 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7480 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7481 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7482 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7483 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7486 @node Decoding Articles
7487 @section Decoding Articles
7488 @cindex decoding articles
7490 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7491 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7494 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7495 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7496 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7497 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7498 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7499 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7503 @cindex article series
7504 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7505 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7506 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7507 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7508 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7510 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7511 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7512 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7514 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7515 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7516 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7518 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7519 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7520 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7523 @node Uuencoded Articles
7524 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7526 @cindex uuencoded articles
7531 @kindex X u (Summary)
7532 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7533 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7534 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7537 @kindex X U (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7539 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7540 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7543 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7545 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7548 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7549 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7550 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7551 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7555 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7556 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7557 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7558 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7559 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7561 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7562 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7563 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7564 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7567 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7568 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7569 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7570 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7571 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7572 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7576 @node Shell Archives
7577 @subsection Shell Archives
7579 @cindex shell archives
7580 @cindex shared articles
7582 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7583 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7584 some commands to deal with these:
7589 @kindex X s (Summary)
7590 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7591 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7594 @kindex X S (Summary)
7595 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7596 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7599 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7601 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7604 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7606 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7607 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7611 @node PostScript Files
7612 @subsection PostScript Files
7618 @kindex X p (Summary)
7619 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7620 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7623 @kindex X P (Summary)
7624 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7625 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7626 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7629 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7630 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7631 View the current PostScript series
7632 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7635 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7636 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7637 View and save the current PostScript series
7638 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7643 @subsection Other Files
7647 @kindex X o (Summary)
7648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7649 Save the current series
7650 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7653 @kindex X b (Summary)
7654 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7655 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7656 doesn't really work yet.
7660 @node Decoding Variables
7661 @subsection Decoding Variables
7663 Adjective, not verb.
7666 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7667 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7668 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7672 @node Rule Variables
7673 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7674 @cindex rule variables
7676 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7677 variables are of the form
7680 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7687 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7688 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7690 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7691 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7694 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7695 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7698 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7699 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7700 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7701 user and default view rules.
7703 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7704 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7705 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7710 @node Other Decode Variables
7711 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7714 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7716 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7717 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7718 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7719 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7720 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7724 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7725 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7728 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7729 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7730 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7733 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7734 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7735 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7736 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7737 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7740 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7741 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7742 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7744 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7745 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7746 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7747 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7748 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7751 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7752 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7753 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7755 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7756 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7757 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7758 looking for files to display.
7760 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7761 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7762 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7765 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7766 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7767 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7770 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7771 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7772 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7775 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7776 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7777 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7780 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7781 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7782 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7783 decoded articles as unread.
7785 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7786 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7787 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7788 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7790 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7791 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7792 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7794 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7795 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7797 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7798 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7799 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7800 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7802 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7803 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7804 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7805 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7806 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7807 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7808 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7809 simply dropped them.
7814 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7815 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7819 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7820 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7821 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7822 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7823 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7824 for you when you post the article.
7826 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7827 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7828 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7829 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7831 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7832 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7833 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7834 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7835 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7836 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7837 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7839 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7840 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7841 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7842 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7843 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7844 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7845 Default is @code{t}.
7851 @subsection Viewing Files
7852 @cindex viewing files
7853 @cindex pseudo-articles
7855 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7856 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7857 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7858 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7859 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7860 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7861 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7863 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7864 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7865 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7866 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7868 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7869 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7870 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7872 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7873 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7874 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7875 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7876 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7878 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7879 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7880 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7881 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7882 a list of parameters to that command.
7884 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7885 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7886 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7888 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7889 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7890 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7893 @node Article Treatment
7894 @section Article Treatment
7896 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7897 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7898 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7899 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7900 these articles easier.
7903 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7904 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7905 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7906 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7907 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7908 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7909 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7910 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7911 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7912 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7916 @node Article Highlighting
7917 @subsection Article Highlighting
7918 @cindex highlighting
7920 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7921 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7926 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7927 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7928 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7929 Do much highlighting of the current article
7930 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7931 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7934 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7935 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7936 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7937 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7938 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7939 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7940 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7941 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7942 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7943 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7944 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7945 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7948 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7949 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7950 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7952 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7955 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7957 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7958 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7959 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7961 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7962 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7963 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7965 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7966 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7967 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7968 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7969 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7970 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7972 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7973 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7974 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7976 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7977 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7978 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7980 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7981 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7982 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7983 that it's a citation.
7985 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7986 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7987 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7989 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7990 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7991 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7993 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7994 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7995 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7996 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8002 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8003 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8004 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8005 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8006 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8007 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8008 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8009 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8014 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8017 @node Article Fontisizing
8018 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8020 @cindex article emphasis
8022 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8023 @kindex W e (Summary)
8024 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8025 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8026 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8027 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8029 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8030 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8031 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8032 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8033 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8034 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8035 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8036 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8040 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8041 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8042 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8051 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8052 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8053 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8054 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8055 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8056 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8057 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8058 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8059 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8060 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8061 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8062 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8063 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8065 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8066 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8067 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8071 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8074 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8076 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8077 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8078 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8079 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8081 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8084 @node Article Hiding
8085 @subsection Article Hiding
8086 @cindex article hiding
8088 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8089 too much cruft in most articles.
8094 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8095 @findex gnus-article-hide
8096 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8097 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8098 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8101 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8102 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8103 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8107 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8108 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8109 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8110 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8113 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8115 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8119 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8121 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8122 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8123 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8124 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8125 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8126 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8130 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8131 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8132 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8133 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8138 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8139 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8140 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8141 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8144 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8145 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8146 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8147 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8150 @cindex stripping advertisements
8151 @cindex advertisements
8152 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8153 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8154 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8155 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8156 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8157 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8158 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8159 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8160 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8161 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8164 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8165 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8166 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8170 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8171 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8172 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8173 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8174 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8175 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8176 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8177 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8178 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8179 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8180 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8183 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8189 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8190 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8191 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8192 customizing the hiding:
8196 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8197 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8198 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8199 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8200 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8201 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8202 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8207 Starting point of the hidden text.
8209 Ending point of the hidden text.
8211 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8213 Number of lines of hidden text.
8216 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8217 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8218 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8219 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8220 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8225 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8226 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8228 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8229 following two variables:
8232 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8233 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8234 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8235 50), hide the cited text.
8237 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8238 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8239 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8244 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8245 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8246 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8247 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8248 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8249 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8253 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8254 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8255 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8257 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8258 citation customization.
8260 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8264 @node Article Washing
8265 @subsection Article Washing
8267 @cindex article washing
8269 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8270 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8272 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8273 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8276 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8277 articles by default.
8282 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8283 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8287 Force redisplaying of the current article
8288 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8289 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8290 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8291 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8294 @kindex W l (Summary)
8295 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8296 Remove page breaks from the current article
8297 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8301 @kindex W r (Summary)
8302 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8303 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8304 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8305 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8306 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8307 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8309 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8310 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8311 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8312 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8315 @kindex W m (Summary)
8316 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8317 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8321 @kindex W t (Summary)
8323 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8324 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8325 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8328 @kindex W v (Summary)
8329 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8330 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8331 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8334 @kindex W m (Summary)
8335 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8336 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8337 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8340 @kindex W o (Summary)
8341 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8342 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8345 @kindex W d (Summary)
8346 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8347 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8349 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8351 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8352 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8353 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8354 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8357 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8358 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8359 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8360 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8363 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8364 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8365 @cindex Outlook Express
8366 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8367 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8368 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8371 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8372 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8373 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8374 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8375 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8376 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8377 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8378 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8379 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8380 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8383 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8384 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8385 Repair a broken attribution line.
8386 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8389 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8390 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8391 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8392 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8395 @kindex W w (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8397 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8399 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8403 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8404 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8405 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8408 @kindex W C (Summary)
8409 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8410 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8411 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8414 @kindex W c (Summary)
8415 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8416 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8417 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8418 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8419 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8422 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8423 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8424 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8425 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8426 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8427 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8428 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8430 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8433 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8434 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8435 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8436 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8437 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8440 @kindex W u (Summary)
8441 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8442 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8443 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8444 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8445 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8448 @kindex W h (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8450 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8451 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8452 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8454 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8456 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8457 The default is to use the function specified by
8458 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8459 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8460 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8461 you can use include:
8468 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8472 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8475 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8478 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8483 @kindex W b (Summary)
8484 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8485 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8486 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8489 @kindex W B (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8491 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8492 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8495 @kindex W p (Summary)
8496 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8497 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8498 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8499 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8500 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8501 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8502 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8505 @kindex W s (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8507 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8508 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8511 @kindex W a (Summary)
8512 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8513 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8514 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8517 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8518 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8519 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8520 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8523 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8524 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8525 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8526 lines with a single empty line.
8527 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8530 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8532 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8533 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8536 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8537 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8538 Do all the three commands above
8539 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8542 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8543 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8544 Remove all blank lines
8545 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8548 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8549 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8550 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8551 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8554 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8555 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8556 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8557 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8561 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8564 @node Article Header
8565 @subsection Article Header
8567 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8572 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8573 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8574 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8577 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8578 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8579 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8580 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8583 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8584 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8585 Fold all the message headers
8586 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8590 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8591 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8592 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8597 @node Article Buttons
8598 @subsection Article Buttons
8601 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8602 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8603 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8604 button on these references.
8606 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8607 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8608 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8609 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8610 one that handles article heads:
8614 @item gnus-button-alist
8615 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8616 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8619 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8625 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8626 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8627 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8628 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8629 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8632 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8633 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8634 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8637 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8638 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8639 avoid false matches.
8642 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8645 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8646 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8650 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8653 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8656 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8657 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8658 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8659 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8660 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8663 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8666 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8668 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8669 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8670 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8671 default values of the variables above.
8673 @item gnus-article-button-face
8674 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8675 Face used on buttons.
8677 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8678 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8679 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8683 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8687 @subsection Article Date
8689 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8690 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8691 when the article was sent.
8696 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8697 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8698 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8699 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8702 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8703 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8705 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8706 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8709 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8710 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8711 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8714 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8715 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8716 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8717 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8720 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8721 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8722 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8723 @findex format-time-string
8724 Display the date using a user-defined format
8725 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8726 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8727 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8728 for a list of possible format specs.
8731 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8732 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8733 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8734 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8735 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8736 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8739 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8742 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8743 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8744 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8747 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8748 into wonderful absurdities.
8750 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8753 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8756 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8757 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8761 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8762 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8763 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8764 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8765 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8766 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8767 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8771 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8772 preferred format automatically.
8775 @node Article Display
8776 @subsection Article Display
8781 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8782 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8784 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8785 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8787 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8788 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8790 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8791 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8793 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8798 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8799 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8800 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8801 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8804 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8805 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8806 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8807 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8810 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8811 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8812 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8815 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8816 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8817 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8820 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8821 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8822 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8823 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8826 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8827 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8828 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8829 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8832 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8833 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8834 Remove all images from the article buffer
8835 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8841 @node Article Signature
8842 @subsection Article Signature
8844 @cindex article signature
8846 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8847 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8848 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8849 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8850 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8851 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8852 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8853 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8854 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8857 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8858 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8859 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8860 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8861 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8862 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8863 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8864 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8867 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8870 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8871 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8872 signature when displaying articles.
8876 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8879 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8882 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8883 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8885 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8886 in question is not a signature.
8889 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8890 listed above. Here's an example:
8893 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8894 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8897 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8898 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8899 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8900 signature after all.
8903 @node Article Miscellania
8904 @subsection Article Miscellania
8908 @kindex A t (Summary)
8909 @findex gnus-article-babel
8910 Translate the article from one language to another
8911 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8917 @section MIME Commands
8918 @cindex MIME decoding
8920 @cindex viewing attachments
8922 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8923 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8929 @kindex K v (Summary)
8930 View the @sc{mime} part.
8933 @kindex K o (Summary)
8934 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8937 @kindex K c (Summary)
8938 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8941 @kindex K e (Summary)
8942 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8945 @kindex K i (Summary)
8946 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8949 @kindex K | (Summary)
8950 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8953 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8958 @kindex K b (Summary)
8959 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8960 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8964 @kindex K m (Summary)
8965 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8966 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8967 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8968 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8969 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8972 @kindex X m (Summary)
8973 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8974 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8975 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8976 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8979 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8980 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8981 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8982 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8985 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8986 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8987 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8988 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8991 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8992 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8993 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8994 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8996 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8997 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8998 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8999 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9000 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9001 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9004 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9005 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9006 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
9007 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9014 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9015 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9016 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9017 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9020 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9023 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9027 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9028 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9029 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9030 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9031 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9032 default is @code{nil}.
9034 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9035 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9036 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9037 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9038 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9039 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9040 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9042 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9043 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9044 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9045 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9046 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9047 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9048 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9049 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9051 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9052 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9053 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9054 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9055 displayed. This variable overrides
9056 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9057 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9060 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9061 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9062 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9064 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9065 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9066 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9067 value is @code{nil}.
9069 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9070 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9071 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9072 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9073 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9074 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9075 save all jpegs into some directory).
9077 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9080 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9081 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9083 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9084 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9085 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9086 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9087 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9090 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9091 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9092 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9094 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9095 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9096 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9097 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9099 Ready-made functions include@*
9100 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9101 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9102 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9103 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9104 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9105 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9106 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9107 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9108 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9109 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9110 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9111 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9113 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9114 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9116 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9117 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9118 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9121 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9122 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9123 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9124 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9128 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9137 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9138 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9139 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9140 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9141 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9142 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9143 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9145 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9146 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9147 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9148 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9150 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9151 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9152 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9153 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9154 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9155 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9156 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9157 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9158 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9160 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9161 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9162 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9163 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9164 quoted-printable header encoding.
9166 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9167 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9168 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9172 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9175 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9176 means encode all charsets),
9178 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9179 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9180 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9187 @cindex coding system aliases
9188 @cindex preferred charset
9190 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9192 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9193 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9196 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9197 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9200 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9201 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9203 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9206 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9209 This will almost do the right thing.
9211 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9215 (codepage-setup 1251)
9216 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9220 @node Article Commands
9221 @section Article Commands
9228 @kindex A P (Summary)
9229 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9230 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9231 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9232 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9233 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9234 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9239 @node Summary Sorting
9240 @section Summary Sorting
9241 @cindex summary sorting
9243 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9244 can't really see why you'd want that.
9249 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9250 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9251 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9254 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9255 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9256 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9259 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9260 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9261 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9264 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9265 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9266 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9269 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9270 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9271 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9274 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9275 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9276 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9279 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9280 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9281 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9284 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9285 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9286 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9289 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9290 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9291 Sort using the default sorting method
9292 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9295 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9296 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9297 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9298 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9299 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9303 @node Finding the Parent
9304 @section Finding the Parent
9305 @cindex parent articles
9306 @cindex referring articles
9311 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9312 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9313 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9314 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9315 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9316 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9317 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9318 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9319 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9321 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9322 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9323 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9324 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9325 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9329 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9330 @kindex A R (Summary)
9331 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9332 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9335 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9336 @kindex A T (Summary)
9337 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9338 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9339 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9340 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9341 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9342 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9343 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9345 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9346 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9347 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9348 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9349 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9350 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9353 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9354 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9356 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9357 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9358 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9359 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9360 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9361 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9362 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9365 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9366 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9367 by giving this command a prefix.
9369 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9370 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9371 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9372 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9373 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9374 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9377 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9378 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9379 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9382 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9383 then ask Google if that fails:
9386 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9388 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9391 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9392 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9393 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9394 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9395 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9396 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9397 support this at all.
9400 @node Alternative Approaches
9401 @section Alternative Approaches
9403 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9404 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9407 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9408 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9413 @subsection Pick and Read
9414 @cindex pick and read
9416 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9417 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9418 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9419 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9421 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9422 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9423 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9424 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9425 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9426 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9428 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9433 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9434 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9435 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9436 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9437 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9438 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9439 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9440 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9443 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9444 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9445 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9446 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9450 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9451 Unpick the thread or article
9452 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9453 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9454 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9455 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9456 the thread or article at that line.
9460 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9461 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9462 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9463 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9464 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9465 will still be visible when you are reading.
9469 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9470 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9471 which is mapped to the same function
9472 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9474 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9477 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9480 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9481 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9483 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9484 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9485 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9487 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9488 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9489 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9490 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9491 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9492 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9493 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9497 @subsection Binary Groups
9498 @cindex binary groups
9500 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9501 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9502 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9503 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9504 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9505 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9506 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9509 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9510 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9511 command, when you have turned on this mode
9512 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9514 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9515 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9519 @section Tree Display
9522 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9523 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9524 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9525 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9528 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9531 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9532 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9533 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9535 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9536 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9537 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9538 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9539 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9541 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9542 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9543 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9544 default is @code{modeline}.
9546 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9547 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9548 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9549 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9550 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9551 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9552 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9558 The name of the poster.
9560 The @code{From} header.
9562 The number of the article.
9564 The opening bracket.
9566 The closing bracket.
9571 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9573 Variables related to the display are:
9576 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9577 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9578 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9579 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9580 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9581 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9583 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9584 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9585 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9586 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9590 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9591 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9592 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9593 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9594 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9595 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9596 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9597 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9598 other windows displayed next to it.
9600 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9604 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9605 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9608 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9609 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9610 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9611 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9612 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9613 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9614 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9618 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9621 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9631 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9635 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9636 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9638 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9640 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9645 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9646 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9647 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9650 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9651 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9652 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9653 (gnus-add-configuration
9657 (summary 0.75 point)
9662 @xref{Window Layout}.
9665 @node Mail Group Commands
9666 @section Mail Group Commands
9667 @cindex mail group commands
9669 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9670 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9672 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9673 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9678 @kindex B e (Summary)
9679 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9680 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9681 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9682 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9683 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9686 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9687 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9688 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9689 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9690 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9691 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9694 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9696 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9697 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9698 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9699 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9702 @kindex B m (Summary)
9704 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9705 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9706 Move the article from one mail group to another
9707 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9708 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9711 @kindex B c (Summary)
9713 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9714 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9715 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9716 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9717 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9720 @kindex B B (Summary)
9721 @cindex crosspost mail
9722 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9723 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9724 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9725 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9726 be properly updated.
9729 @kindex B i (Summary)
9730 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9731 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9732 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9733 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9736 @kindex B I (Summary)
9737 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9738 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9739 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9740 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9743 @kindex B r (Summary)
9744 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9745 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9746 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9747 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9748 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9749 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9750 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9751 (which is the default).
9755 @kindex B w (Summary)
9757 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9758 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9759 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9760 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9761 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9762 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9763 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9766 @kindex B q (Summary)
9767 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9768 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9769 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9770 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9773 @kindex B t (Summary)
9774 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9775 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9776 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9779 @kindex B p (Summary)
9780 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9781 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9782 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9783 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9784 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9785 article from your news server (or rather, from
9786 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9787 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9788 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9789 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9790 just not have arrived yet.
9793 @kindex K E (Summary)
9794 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9795 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9796 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9797 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9798 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9802 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9803 @cindex moving articles
9804 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9805 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9806 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9807 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9808 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9809 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9810 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9813 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9814 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9815 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9816 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9820 @node Various Summary Stuff
9821 @section Various Summary Stuff
9824 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9825 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9826 * Summary Generation Commands::
9827 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9831 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9832 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9833 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9834 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9835 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9836 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9838 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9839 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9840 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9842 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9843 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9844 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9845 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9846 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9847 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9850 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9851 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9852 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9853 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9854 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9856 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9857 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9858 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9861 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9862 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9863 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9864 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9865 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9866 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9867 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9868 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9869 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9870 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9872 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9873 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9874 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9875 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9876 list of articles to be selected.
9878 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9879 the list in one particular group:
9882 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9883 (if (string= group "some.group")
9884 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9888 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9889 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9890 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9891 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9892 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9893 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9894 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9895 buffers. For example:
9898 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9899 '(message-use-followup-to
9900 (gnus-visible-headers .
9901 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9907 @node Summary Group Information
9908 @subsection Summary Group Information
9913 @kindex H f (Summary)
9914 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9915 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9916 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9917 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9918 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9919 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9920 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9921 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9922 be used for fetching the file.
9925 @kindex H d (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9927 Give a brief description of the current group
9928 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9929 rereading the description from the server.
9932 @kindex H h (Summary)
9933 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9934 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9935 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9938 @kindex H i (Summary)
9939 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9940 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9944 @node Searching for Articles
9945 @subsection Searching for Articles
9950 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9951 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9952 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9953 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9956 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9957 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9958 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9959 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9963 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9964 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9965 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9966 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9967 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9968 search backward instead.
9970 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9971 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9974 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9975 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9976 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9977 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9980 @node Summary Generation Commands
9981 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9986 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9987 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9988 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9991 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9992 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9993 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9994 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9997 @kindex Y d (Summary)
9998 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
9999 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10000 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10005 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10006 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10012 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10013 @kindex A D (Summary)
10014 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10015 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10016 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10017 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10018 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10019 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10020 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10021 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10025 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10026 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10027 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10028 several documents into one biiig group
10029 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10030 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10031 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10032 command understands the process/prefix convention
10033 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10036 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10037 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10038 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10039 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10040 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10041 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10044 @kindex = (Summary)
10045 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10046 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10047 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10050 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10051 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10052 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10053 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10056 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10057 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10058 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10059 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10064 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10065 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10066 @cindex summary exit
10067 @cindex exiting groups
10069 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10070 group and return you to the group buffer.
10076 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10077 @kindex q (Summary)
10078 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10079 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10080 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10081 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10082 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10083 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10084 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10085 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10086 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10087 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10088 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10089 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10093 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10094 @kindex Q (Summary)
10095 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10096 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10097 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10101 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10102 @kindex c (Summary)
10103 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10104 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10105 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10106 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10109 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10110 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10111 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10112 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10115 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10116 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10117 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10118 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10121 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10122 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10123 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10124 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10125 all articles, both read and unread.
10129 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10130 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10131 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10132 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10133 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10134 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10135 articles, both read and unread.
10138 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10139 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10140 Exit the group and go to the next group
10141 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10144 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10145 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10146 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10147 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10150 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10151 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10152 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10153 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10154 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10155 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10158 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10159 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10160 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10161 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10163 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10164 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10165 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10166 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10167 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10168 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10169 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10170 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10171 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10172 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10173 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10174 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10176 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10178 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10179 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10180 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10181 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10182 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10183 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10184 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10185 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10186 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10189 @node Crosspost Handling
10190 @section Crosspost Handling
10194 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10195 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10196 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10197 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10198 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10199 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10202 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10203 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10204 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10205 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10206 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10208 @cindex cross-posting
10211 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10212 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10213 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10214 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10215 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10216 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10217 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10218 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10219 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10220 the cross reference mechanism.
10222 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10223 @cindex overview.fmt
10224 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10225 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10226 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10227 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10228 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10229 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10232 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10233 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10234 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10239 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10242 @node Duplicate Suppression
10243 @section Duplicate Suppression
10245 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10246 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10247 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10248 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10253 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10254 is evil and not very common.
10257 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10258 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10261 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10262 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10265 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10268 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10269 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10271 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10272 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10273 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10274 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10275 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10276 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10277 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10280 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10281 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10282 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10283 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10284 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10285 saw the article in.
10288 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10289 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10290 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10292 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10293 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10294 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10295 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10296 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10297 session are suppressed.
10299 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10300 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10301 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10302 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10304 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10305 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10306 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10307 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10310 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10311 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10312 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10313 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10314 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10315 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10316 to you to figure out, I think.
10321 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10322 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10323 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10327 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10328 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10329 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10330 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10333 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10334 or newer is recommended.
10338 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10339 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10342 @item mm-verify-option
10343 @vindex mm-verify-option
10344 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10345 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10346 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10348 @item mm-decrypt-option
10349 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10350 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10351 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10352 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10355 @vindex mml1991-use
10356 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10357 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10358 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10361 @vindex mml2015-use
10362 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10363 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10364 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10369 @section Mailing List
10371 @kindex A M (summary)
10372 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10373 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10374 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10375 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10378 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10383 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10384 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10385 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10388 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10389 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10390 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10393 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10394 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10395 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10399 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10400 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10401 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10404 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10405 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10406 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10409 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10410 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10411 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10415 @node Article Buffer
10416 @chapter Article Buffer
10417 @cindex article buffer
10419 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10420 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10421 tell gnus otherwise.
10424 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10425 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10426 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10427 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10428 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10432 @node Hiding Headers
10433 @section Hiding Headers
10434 @cindex hiding headers
10435 @cindex deleting headers
10437 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10438 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10440 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10441 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10442 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10443 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10444 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10445 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10446 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10447 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10448 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10450 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10454 @item gnus-visible-headers
10455 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10456 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10457 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10458 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10460 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10461 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10464 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10467 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10470 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10471 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10472 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10473 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10474 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10475 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10477 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10478 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10481 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10484 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10487 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10488 variable will have no effect.
10492 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10493 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10494 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10495 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10496 the headers are to be displayed.
10498 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10499 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10502 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10505 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10506 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10508 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10509 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10510 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10511 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10512 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10513 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10514 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10517 These conditions are:
10520 Remove all empty headers.
10522 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10523 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10525 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10526 @code{From} header.
10528 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10531 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10532 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10534 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10535 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10537 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10538 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10540 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10543 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10545 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10548 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10551 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10552 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10555 This is also the default value for this variable.
10559 @section Using MIME
10562 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10563 while people stand around yawning.
10565 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10566 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10568 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10569 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10570 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10572 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10573 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10574 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10575 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10576 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10577 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10578 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10579 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10580 not existed yet, sorry).
10582 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10583 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10584 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10585 These can't be avoided.
10587 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10588 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10589 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10590 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10591 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10592 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10593 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10594 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10595 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10598 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10600 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10601 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10602 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10603 buffer when there are nobody else.
10605 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10608 @node Customizing Articles
10609 @section Customizing Articles
10610 @cindex article customization
10612 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10613 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10614 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10615 called automatically when you select the articles.
10617 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10618 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10619 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10620 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10622 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10623 for sensible values.
10627 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10630 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10633 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10636 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10639 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10643 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10644 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10645 regexps in the list.
10648 A list where the first element is not a string:
10650 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10651 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10652 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10656 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10660 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10665 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10666 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10667 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10668 considered to contain just a single part.
10670 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10671 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10672 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10673 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10674 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10675 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10676 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10678 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10679 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10680 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10681 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10684 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10685 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10687 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10689 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10690 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10691 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10692 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10693 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10694 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10695 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10696 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10697 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10698 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10699 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10701 @xref{Article Washing}.
10703 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10704 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10705 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10706 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10707 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10708 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10709 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10711 @xref{Article Date}.
10713 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10714 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10715 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10719 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10721 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10723 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10724 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10725 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10729 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10733 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10734 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10735 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10736 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10737 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10738 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10739 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10740 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10741 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
10742 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
10744 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10746 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10747 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10748 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10750 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10752 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10753 @item gnus-treat-translate
10754 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10756 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10757 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10758 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10759 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10761 @xref{Article Header}.
10766 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10767 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10768 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10769 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10770 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10774 @node Article Keymap
10775 @section Article Keymap
10777 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10778 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10779 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10780 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10783 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10788 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10789 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10790 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10791 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
10794 @kindex DEL (Article)
10795 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10796 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10797 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
10800 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10801 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10802 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10803 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10804 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10807 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10808 @findex gnus-article-mail
10809 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10810 given a prefix, include the mail.
10813 @kindex s (Article)
10814 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10815 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10816 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10819 @kindex ? (Article)
10820 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10821 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10822 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10825 @kindex TAB (Article)
10826 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10827 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10828 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10831 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10832 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10833 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10836 @kindex R (Article)
10837 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10838 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10839 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10840 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10844 @kindex F (Article)
10845 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10846 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10847 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10848 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10856 @section Misc Article
10860 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10861 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10862 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10863 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10866 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10867 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10869 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10870 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10872 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10873 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10874 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10875 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10876 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10877 the contents of the article buffer.
10879 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10880 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10881 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10883 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10884 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10885 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10886 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10888 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10889 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10890 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10891 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10892 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10898 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10899 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10900 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10905 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10908 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10911 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10912 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10913 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10916 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10919 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10922 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10927 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10931 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10933 @item gnus-break-pages
10934 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10935 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10936 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10937 paging will not be done.
10939 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10940 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10941 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10946 @node Composing Messages
10947 @chapter Composing Messages
10948 @cindex composing messages
10951 @cindex sending mail
10956 @cindex using s/mime
10957 @cindex using smime
10959 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10960 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10961 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10962 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10963 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10964 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10967 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10968 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10969 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10970 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10971 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10972 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10973 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10974 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10977 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10978 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10984 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10987 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10988 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10989 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10990 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10991 @code{nil} include all headers.
10993 @item gnus-add-to-list
10994 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10995 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10996 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10998 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10999 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11000 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11001 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11002 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11003 confirmation is should be asked for.
11005 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11006 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11008 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11009 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11010 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11011 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11012 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11017 @node Posting Server
11018 @section Posting Server
11020 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11021 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11023 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11025 It can be quite complicated.
11027 @vindex gnus-post-method
11028 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11029 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11030 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11031 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11032 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11033 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11034 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11035 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11036 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11039 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11042 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11043 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11044 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11045 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11047 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11048 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11050 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11051 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11054 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11055 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11057 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11058 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11059 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11060 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11061 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11062 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11063 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11064 package correctly. An example:
11067 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11068 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11069 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11070 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11071 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11074 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11075 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11076 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11078 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11079 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11080 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11082 @node Mail and Post
11083 @section Mail and Post
11085 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11089 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11090 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11091 @cindex mailing lists
11093 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11094 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11095 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11096 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11097 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11098 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11099 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11100 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11101 still a pain, though.
11103 @item gnus-user-agent
11104 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11107 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11108 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11109 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11110 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11111 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11112 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11113 use a valid format, see RFC 2616."
11117 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11118 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11119 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11122 @findex ispell-message
11124 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11127 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11128 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11131 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11135 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11136 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11138 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11141 Modify to suit your needs.
11144 @node Archived Messages
11145 @section Archived Messages
11146 @cindex archived messages
11147 @cindex sent messages
11149 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11150 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11151 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11152 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11155 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11156 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11159 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11160 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11161 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11164 (nnfolder "archive"
11165 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11166 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11167 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11168 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11171 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11172 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11173 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11174 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11177 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11178 '(nnfolder "archive"
11179 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11180 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11181 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11184 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11186 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11187 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11188 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11190 This variable can be used to do the following:
11195 Messages will be saved in that group.
11197 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11198 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11199 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11200 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11201 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11202 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11203 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11204 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11208 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11210 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11211 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11214 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11219 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11221 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11224 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11226 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11229 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11231 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11232 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11233 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11234 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11237 More complex stuff:
11239 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11240 '((if (message-news-p)
11245 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11246 messages in one file per month:
11249 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11250 '((if (message-news-p)
11252 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11255 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11256 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11258 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11259 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11260 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11261 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11262 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11263 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11264 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11265 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11266 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11267 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11269 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11270 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11271 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11272 this will disable archiving.
11275 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11276 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11277 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11278 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11279 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11282 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11283 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11284 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11287 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11288 but the latter is the preferred method.
11290 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11291 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11292 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11294 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11295 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11296 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11297 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11298 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11299 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11300 changed in the future.
11305 @node Posting Styles
11306 @section Posting Styles
11307 @cindex posting styles
11310 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11312 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11313 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11314 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11317 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11318 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11319 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11320 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11321 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11326 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11327 (organization "What me?"))
11329 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11330 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11331 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11334 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11335 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11336 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11337 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11338 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11339 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11340 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11341 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11343 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11344 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11345 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11346 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11347 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11348 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11349 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11350 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11351 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11352 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11353 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11354 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11355 said to @dfn{match}.
11357 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11358 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11359 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11360 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11361 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11362 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11363 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11364 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11365 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11366 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11369 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11370 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11371 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11372 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11373 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11374 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11375 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11376 references chars lines xref extra.
11378 @vindex message-reply-headers
11380 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11381 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11382 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11384 @findex message-mail-p
11385 @findex message-news-p
11387 So here's a new example:
11390 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11392 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11394 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11395 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11397 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11398 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11399 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11400 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11401 (signature my-news-signature))
11402 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11403 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11404 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11405 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11406 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11407 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11408 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11409 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11410 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11411 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11413 (From (save-excursion
11414 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11415 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11417 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11420 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11421 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11422 if you fill many roles.
11424 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11425 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11426 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11427 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11428 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11429 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11430 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11431 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11436 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11438 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11440 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11441 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11444 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11447 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11448 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11455 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11456 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11457 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11458 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11459 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11461 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11462 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11463 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11464 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11465 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11469 @vindex nndraft-directory
11470 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11471 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11472 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11473 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11474 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11475 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11477 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11478 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11481 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11482 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11483 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11484 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11485 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11486 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11487 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11488 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11489 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11490 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11491 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11492 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11493 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11494 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11496 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11497 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11498 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11500 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11501 @kindex D e (Draft)
11502 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11503 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11504 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11506 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11509 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11510 @kindex D s (Draft)
11511 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11512 @kindex D S (Draft)
11513 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11514 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11515 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11516 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11517 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11520 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11521 @kindex D t (Draft)
11522 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11523 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11524 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11527 @node Rejected Articles
11528 @section Rejected Articles
11529 @cindex rejected articles
11531 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11532 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11533 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11534 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11536 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11537 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11538 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11539 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11540 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11542 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11543 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11544 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11546 @node Signing and encrypting
11547 @section Signing and encrypting
11549 @cindex using s/mime
11550 @cindex using smime
11552 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11553 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11554 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11555 (@pxref{Security}).
11557 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11558 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11559 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11560 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11561 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11562 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11563 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11564 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11565 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11566 automatically encrypted messages.
11568 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11569 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11570 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11575 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11576 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11578 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11581 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11582 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11584 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11587 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11588 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11590 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11593 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11594 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11596 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11599 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11600 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11602 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11605 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11606 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11608 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11611 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11612 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11613 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11617 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11619 @node Select Methods
11620 @chapter Select Methods
11621 @cindex foreign groups
11622 @cindex select methods
11624 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11625 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11626 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11627 personal mail group.
11629 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11630 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11631 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11632 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11633 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11634 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11636 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11637 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11639 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11642 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11643 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11644 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11645 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11646 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11648 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11651 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11652 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11653 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11654 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11655 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11656 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11657 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11658 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11662 @node Server Buffer
11663 @section Server Buffer
11665 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11666 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11667 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11668 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11669 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11670 back end represents a virtual server.
11672 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11673 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11674 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11675 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11677 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11678 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11679 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11680 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11681 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11682 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11683 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11685 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11686 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11689 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11690 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11691 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11692 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11693 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11694 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11695 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11698 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11699 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11702 @node Server Buffer Format
11703 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11704 @cindex server buffer format
11706 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11707 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11708 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11709 variable, with some simple extensions:
11714 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11717 The name of this server.
11720 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11723 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11726 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11727 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11728 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11729 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11739 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11742 @node Server Commands
11743 @subsection Server Commands
11744 @cindex server commands
11750 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11751 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11755 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11756 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11759 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11760 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11761 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11765 @findex gnus-server-exit
11766 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11770 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11771 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11775 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11776 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11780 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11781 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11785 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11786 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11790 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11791 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11792 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11797 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11798 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11799 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11800 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11805 @node Example Methods
11806 @subsection Example Methods
11808 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11811 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11814 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11820 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11821 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11824 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11825 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11827 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11828 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11832 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11835 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11836 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11838 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11839 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11840 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11844 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11847 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11850 Here's the method for a public spool:
11854 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11855 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11861 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11862 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11863 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11864 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11865 should probably look something like this:
11869 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11870 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11871 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11872 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11875 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11876 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11877 configuration to the example above:
11880 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11883 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11885 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11886 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11887 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11891 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11892 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11893 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11894 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11897 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11898 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11899 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11900 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11903 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11904 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11906 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11907 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11909 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11910 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11911 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11913 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11915 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11916 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11917 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11918 will contain the following:
11928 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11929 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11930 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11933 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11934 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11935 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11938 @node Server Variables
11939 @subsection Server Variables
11941 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11942 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11943 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11944 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11945 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
11947 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11948 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11949 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11950 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11951 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11952 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11953 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11954 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11955 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11959 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11960 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11961 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11965 @node Servers and Methods
11966 @subsection Servers and Methods
11968 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11969 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11970 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11971 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11975 @node Unavailable Servers
11976 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11978 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11979 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11980 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11981 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11982 actually the case or not.
11984 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11985 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11986 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11987 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11988 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11989 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11990 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11991 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11993 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11994 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11996 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11997 with the following commands:
12003 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12004 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12005 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12009 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12010 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12011 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12015 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12016 Mark the current server as unreachable
12017 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12020 @kindex M-o (Server)
12021 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12022 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12023 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12026 @kindex M-c (Server)
12027 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12028 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12029 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12033 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12034 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12035 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12039 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12040 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12046 @section Getting News
12047 @cindex reading news
12048 @cindex news back ends
12050 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12051 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12052 or it can read from a local spool.
12055 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12056 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12064 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12065 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12066 server as the, uhm, address.
12068 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12069 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12070 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12071 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12073 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12074 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12075 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12077 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12082 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12083 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12084 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12086 @cindex authentification
12087 @cindex nntp authentification
12088 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12089 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12090 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12091 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12092 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12093 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12094 present in this hook.
12096 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12097 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12098 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12099 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12100 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12101 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12102 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12103 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12104 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12105 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12106 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12107 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12111 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12114 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12116 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12117 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12118 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12119 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12120 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12121 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12122 @samp{force} is explained below.
12126 Here's an example file:
12129 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12130 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12133 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12134 have to be first, for instance.
12136 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12137 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12138 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12139 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12140 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12141 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12142 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12144 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12145 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12151 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12152 previously mentioned.
12154 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12156 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12157 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12158 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12159 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12160 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12163 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12164 '(("innd" (ding))))
12167 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12169 The default value is
12172 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12173 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12174 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12177 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12178 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12180 @item nntp-maximum-request
12181 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12182 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12183 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12184 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12185 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12186 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12187 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12189 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12190 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12191 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12192 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12193 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12194 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12195 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12196 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12197 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12198 no timeouts are done.
12200 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12201 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12202 @c @cindex PPP connections
12203 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12204 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12205 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12206 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12207 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12208 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12209 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12210 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12211 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12212 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12214 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12215 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12216 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12217 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12218 @c described above.
12220 @item nntp-server-hook
12221 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12222 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12225 @item nntp-buggy-select
12226 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12227 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12229 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12230 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12231 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12232 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12235 @item nntp-xover-commands
12236 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12239 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12240 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12244 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12245 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12246 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12247 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12248 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12249 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12250 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12251 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12252 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12253 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12254 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12256 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12257 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12258 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12260 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12261 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12262 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12263 server closes connection.
12265 @item nntp-record-commands
12266 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12267 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12268 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12269 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12270 that doesn't seem to work.
12272 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12273 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12274 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12275 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12276 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12277 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12278 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12279 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12281 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12282 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12283 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12284 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12285 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12286 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12287 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12290 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12293 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12294 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12296 @item nntp-read-timeout
12297 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12298 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12299 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12300 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12301 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12304 @item nntp-list-options
12305 @vindex nntp-list-options
12306 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12307 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12308 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12309 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12310 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12314 (setq gnus-select-method
12315 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12316 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12319 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12320 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12321 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12322 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12323 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12324 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12325 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12328 (setq gnus-select-method
12329 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12330 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12333 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12334 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12335 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12336 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12337 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12338 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12339 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12342 (setq gnus-select-method
12343 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12344 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12349 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12350 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12351 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12355 @node Direct Functions
12356 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12357 @cindex direct connection functions
12359 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12360 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12361 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12362 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12365 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12366 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12367 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12370 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12371 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12372 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12373 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12374 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12375 define a server as follows:
12378 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12380 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12381 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12383 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12384 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12385 (nntp-port-number 563)
12386 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12389 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12390 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12391 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12392 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12393 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12394 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12395 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12396 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12400 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12401 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12402 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12405 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12406 session, which is not a good idea.
12410 @node Indirect Functions
12411 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12412 @cindex indirect connection functions
12414 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12415 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12416 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12417 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12418 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12419 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12422 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12423 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12424 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12425 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12426 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12428 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12431 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12432 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12433 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12434 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12436 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12437 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12438 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12439 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12440 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12441 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12442 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12443 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12446 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12447 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12448 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12449 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12451 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12454 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12455 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12456 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12459 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12460 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12461 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12462 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12464 @item nntp-via-user-password
12465 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12466 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12468 @item nntp-via-envuser
12469 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12470 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12471 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12472 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12474 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12475 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12476 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12477 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12484 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12489 @item nntp-via-user-name
12490 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12491 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12493 @item nntp-via-address
12494 @vindex nntp-via-address
12495 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12500 @node Common Variables
12501 @subsubsection Common Variables
12503 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12504 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12509 @item nntp-pre-command
12510 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12511 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12512 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12513 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12514 wrapper for instance.
12517 @vindex nntp-address
12518 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12520 @item nntp-port-number
12521 @vindex nntp-port-number
12522 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12523 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12524 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12525 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12527 @item nntp-end-of-line
12528 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12529 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12530 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12531 using a non native connection function.
12533 @item nntp-telnet-command
12534 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12535 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12536 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12537 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12539 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12540 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12541 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12548 @subsection News Spool
12552 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12553 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12554 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12557 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12558 anything else) as the address.
12560 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12561 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12562 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12563 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12567 @item nnspool-inews-program
12568 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12569 Program used to post an article.
12571 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12572 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12573 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12575 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12576 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12577 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12578 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12580 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12581 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12582 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12583 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12585 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12586 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12587 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12589 @item nnspool-active-file
12590 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12591 The name of the active file.
12593 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12594 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12595 The name of the group descriptions file.
12597 @item nnspool-history-file
12598 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12599 The name of the news history file.
12601 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12602 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12603 The name of the active date file.
12605 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12606 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12607 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12610 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12611 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12613 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12614 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12615 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12621 @section Getting Mail
12622 @cindex reading mail
12625 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12629 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12630 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12631 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12632 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12633 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12634 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12635 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12636 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12637 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12638 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12639 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12640 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12641 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12645 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12646 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12648 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12649 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12650 of a culture shock.
12652 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12653 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12655 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12656 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12657 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12658 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12660 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12662 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12663 deleted? How awful!
12665 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12666 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12667 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12668 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12671 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12672 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12673 they want to treat a message.
12675 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12676 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12677 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12678 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12679 archived somewhere else.
12681 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12682 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12683 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12684 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12685 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12687 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12688 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12689 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12691 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12692 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12695 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12696 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12697 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12698 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12699 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12701 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12702 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12703 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12704 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12705 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12706 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12710 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12711 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12713 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12714 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12715 and things will happen automatically.
12717 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12718 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12721 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12724 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12725 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12726 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12727 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12728 like any other group.
12730 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12733 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12734 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12735 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12739 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12740 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12741 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12744 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12745 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12746 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12749 @node Splitting Mail
12750 @subsection Splitting Mail
12751 @cindex splitting mail
12752 @cindex mail splitting
12754 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12755 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12756 to be split into groups.
12759 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12760 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12761 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12762 ("mail.other" "")))
12765 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12766 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12767 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12768 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12769 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12770 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12771 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12774 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12777 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12778 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12779 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12780 mail belongs in that group.
12782 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12783 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12784 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12785 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12786 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12787 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12789 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12790 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12791 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12792 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12793 thinks should carry this mail message.
12795 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12796 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12797 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12798 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12800 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12801 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12802 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12803 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12804 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
12806 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12809 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12810 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12811 links. If that's the case for you, set
12812 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12813 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12815 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12816 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12817 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12818 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12819 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12820 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12823 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12824 Header lines longer than the value of
12825 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12828 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12829 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12830 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
12831 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12832 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12833 can be turned off completely by binding
12834 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12835 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12837 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12838 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12839 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12840 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12841 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12842 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12843 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12846 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12847 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12848 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12849 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12850 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12851 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12852 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12853 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12854 month's rent money.
12858 @subsection Mail Sources
12860 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12861 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12865 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12866 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12867 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12871 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12872 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12874 @cindex mail server
12877 @cindex mail source
12879 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12880 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12885 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12888 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12889 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12890 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12893 The following mail source types are available:
12897 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12903 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12904 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12905 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12909 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12912 An example file mail source:
12915 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12918 Or using the default file name:
12924 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12925 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12926 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12929 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12933 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12936 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12940 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12943 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12945 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12948 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12952 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12953 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12954 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12955 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12956 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12957 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12958 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12959 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12960 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12961 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12963 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12964 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12965 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12966 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12972 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12976 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12980 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12981 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12982 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12983 predicate are considered.
12987 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12991 An example directory mail source:
12994 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12999 Get mail from a POP server.
13005 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13006 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13009 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13010 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13011 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13012 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13013 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13016 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13020 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13024 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13025 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13028 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13031 The valid format specifier characters are:
13035 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13036 included in this string.
13039 The name of the server.
13042 The port number of the server.
13045 The user name to use.
13048 The password to use.
13051 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13052 corresponding keywords.
13055 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13056 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13059 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13060 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13063 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13064 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13067 @item :authentication
13068 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13069 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13073 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13074 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13075 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13076 programs and libraries:
13080 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13081 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13082 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13084 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13085 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13090 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13091 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13095 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13096 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13098 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13099 default user name, and default fetcher:
13105 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13108 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13109 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13112 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13115 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13119 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13120 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13121 contains exactly one mail.
13127 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13128 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13131 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13132 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13134 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13135 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13136 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13139 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13140 from locking problems).
13144 Two example maildir mail sources:
13147 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13148 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13152 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13157 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13158 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13159 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13160 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13163 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13164 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13170 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13171 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13174 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13175 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13178 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13182 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13186 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13187 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13188 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13189 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13191 @item :authentication
13192 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13193 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13194 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13195 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13198 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13199 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13200 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13206 The valid format specifier characters are:
13210 The name of the server.
13213 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13216 The port number of the server.
13219 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13220 corresponding keywords.
13223 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13224 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13227 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13228 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13229 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13230 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13231 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13232 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13235 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13236 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13237 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13238 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13241 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13242 after finishing the fetch.
13246 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13249 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13251 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13255 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13256 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13257 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13259 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13260 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13262 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13268 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13269 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13272 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13276 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13280 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13281 folder after finishing the fetch.
13285 An example webmail source:
13288 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13290 :password "secret")
13295 @item Common Keywords
13296 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13302 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13303 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13307 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13312 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13313 useful when you use local mail and news.
13318 @subsubsection Function Interface
13320 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13321 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13322 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13323 consider the following mail-source setting:
13326 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13327 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13330 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13331 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13332 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13333 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13334 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13336 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13339 @node Mail Source Customization
13340 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13342 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13343 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13347 @item mail-source-crash-box
13348 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13349 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13350 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13352 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13353 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13354 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13355 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13356 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13357 (This will only happen, when reveiving new mail). You may also set
13358 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13359 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13361 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13362 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13363 If @code{non-nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13364 files. This variable only applies when
13365 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13367 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13368 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13369 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13371 @item mail-source-directory
13372 @vindex mail-source-directory
13373 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13374 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13375 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13378 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13379 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13380 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13381 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13382 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13383 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13385 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13386 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13387 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13389 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13390 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13391 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13392 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13397 @node Fetching Mail
13398 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13400 @vindex mail-sources
13401 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13402 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13403 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13404 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13406 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13407 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13410 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13411 mail server, you'd say something like:
13416 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13417 :password "secret")))
13420 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13424 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13425 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13428 :password "secret")))
13432 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13433 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13434 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13435 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13436 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13437 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13441 @node Mail Back End Variables
13442 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13444 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13448 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13449 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13450 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13451 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13453 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13454 @item nnmail-split-hook
13455 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13456 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13457 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13458 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13459 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13460 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13461 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13462 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13463 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13466 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13467 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13468 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13469 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13470 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13471 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13472 starting to handle the new mail) and
13473 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13474 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13475 default file modes the new mail files get:
13478 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13479 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13481 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13482 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13485 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13486 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13487 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13488 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13489 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13490 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13491 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13493 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13494 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13495 @findex delete-file
13496 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13498 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13499 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13500 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13501 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13502 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13504 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13505 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13506 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13507 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13508 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13510 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13511 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13512 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13517 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13518 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13519 @cindex mail splitting
13520 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13522 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13523 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13524 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13525 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13526 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13527 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13529 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13532 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13533 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13534 ;; from real errors.
13535 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13537 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13538 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13539 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13540 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13541 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13542 ;; Other mailing lists...
13543 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13544 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13545 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13546 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13547 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13548 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13549 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13550 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13552 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13553 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13557 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13558 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13559 the five possible split syntaxes:
13564 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13565 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13569 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13570 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13571 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13572 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13573 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13574 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13575 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13576 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13579 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13580 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13581 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13582 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13585 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13586 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13589 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13590 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13593 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13594 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13595 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13596 function should return a @var{split}.
13599 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13600 body of the messages:
13603 (defun split-on-body ()
13605 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13606 (goto-char (point-min))
13607 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13611 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13612 when the @code{:} function is run.
13615 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13616 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13617 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13618 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13621 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13625 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13626 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13627 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13628 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13629 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13631 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13632 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13633 are expanded as specified by the variable
13634 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13635 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13638 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13639 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13640 when all this splitting is performed.
13642 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13643 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13644 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13647 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13650 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13651 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13653 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13654 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13655 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13656 groupings 1 through 9.
13658 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13659 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13660 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13661 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13662 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13663 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13664 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13665 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13666 it once per thread.
13668 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13669 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13670 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13673 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13674 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13676 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13677 ;; other splits go here
13681 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13682 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13683 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13684 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13685 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13686 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13687 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13688 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13689 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13690 unless the group name matches the regexp
13691 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13692 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13693 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13694 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13695 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13696 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13697 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13698 messages goes into the new group.
13700 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13701 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13702 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13703 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13704 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13708 @node Group Mail Splitting
13709 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13710 @cindex mail splitting
13711 @cindex group mail splitting
13713 @findex gnus-group-split
13714 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13715 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13716 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13717 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13718 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13719 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13720 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13721 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13723 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13724 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13725 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13726 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13728 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13729 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13730 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13731 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13732 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13733 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13734 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13736 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13737 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13738 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13739 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13740 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13741 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13742 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13744 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13745 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13746 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13747 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13748 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13749 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13750 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13751 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13752 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13753 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13754 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13755 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13756 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13758 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13763 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13764 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13766 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13767 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13768 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13769 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13771 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13774 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13775 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13776 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13779 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13780 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13781 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13785 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13786 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13787 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13791 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13794 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13795 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13796 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13797 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13798 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13799 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13800 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13801 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13802 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13804 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13805 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13806 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13807 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13808 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13809 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13810 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13811 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13812 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13814 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13815 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13816 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13817 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13818 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13819 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13822 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13825 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13826 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13827 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13828 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13829 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13832 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13833 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13834 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13835 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13837 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13838 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13839 @cindex incorporating old mail
13840 @cindex import old mail
13842 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13843 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13844 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13847 Doing so can be quite easy.
13849 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13850 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13851 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13852 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13853 your @code{nnml} groups.
13859 Go to the group buffer.
13862 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13863 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13866 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13869 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13870 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13873 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13874 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13877 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13878 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13879 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13880 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13881 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13883 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13884 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13885 using the new mail back end.
13888 @node Expiring Mail
13889 @subsection Expiring Mail
13890 @cindex article expiry
13892 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13893 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13894 different approach to mail reading.
13896 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13897 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13898 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13899 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13900 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13901 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13904 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13905 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13906 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13907 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13908 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13909 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13910 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13911 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13912 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13914 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13915 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13916 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13917 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13918 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13919 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13920 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13923 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13924 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13925 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13926 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13927 into its own group.)
13929 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13930 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13931 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13932 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13933 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13934 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13935 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13936 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13939 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13940 Groups that match the regular expression
13941 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13942 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13943 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13945 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13946 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13947 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13948 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13949 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13951 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13953 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13954 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13955 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13958 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13959 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13960 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13961 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13962 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13964 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13965 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13968 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13969 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13972 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13973 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13975 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13976 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13977 don't really mix very well.
13979 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13980 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13981 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13982 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13985 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13986 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13987 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13988 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13991 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13993 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13995 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13997 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13999 ((string= group "important")
14005 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14006 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14008 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14009 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14010 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14013 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14014 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14016 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14017 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14018 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14019 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14020 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14021 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14022 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14023 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14024 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14025 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14026 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14027 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
14028 name or @code{delete}.
14030 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14032 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14035 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14036 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14037 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14038 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14039 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14042 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14043 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14044 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14045 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14046 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14049 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14050 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14051 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14052 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14053 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14054 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14056 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14057 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14058 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14059 easier for procmail users.
14061 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14062 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14063 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14064 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14065 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14066 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14067 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14068 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14069 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14070 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14071 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14072 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14073 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14076 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14078 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14079 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14080 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14081 auto-expire turned on.
14085 @subsection Washing Mail
14086 @cindex mail washing
14087 @cindex list server brain damage
14088 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14090 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14091 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14092 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14093 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14094 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14095 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14097 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14098 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14099 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14102 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14103 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14104 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14105 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14108 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14109 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14110 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14111 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14112 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14115 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14116 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14117 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14118 Emacs running on MS machines.
14122 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14123 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14124 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14125 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14128 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14129 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14130 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14131 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14133 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14134 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14135 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14136 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14137 into a feature by documenting it.)
14139 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14140 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14141 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14142 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14143 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14144 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14145 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14148 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14149 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14152 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14153 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14156 This can also be done non-destructively with
14157 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14159 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14160 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14161 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14163 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14164 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14166 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14167 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14168 @code{References} headers.
14172 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14173 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14174 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14178 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14179 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14180 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14187 @subsection Duplicates
14189 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14190 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14191 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14192 @cindex duplicate mails
14193 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14194 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14195 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14196 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14197 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14198 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14199 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14200 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14201 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14202 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14203 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14204 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14205 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14207 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14208 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14209 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14210 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14212 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14215 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14216 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14220 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14221 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14222 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14223 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14224 (any mail "mail.misc")
14231 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14232 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14237 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14238 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14239 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14240 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14241 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14244 @node Not Reading Mail
14245 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14247 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14248 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14249 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14251 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14252 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14253 mail, which should help.
14255 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14256 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14257 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14258 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14259 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14260 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14261 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14262 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14263 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14264 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14265 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14267 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14268 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14272 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14273 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14275 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14276 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14277 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14279 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14280 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14281 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14285 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14286 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14287 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14288 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14289 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14290 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14291 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14295 @node Unix Mail Box
14296 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14298 @cindex unix mail box
14300 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14301 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14302 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14303 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14304 which group it belongs in.
14306 Virtual server settings:
14309 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14310 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14311 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14314 @item nnmbox-active-file
14315 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14316 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14317 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14319 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14320 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14321 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14322 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14327 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14331 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14332 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14333 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14334 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14335 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14337 Virtual server settings:
14340 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14341 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14342 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14344 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14345 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14346 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14347 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14349 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14350 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14351 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14357 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14359 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14361 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14362 format. It should be used with some caution.
14364 @vindex nnml-directory
14365 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14366 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14367 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14368 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14370 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14373 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14374 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14375 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14376 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14377 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14378 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14379 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14380 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14382 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14383 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14384 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14385 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14387 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14389 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14390 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14391 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14392 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14393 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14394 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14395 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14396 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14399 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14400 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14401 them next time it starts.
14403 Virtual server settings:
14406 @item nnml-directory
14407 @vindex nnml-directory
14408 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14409 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14412 @item nnml-active-file
14413 @vindex nnml-active-file
14414 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14415 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14417 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14418 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14419 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14420 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14422 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14423 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14424 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14427 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14428 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14429 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14430 default is @code{nil}.
14432 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14433 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14434 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14436 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14437 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14438 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14440 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14441 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14442 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14443 default is @code{nil}.
14445 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14446 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14447 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14449 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14450 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14451 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14456 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14457 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14458 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14459 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14460 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14461 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14462 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14467 @subsubsection MH Spool
14469 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14471 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14472 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14473 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14474 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14476 Virtual server settings:
14479 @item nnmh-directory
14480 @vindex nnmh-directory
14481 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14482 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14485 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14486 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14487 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14491 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14492 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14493 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14494 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14495 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14496 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14497 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14502 @subsubsection Maildir
14506 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14507 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14508 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14509 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14510 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14513 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14514 reading, without needing locks. With other backends, you would have
14515 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14516 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14517 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14518 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14521 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14522 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14523 data in the filesystem.
14525 nnmaildir stores article marks and NOV data in each maildir. So you
14526 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14529 Virtual server settings:
14533 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14534 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14535 symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a directory
14536 already used for other purposes). You could also put maildirs
14537 themselves (instead of symlinks to them) directly in the server
14538 directory, but that would break @code{nnmaildir-request-delete-group},
14539 so you wouldn't be able to delete those groups from within Gnus. (You
14540 could still delete them from your shell with @code{rm -r foo}.) Each
14541 maildir will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
14542 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
14543 in the directory starting with `.' are ignored. The directory is
14544 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
14545 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
14546 nnmaildir notices at these times.
14548 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14549 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14550 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14551 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14552 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14553 don't worry - a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14554 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using @file{~/Mail}
14555 or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus use that
14556 directory by default for various things, and may get confused if
14557 nnmaildir uses it too. @file{~/.nnmaildir} is a typical value.
14559 @item create-directory
14560 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14561 @code{expand-file-name} to get the name of the directory where new
14562 maildirs are created. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the server
14563 is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is closed.
14564 This parameter is optional, but if you do not supply it, you cannot
14565 create new groups from within Gnus. (You could still create them from
14566 your shell with @code{mkdir -m 0700 foo foo/tmp foo/new foo/cur}.) A
14567 relative path is interpreted as relative to the @code{directory} path.
14568 @code{create-directory} and @code{directory} must be different;
14569 otherwise, group creation and deletion will break. (If you don't need
14570 those features, you can omit @code{create-directory} entirely.)
14572 @item directory-files
14573 This should be a function with the same interface as
14574 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14575 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14576 parameter is optional; the default is
14577 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14578 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14579 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14580 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14581 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14582 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14585 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14586 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14587 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14588 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14589 value is @code{nil}.
14591 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14592 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14593 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14594 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14595 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14598 @subsubsection Group parameters
14600 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14601 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14602 behavior for other mail backends: articles are deleted after one week,
14603 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14604 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14605 duplicate the behavior you already have with another backend.
14607 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14608 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14609 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14610 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14611 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14612 backends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14613 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14614 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14615 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14619 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14620 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14621 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14622 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14623 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overridable by
14624 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14625 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14626 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14627 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14628 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14629 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14630 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14633 If this is set to a string (a full Gnus group name, like
14634 @code{"backend+server.address.string:group.name"}), and if it is not
14635 the name of the same group that the parameter belongs to, then
14636 articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry before
14637 being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14638 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14639 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the destination
14643 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14644 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14645 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14646 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14647 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14648 directory of another maildir - e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14649 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14650 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14651 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14652 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14653 extra copies of the articles.
14655 @item directory-files
14656 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
14657 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
14658 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
14659 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
14662 A list of mark symbols, such as
14663 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
14664 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
14665 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
14666 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
14667 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14668 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14671 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
14672 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
14673 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
14674 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
14675 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
14676 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14677 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14679 @item nov-cache-size
14680 An integer specifying the size of the NOV memory cache. To speed
14681 things up, nnmaildir keeps NOV data in memory for a limited number of
14682 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
14683 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
14684 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened - i.e.,
14685 when you first start Gnus, typically. The NOV cache is never resized
14686 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
14687 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
14688 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
14689 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
14692 @subsubsection Article identification
14693 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
14694 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
14695 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
14696 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
14697 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
14698 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
14699 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
14700 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
14701 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
14702 request the article in the summary buffer.
14704 @subsubsection NOV data
14705 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its NOV data (used to
14706 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
14707 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
14708 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
14709 need for it - an article's NOV data is updated automatically when the
14710 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
14711 nnmaildir to regenerate the NOV data for a single article simply by
14712 deleting the corresponding NOV file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
14713 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
14714 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
14716 @subsubsection Article marks
14717 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
14718 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
14719 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
14720 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
14721 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
14722 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
14723 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
14724 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
14726 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
14727 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
14728 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
14729 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
14730 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
14731 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
14732 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
14733 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
14734 changes, and might undo them.
14738 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14740 @cindex mbox folders
14741 @cindex mail folders
14743 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14744 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14745 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14748 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14750 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14751 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14752 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14753 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14754 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14755 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14756 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14757 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14758 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14759 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14761 Virtual server settings:
14764 @item nnfolder-directory
14765 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14766 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14767 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14770 @item nnfolder-active-file
14771 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14772 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14774 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14775 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14776 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14777 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
14779 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14780 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14781 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14784 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14785 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14786 @cindex backup files
14787 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14788 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14789 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14790 your @file{.emacs} file:
14793 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14794 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14796 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14799 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14800 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14801 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14802 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14803 extract some information from it before removing it.
14805 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14806 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14807 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14808 default is @code{nil}.
14810 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14811 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14812 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14814 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14815 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14816 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14817 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14819 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14820 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14821 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14822 default is @code{nil}.
14824 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14825 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14826 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14828 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14829 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14830 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14831 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14836 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14837 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14838 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14839 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14840 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14841 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14844 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14845 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14847 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14848 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14849 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14850 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14851 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14853 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14854 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14855 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14856 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14857 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14858 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14859 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14860 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14863 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14864 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14865 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14866 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14871 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14872 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14873 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14874 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14875 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14876 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14877 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14878 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14879 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14880 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14881 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14882 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14883 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14888 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14889 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14890 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14891 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14892 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14893 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14894 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14895 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14896 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14897 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14898 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14899 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14900 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14901 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14903 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14904 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14909 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14910 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14911 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14912 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14913 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14914 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14915 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14916 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14917 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14918 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14919 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14920 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14921 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14922 provided by the active file and overviews.
14924 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14925 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14926 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14927 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14928 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14931 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14932 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14937 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14938 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14939 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14940 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14941 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14942 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14943 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14947 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14948 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14949 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14950 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14951 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14952 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14953 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14954 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14955 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14957 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14958 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14959 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14960 friendly mail back end all over.
14964 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14965 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14966 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14967 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14968 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14969 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14970 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14971 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14974 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14975 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14976 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14977 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14978 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14979 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14980 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14981 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14982 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14983 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14984 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14986 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14987 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14988 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14989 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14990 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14991 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14992 This will probably be changed in the future.
14994 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14995 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14996 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14997 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14998 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15001 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
15002 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
15004 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15005 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15006 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15007 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15008 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15009 would) to make it use less memory.
15011 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
15012 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
15013 depending in part on your file system.
15015 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15016 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15021 @node Browsing the Web
15022 @section Browsing the Web
15024 @cindex browsing the web
15028 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15029 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15030 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15031 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15032 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15033 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15034 even know what a news group is.
15036 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15037 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15038 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15039 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15040 you mad in the end.
15042 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15045 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15046 interfaces to these sources.
15050 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15051 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15052 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15053 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15054 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15055 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15058 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15060 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15061 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
15062 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15063 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15064 though, you should be ok.
15066 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15067 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15068 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15069 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15070 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15072 @node Archiving Mail
15073 @subsection Archiving Mail
15074 @cindex archiving mail
15075 @cindex backup of mail
15077 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15078 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15079 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15080 marks is fairly simple.
15082 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15083 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15086 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15087 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15088 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15089 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15090 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15091 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15092 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15093 before you restore the data.
15095 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15096 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15097 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15098 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15099 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15100 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15101 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15102 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15103 is unnecessary in that case.
15106 @subsection Web Searches
15111 @cindex Usenet searches
15112 @cindex searching the Usenet
15114 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15115 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15116 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15117 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15118 searches without having to use a browser.
15120 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15121 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15122 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15123 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15124 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15126 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15127 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15128 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15129 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15130 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15131 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15132 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15133 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15134 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15135 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15138 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15139 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15140 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15141 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15142 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15143 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15145 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15146 to use @code{nnweb}.
15148 Virtual server variables:
15153 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15154 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15155 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15158 @vindex nnweb-search
15159 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15161 @item nnweb-max-hits
15162 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15163 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15166 @item nnweb-type-definition
15167 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15168 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15169 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15174 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15178 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15181 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15184 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15188 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15195 @subsection Slashdot
15199 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
15200 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15201 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15203 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15204 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
15207 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15208 '((nnslashdot "")))
15211 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15212 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15213 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15214 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15215 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15218 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15219 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15221 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15222 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
15223 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15224 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15225 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
15226 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15229 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15232 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15233 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15234 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15235 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15236 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15237 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15238 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15240 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15241 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15242 The login name to use when posting.
15244 @item nnslashdot-password
15245 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15246 The password to use when posting.
15248 @item nnslashdot-directory
15249 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15250 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15251 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15253 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15254 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15255 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15256 news articles and comments. The default is
15257 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15259 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15260 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15261 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15263 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15265 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15266 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15267 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15269 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15271 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15272 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15273 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15275 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15276 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15277 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15278 updated. The default is 0.
15285 @subsection Ultimate
15287 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15289 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
15290 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15291 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15292 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15294 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15295 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15296 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15297 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15298 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15299 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15300 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15302 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15305 @item nnultimate-directory
15306 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15307 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15308 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15313 @subsection Web Archive
15315 @cindex Web Archive
15317 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15318 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15319 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15320 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15323 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15324 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15325 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15326 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15327 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15328 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15329 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15330 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15332 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15335 @item nnwarchive-directory
15336 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15337 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15338 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15340 @item nnwarchive-login
15341 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15342 The account name on the web server.
15344 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15345 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15346 The password for your account on the web server.
15354 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15355 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15356 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15359 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15360 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15363 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15366 @item nnrss-directory
15367 @vindex nnrss-directory
15368 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15369 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15373 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15374 the summary buffer.
15377 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15378 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15380 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15382 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15383 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15386 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15389 (require 'browse-url)
15391 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15393 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15396 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15397 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15400 (browse-url (cdr url))
15401 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15402 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15404 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15405 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15406 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15407 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15410 @node Customizing w3
15411 @subsection Customizing w3
15417 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15418 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15419 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15421 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15422 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15423 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15426 (eval-after-load "w3"
15428 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15429 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15430 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15431 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15433 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15436 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15437 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15446 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15447 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15448 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15449 specify the network address of the server.
15451 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15452 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15453 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15454 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15455 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15457 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15458 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15459 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15460 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15462 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15463 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15464 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15465 usage explained in this section.
15467 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15468 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15469 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15472 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15473 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15474 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15476 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15477 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15478 ; a UW server running on localhost
15480 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15481 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15482 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15483 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15484 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15485 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15486 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15487 (nnimap-stream network))
15488 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15490 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15491 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15492 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15495 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15496 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15497 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15498 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15500 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15505 @item nnimap-address
15506 @vindex nnimap-address
15508 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15509 server name if not specified.
15511 @item nnimap-server-port
15512 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15513 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15515 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15518 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15519 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15522 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15523 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15524 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15525 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15526 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15527 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15528 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15530 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15531 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15532 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15535 Example server specification:
15538 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15539 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15540 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15543 @item nnimap-stream
15544 @vindex nnimap-stream
15545 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15546 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15547 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15548 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15550 Example server specification:
15553 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15554 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15557 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15561 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15562 @samp{imtest} program.
15564 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15566 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15567 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15570 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15571 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15573 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15575 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15578 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15579 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15580 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15581 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15582 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15583 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15584 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15585 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15586 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15589 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15590 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15591 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15592 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15593 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15594 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15595 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15598 @vindex imap-shell-program
15599 @vindex imap-shell-host
15600 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15601 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15603 @item nnimap-authenticator
15604 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15606 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15607 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15609 Example server specification:
15612 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15613 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15616 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15620 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15621 external program @code{imtest}.
15623 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15626 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15627 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15629 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15631 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15633 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15636 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15638 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15639 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15640 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15641 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15642 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15643 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15646 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15647 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15648 running in circles yet?
15650 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15651 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15654 The possible options are:
15659 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15662 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15663 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15664 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15665 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15667 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15672 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15673 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15675 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15676 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15677 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15678 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15679 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15682 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15683 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15686 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15687 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15688 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15689 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15692 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15693 as ticked for other users.
15695 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15697 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15699 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15700 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15701 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15702 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15704 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15705 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15706 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15707 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15709 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15710 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15712 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15713 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15714 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15720 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15721 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15722 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15723 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
15724 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15729 @node Splitting in IMAP
15730 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15731 @cindex splitting imap mail
15733 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15734 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15735 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15736 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15737 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15741 Here are the variables of interest:
15745 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15746 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15748 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15750 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15751 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15753 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15755 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15756 @cindex splitting, inbox
15758 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15760 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15761 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15765 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15766 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15769 No nnmail equivalent.
15771 @item nnimap-split-rule
15772 @cindex Splitting, rules
15773 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15775 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15778 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15779 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15780 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15781 Neither did I, we need examples.
15784 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15786 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15787 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15788 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15791 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15792 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15793 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15795 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15796 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15800 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15803 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15804 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15806 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15807 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15808 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15809 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15811 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15812 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15813 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15814 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15815 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15816 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15818 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15819 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
15820 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
15822 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15823 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15824 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15826 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15828 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15829 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15830 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15833 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15834 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15835 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15836 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15837 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15838 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15841 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15842 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15843 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15844 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15845 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15846 group/function elements.
15848 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15850 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15852 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15854 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15855 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15857 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15858 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15859 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15862 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15863 @cindex splitting, fancy
15864 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15865 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15867 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15868 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15869 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15871 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15872 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15873 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15874 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15879 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15880 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15883 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15885 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15886 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15887 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15889 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15890 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15891 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15892 analyses the body to split the article.
15896 @node Expiring in IMAP
15897 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15898 @cindex expiring imap mail
15900 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
15901 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
15902 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
15903 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
15904 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
15905 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
15908 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15909 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15910 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15911 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15912 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15913 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15914 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15915 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15919 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15920 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15922 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15923 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
15925 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15927 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15928 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15929 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15930 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15934 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15935 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15936 @cindex editing imap acls
15937 @cindex Access Control Lists
15938 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15940 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15942 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15943 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15944 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15947 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15948 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15949 editing window with detailed instructions.
15951 Some possible uses:
15955 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15956 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15957 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15959 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15960 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
15961 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15965 @node Expunging mailboxes
15966 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15970 @cindex Manual expunging
15972 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15974 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15975 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15976 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15978 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15981 @node A note on namespaces
15982 @subsection A note on namespaces
15983 @cindex IMAP namespace
15986 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15987 following text in the RFC:
15990 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15992 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15993 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15994 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15995 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15997 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15998 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15999 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16000 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16001 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16002 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16005 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
16006 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
16007 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16009 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
16010 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
16011 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
16012 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
16013 the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
16014 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
16015 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
16016 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
16018 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16019 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16020 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16022 @node Other Sources
16023 @section Other Sources
16025 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16026 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16030 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16031 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16032 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16033 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16034 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16038 @node Directory Groups
16039 @subsection Directory Groups
16041 @cindex directory groups
16043 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16044 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16047 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16048 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16049 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16050 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16052 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16053 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16054 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16055 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16056 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16058 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
16060 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16061 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16062 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16063 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16066 @node Anything Groups
16067 @subsection Anything Groups
16070 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16071 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16072 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16075 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16076 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16077 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16078 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16079 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16080 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16081 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16082 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16083 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16084 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16087 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16088 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16089 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16090 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16092 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16093 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16094 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16095 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16097 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16098 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16099 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16100 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16101 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16102 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16103 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16104 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16109 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16110 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16111 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16112 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16114 @item nneething-exclude-files
16115 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16116 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16117 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16119 @item nneething-include-files
16120 @vindex nneething-include-files
16121 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16122 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16124 @item nneething-map-file
16125 @vindex nneething-map-file
16126 Name of the map files.
16130 @node Document Groups
16131 @subsection Document Groups
16133 @cindex documentation group
16136 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16137 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16144 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
16149 The standard Unix mbox file.
16151 @cindex MMDF mail box
16153 The MMDF mail box format.
16156 Several news articles appended into a file.
16159 @cindex rnews batch files
16160 The rnews batch transport format.
16161 @cindex forwarded messages
16164 Forwarded articles.
16167 Netscape mail boxes.
16170 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
16172 @item standard-digest
16173 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16176 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
16178 @item lanl-gov-announce
16179 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16181 @item rfc822-forward
16182 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16185 The Outlook mail box.
16188 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16191 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16194 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16197 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16203 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16206 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16212 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16213 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16214 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16217 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16218 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16219 group. And that's it.
16221 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16222 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16223 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16224 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16225 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16226 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16227 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16228 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16229 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16230 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16232 Virtual server variables:
16235 @item nndoc-article-type
16236 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16237 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16238 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16239 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16240 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16241 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16243 @item nndoc-post-type
16244 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16245 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16246 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16251 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16255 @node Document Server Internals
16256 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16258 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16259 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16260 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16261 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16263 First, here's an example document type definition:
16267 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16268 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16271 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16272 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16273 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16274 types can be defined with very few settings:
16277 @item first-article
16278 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16279 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16282 @item article-begin
16283 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16284 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16286 @item head-begin-function
16287 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16290 @item nndoc-head-begin
16291 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16294 @item nndoc-head-end
16295 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16296 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16298 @item body-begin-function
16299 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16303 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16306 @item body-end-function
16307 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16311 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16314 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16315 regexp will be totally ignored.
16319 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16320 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16321 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16322 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16323 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16326 @item prepare-body-function
16327 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16328 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16329 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16331 @item article-transform-function
16332 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16333 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16334 body of the article.
16336 @item generate-head-function
16337 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16338 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16339 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16340 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16344 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16349 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16350 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16351 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16352 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16353 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16354 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16355 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16356 (subtype digest guess))
16359 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16360 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16361 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16362 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16363 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16365 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16366 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16367 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16368 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16369 The alist is traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is
16370 called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is
16371 called to see whether a document is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on.
16372 These type predicates should return @code{nil} if the document is not
16373 of the correct type; @code{t} if it is of the correct type; and a
16374 number if the document might be of the correct type. A high number
16375 means high probability; a low number means low probability with
16376 @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16384 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16385 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16386 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16388 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16389 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16390 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16393 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16394 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16395 that interested in doing things properly.
16397 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16398 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16401 First some terminology:
16406 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16407 get news and/or mail from.
16410 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16411 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16414 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16418 @item message packets
16419 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16420 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16421 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16423 @item response packets
16424 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16425 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16426 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16436 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16437 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16438 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16439 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16442 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16445 You put the packet in your home directory.
16448 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16449 the native or secondary server.
16452 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16453 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16456 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16460 You transfer this packet to the server.
16463 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16466 You then repeat until you die.
16470 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16471 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16474 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16475 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16476 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16480 @node SOUP Commands
16481 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16483 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16487 @kindex G s b (Group)
16488 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16489 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16490 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16491 process/prefix convention.
16494 @kindex G s w (Group)
16495 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16496 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16499 @kindex G s s (Group)
16500 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16501 Send all replies from the replies packet
16502 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16505 @kindex G s p (Group)
16506 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16507 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16510 @kindex G s r (Group)
16511 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16512 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16515 @kindex O s (Summary)
16516 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16517 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16518 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16519 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16524 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16529 @item gnus-soup-directory
16530 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16531 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16532 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16534 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16535 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16536 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16537 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16539 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16540 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16541 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16542 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16544 @item gnus-soup-packer
16545 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16546 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16547 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16549 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16550 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16551 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16552 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16554 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16555 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16556 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16558 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16559 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16560 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16561 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16567 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16570 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16571 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16572 you can read them at leisure.
16574 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16578 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16579 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16580 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16581 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16583 @item nnsoup-directory
16584 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16585 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16586 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16588 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16589 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16590 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16591 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16593 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16594 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16595 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16596 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16597 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16599 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16600 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16601 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16602 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16604 @item nnsoup-active-file
16605 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16606 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16607 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16608 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16609 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16611 @item nnsoup-packer
16612 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16613 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16614 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16616 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16617 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16618 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16619 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16621 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16622 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16623 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16626 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16627 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16628 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16631 @item nnsoup-always-save
16632 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16633 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16639 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16641 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16642 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16643 more for that to happen.
16645 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16646 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16647 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16650 In specific, this is what it does:
16653 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16654 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16657 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16658 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16659 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16662 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16663 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16664 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16667 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16668 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16669 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16671 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16677 @item nngateway-address
16678 @vindex nngateway-address
16679 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16681 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16682 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16683 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16684 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16685 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16686 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16687 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16690 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16691 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16692 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16695 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16698 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16701 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16704 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16706 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16709 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16710 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16711 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16713 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16715 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16716 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16717 @code{nngateway-address}.
16722 (setq gnus-post-method
16724 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16725 (nngateway-header-transformation
16726 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16734 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16737 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16742 @node Combined Groups
16743 @section Combined Groups
16745 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16749 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16750 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16754 @node Virtual Groups
16755 @subsection Virtual Groups
16757 @cindex virtual groups
16758 @cindex merging groups
16760 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16763 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16764 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16765 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16767 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16768 regexp to match component groups.
16770 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16771 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16772 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16773 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16774 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16775 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16776 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16777 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16779 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16780 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16783 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16786 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16787 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16789 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16790 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16791 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16792 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16795 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16798 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16799 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16800 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16802 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16803 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16804 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16805 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16806 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16808 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16809 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16810 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16812 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16813 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16814 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16815 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16816 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16817 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16818 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16819 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16820 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16821 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16822 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16824 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16825 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16826 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16827 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16828 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16829 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16830 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16832 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16833 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16835 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16836 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16840 @node Kibozed Groups
16841 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16845 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16846 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16847 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16848 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16850 @kindex G k (Group)
16851 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16854 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16855 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16856 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16857 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16859 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16860 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16861 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16863 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16864 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16865 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16866 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16867 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16868 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16869 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16870 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16872 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16873 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16874 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16875 Stranger things have happened.
16877 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16878 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16880 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16881 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16882 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16883 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16884 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16885 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16887 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16888 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16891 @node Gnus Unplugged
16892 @section Gnus Unplugged
16897 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16899 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16900 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16901 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16902 read news. Believe it or not.
16904 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16905 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16906 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16907 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16908 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16910 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16911 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16912 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16913 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16914 reading news on a machine.
16916 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16917 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16919 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16922 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16923 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16924 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16925 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16926 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16927 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
16928 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16929 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16930 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16931 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16932 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16933 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16938 @subsection Agent Basics
16940 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16942 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16943 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16944 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16945 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16947 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16948 connected to the net continuously.
16950 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16951 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16953 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16958 @findex gnus-unplugged
16959 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16960 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16961 already fetched while in this mode.
16964 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16965 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16966 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16967 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16968 Source Specifiers}).
16971 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16972 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16973 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16974 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16975 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16978 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16979 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16980 then you read the news offline.
16983 And then you go to step 2.
16986 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16992 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16993 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16994 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16995 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16996 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16997 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16998 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16999 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17002 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
17005 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17009 @node Agent Categories
17010 @subsection Agent Categories
17012 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17013 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17014 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17015 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17016 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17017 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17018 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17020 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
17021 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
17022 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
17023 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
17024 managing categories.
17027 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17028 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17029 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17033 @node Category Syntax
17034 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17036 A category consists of two things.
17040 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17041 are eligible for downloading; and
17044 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17045 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17046 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17049 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17050 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17051 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17052 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17054 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17055 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17056 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17058 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17059 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17060 operators sprinkled in between.
17062 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17064 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17065 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17071 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17072 short (for some value of ``short'').
17074 Here's a more complex predicate:
17083 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17084 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17087 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17088 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17089 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17091 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17092 you want to do, you can write your own.
17096 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17097 lines; default 100.
17100 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17101 lines; default 200.
17104 True iff the article has a download score less than
17105 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17108 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17109 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17112 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17113 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17114 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17123 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17124 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17125 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17128 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17129 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17130 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17131 something along the lines of the following:
17134 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17135 "Say whether an article is old."
17136 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17137 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17140 with the predicate then defined as:
17143 (not my-article-old-p)
17146 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17147 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17151 (require 'gnus-agent)
17152 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17153 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17154 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17157 and simply specify your predicate as:
17163 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17164 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17165 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17166 just don't give a damn.
17168 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17169 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17170 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17171 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
17172 parameters like so:
17175 (agent-predicate . short)
17178 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17179 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17180 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17182 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17185 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17188 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17189 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17190 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17193 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17194 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17195 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17196 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17197 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17198 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17200 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17201 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17202 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17203 if it's to be specific to that group.
17205 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17212 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17213 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17219 Category specification
17223 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17229 Group Parameter specification
17232 (agent-score ("from"
17233 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17238 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17244 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17245 keywords stated above.
17251 Category specification
17254 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17260 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17264 Group Parameter specification
17267 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17270 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17275 Use @code{normal} score files
17277 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17278 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17279 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17280 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17282 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17283 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17284 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17285 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17289 Category Specification
17296 Group Parameter specification
17299 (agent-score . file)
17304 @node Category Buffer
17305 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17307 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17308 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17309 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17311 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17315 @kindex q (Category)
17316 @findex gnus-category-exit
17317 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17320 @kindex k (Category)
17321 @findex gnus-category-kill
17322 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17325 @kindex c (Category)
17326 @findex gnus-category-copy
17327 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17330 @kindex a (Category)
17331 @findex gnus-category-add
17332 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17335 @kindex p (Category)
17336 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17337 Edit the predicate of the current category
17338 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17341 @kindex g (Category)
17342 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17343 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17344 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17347 @kindex s (Category)
17348 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17349 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17350 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17353 @kindex l (Category)
17354 @findex gnus-category-list
17355 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17359 @node Category Variables
17360 @subsubsection Category Variables
17363 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17364 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17365 Hook run in category buffers.
17367 @item gnus-category-line-format
17368 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17369 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17370 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17374 The name of the category.
17377 The number of groups in the category.
17380 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17381 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17382 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17384 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17385 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17386 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17388 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17389 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17390 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17392 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17393 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17394 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17397 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17398 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17399 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17405 @node Agent Commands
17406 @subsection Agent Commands
17407 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17408 @kindex J j (Agent)
17410 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17411 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17412 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17416 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17417 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17418 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17424 @node Group Agent Commands
17425 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17429 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17430 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17431 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17432 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17435 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17436 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17437 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17440 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17441 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17442 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17443 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17446 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17447 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17448 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17449 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17452 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17453 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17454 Add the current group to an Agent category
17455 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17456 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17459 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17460 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17461 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17462 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17463 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17466 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17467 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17468 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17474 @node Summary Agent Commands
17475 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17479 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17480 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17481 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17484 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17485 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17486 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17487 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17491 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17492 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17493 Toggle whether to download the article
17494 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17498 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17499 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17500 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17503 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17504 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17505 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17506 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17509 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17510 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17511 Download all processable articles in this group.
17512 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17515 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17516 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17517 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17518 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17523 @node Server Agent Commands
17524 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17528 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17529 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17530 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17531 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17534 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17535 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17536 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17537 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17542 @node Agent as Cache
17543 @subsection Agent as Cache
17545 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17546 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17547 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17548 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17549 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17550 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17551 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17552 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17553 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17555 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17556 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17559 @subsection Agent Expiry
17561 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17562 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17563 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17564 @cindex Agent expiry
17565 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17568 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17569 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17570 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17571 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17572 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17573 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17575 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17576 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17577 synchronized with the group.
17579 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17580 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17581 expiry in different groups.
17584 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17590 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17591 method---it must always match all groups. Also, for a regexp to match,
17592 it must match from the beginning of the group's name.
17594 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17595 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17596 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17597 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17598 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17600 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17601 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17602 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17604 @node Agent Regeneration
17605 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17607 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17608 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17609 @cindex regeneration
17611 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17612 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17613 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17614 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17615 internal inconsistencies.
17617 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17618 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17619 know about articles downloaded prior to the connection failure.
17620 Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17621 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17622 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17624 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17625 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17626 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17627 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17628 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17629 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17631 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17632 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17633 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17634 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17635 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17636 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17639 @node Agent and IMAP
17640 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17642 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17643 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17644 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17645 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17647 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17648 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17649 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17650 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17652 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17653 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17654 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17655 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17657 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17658 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17659 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17660 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17661 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17662 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17664 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17665 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17666 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17667 in the group buffer.
17669 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17670 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17675 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17678 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17682 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
17683 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17684 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17685 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17686 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17687 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
17688 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17689 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17692 @node Outgoing Messages
17693 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17695 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17696 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17697 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17699 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17700 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17701 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17702 messages in the draft group.
17706 @node Agent Variables
17707 @subsection Agent Variables
17710 @item gnus-agent-directory
17711 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17712 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17713 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17715 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17716 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17717 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17718 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17719 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17722 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17723 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17724 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17726 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17727 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17728 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17730 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17731 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17732 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17734 @item gnus-agent-cache
17735 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17736 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17737 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17738 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17740 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17741 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17742 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17743 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17744 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17745 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17746 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17749 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17750 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17751 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
17752 mark articles as unread after downloading. The default is t.
17754 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17755 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17756 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
17757 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
17758 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
17760 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17761 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17762 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
17763 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
17764 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
17765 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
17766 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
17767 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
17768 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
17769 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
17770 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
17771 available while unplugged).
17773 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17774 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17775 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17776 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17777 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17778 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17779 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17780 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17781 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17786 @node Example Setup
17787 @subsection Example Setup
17789 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17790 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17791 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17794 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17795 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17796 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17798 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17799 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17800 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17802 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17803 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17805 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17806 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17807 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17810 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17811 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17814 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17815 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17816 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17817 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17818 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17821 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17822 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17823 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17824 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17825 back all the killed groups.)
17827 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17828 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17829 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17832 @node Batching Agents
17833 @subsection Batching Agents
17834 @findex gnus-agent-batch
17836 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17837 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17838 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17840 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17841 following incantation:
17845 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17849 @node Agent Caveats
17850 @subsection Agent Caveats
17852 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17853 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17857 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17859 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
17860 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
17861 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
17863 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17865 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
17869 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17870 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
17871 locally stored articles.
17878 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17879 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17880 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17883 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17884 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17885 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17886 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17887 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17889 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17890 before generating the summary buffer.
17892 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17893 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17894 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17896 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17897 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17898 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17899 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17902 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17903 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17904 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17905 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17906 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17907 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17908 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17909 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17910 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17911 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17912 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17913 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17914 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17915 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17916 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17917 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17918 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17922 @node Summary Score Commands
17923 @section Summary Score Commands
17924 @cindex score commands
17926 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17927 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17928 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17929 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17930 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17932 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17933 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17934 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17935 score file the current one.
17937 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17942 @kindex V s (Summary)
17943 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17944 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17947 @kindex V S (Summary)
17948 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17949 Display the score of the current article
17950 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17953 @kindex V t (Summary)
17954 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17955 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17956 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17959 @kindex V w (Summary)
17960 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17961 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17964 @kindex V R (Summary)
17965 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17966 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17967 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17968 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17969 effect you're having.
17972 @kindex V c (Summary)
17973 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17974 Make a different score file the current
17975 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17978 @kindex V e (Summary)
17979 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17980 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17981 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17985 @kindex V f (Summary)
17986 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17987 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17988 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17991 @kindex V F (Summary)
17992 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17993 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17994 after editing score files.
17997 @kindex V C (Summary)
17998 @findex gnus-score-customize
17999 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18000 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18004 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18009 @kindex V m (Summary)
18010 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18011 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18012 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18015 @kindex V x (Summary)
18016 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18017 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18018 expunge all articles below this score
18019 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18022 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18023 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18026 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18027 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18031 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18032 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18034 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18035 keys are available:
18039 Score on the author name.
18042 Score on the subject line.
18045 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18048 Score on the @code{References} line.
18054 Score on the number of lines.
18057 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18060 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18061 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18064 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18065 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18066 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18075 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18081 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18082 what headers you are scoring on.
18094 Substring matching.
18097 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18126 Greater than number.
18131 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18132 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18133 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18138 Temporary score entry.
18141 Permanent score entry.
18144 Immediately scoring.
18148 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18149 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18150 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18154 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18155 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18156 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18157 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18159 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18160 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18161 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18162 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18163 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18165 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18166 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18167 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18168 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18169 current score file.
18171 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18172 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18173 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18176 @node Group Score Commands
18177 @section Group Score Commands
18178 @cindex group score commands
18180 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18185 @kindex W f (Group)
18186 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18187 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18188 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18189 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18193 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18195 @findex gnus-batch-score
18196 @cindex batch scoring
18198 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18202 @node Score Variables
18203 @section Score Variables
18204 @cindex score variables
18208 @item gnus-use-scoring
18209 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18210 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18211 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18213 @item gnus-kill-killed
18214 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18215 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18216 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18217 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18218 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18219 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18220 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18222 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18223 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18224 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18225 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18226 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18228 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18229 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18230 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18231 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18233 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18234 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18235 @cindex score cache
18236 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18237 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18238 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18239 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18240 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18241 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18242 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18245 @item gnus-save-score
18246 @vindex gnus-save-score
18247 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18248 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18249 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18251 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18252 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18253 across group visits.
18255 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18256 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18257 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18258 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18259 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18260 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18261 manually entered data.
18263 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18264 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18265 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18267 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18268 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18269 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18270 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18271 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18272 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18274 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18275 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18276 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18277 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18279 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18280 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18281 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18282 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18284 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18285 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18286 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18287 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18289 Predefined functions available are:
18292 @item gnus-score-find-single
18293 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18294 Only apply the group's own score file.
18296 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18297 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18298 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18299 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18300 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18301 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18302 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18303 then a regexp match is done.
18305 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18306 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18308 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18309 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18310 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18311 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18313 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18314 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18315 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18316 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18317 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18321 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18322 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18323 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18324 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18325 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18326 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18327 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18330 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18331 overall score file, you could use the value
18333 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18334 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18337 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18338 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18339 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18340 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18341 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18343 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18344 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18345 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18346 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18347 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18348 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18349 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18350 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18352 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18353 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18354 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18356 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18357 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18358 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18359 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18360 threading---according to the current value of
18361 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18362 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18363 simplified in this manner.
18368 @node Score File Format
18369 @section Score File Format
18370 @cindex score file format
18372 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18373 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18374 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18376 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18380 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18382 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18384 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18386 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18391 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18395 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18396 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18397 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18398 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18402 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18403 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18405 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18406 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18407 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18409 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18414 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18415 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18416 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18417 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18418 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18419 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18420 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18421 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18422 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18423 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18424 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18425 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18426 to articles that matches these score entries.
18428 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18429 score entry has one to four elements.
18433 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18434 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18438 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18439 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18440 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18441 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18442 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18443 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18446 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18447 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18448 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18449 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18450 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18453 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18454 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18455 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18456 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18459 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18460 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18461 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18462 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18463 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18464 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18465 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18466 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18467 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18468 instead, if you feel like.
18471 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18472 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18473 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18474 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18475 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18476 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18479 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18483 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18484 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18486 These predicates are true if
18489 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18492 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18493 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18500 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18501 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18502 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18503 it's not. I think.)
18505 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18506 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18507 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18508 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18511 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18512 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18513 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18514 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18515 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18516 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18517 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18521 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18522 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18523 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18524 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18525 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18526 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18527 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18528 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18531 @item Head, Body, All
18532 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18536 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18537 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18538 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18539 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18540 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18541 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18542 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18546 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18547 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18548 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18549 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18550 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18551 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18552 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18553 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18554 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18555 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18556 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18560 @cindex Score File Atoms
18562 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18563 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18566 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18567 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18569 @item mark-and-expunge
18570 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18571 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18574 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18575 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18576 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18577 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18578 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18581 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18582 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18585 @item exclude-files
18586 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18587 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18591 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18592 ignored when handling global score files.
18595 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18596 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18597 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18598 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18601 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18602 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18603 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18604 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18606 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18610 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18613 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18614 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18615 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18616 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18617 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18619 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18620 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18621 scoring rules exist.
18624 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18625 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18626 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18627 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18628 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18629 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18630 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18631 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18632 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18633 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18634 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18638 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18639 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18640 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18641 file for a number of groups.
18644 @cindex local variables
18645 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
18646 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
18647 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
18648 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
18649 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
18654 @node Score File Editing
18655 @section Score File Editing
18657 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18658 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18659 with a mode for that.
18661 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18662 additional commands:
18667 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18668 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18669 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18670 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18673 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18674 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18675 Insert the current date in numerical format
18676 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18677 you were wondering.
18680 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18681 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18682 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18683 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18684 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18689 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18691 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18692 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18694 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18695 e} to begin editing score files.
18698 @node Adaptive Scoring
18699 @section Adaptive Scoring
18700 @cindex adaptive scoring
18702 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18703 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18704 stupidity, to be precise.
18706 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18707 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18708 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18709 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18710 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18711 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18712 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18713 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18714 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18716 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18717 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18718 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18719 might look something like this:
18722 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18723 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18724 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18725 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18726 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18727 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18728 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18729 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18730 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18731 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18732 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18733 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18736 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18737 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18738 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18739 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18740 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18741 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18744 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18745 will be applied to each article.
18747 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18748 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18749 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18750 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18752 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18753 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18754 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18755 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18757 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18758 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18759 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18760 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18762 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18763 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18764 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18765 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18766 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18767 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18769 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18770 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18771 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18773 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18774 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18775 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18777 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18778 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18779 let you use different rules in different groups.
18781 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18782 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18783 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18786 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18787 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18788 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18789 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18790 the length of the match is less than
18791 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18792 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18795 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18796 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18797 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18798 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18799 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18802 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18803 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18804 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18805 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18806 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18809 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18810 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18811 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18812 score with 30 points.
18814 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18815 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18816 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18817 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18818 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18820 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18821 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18822 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18823 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18824 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18826 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18827 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18828 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18829 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18831 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18832 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18833 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18834 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18836 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18837 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18838 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18839 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18840 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18842 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18843 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18844 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18846 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18847 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18848 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18849 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18852 @node Home Score File
18853 @section Home Score File
18855 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18856 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18857 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18858 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18860 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18861 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18862 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18864 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18865 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18870 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18874 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18875 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18879 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18883 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18884 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18887 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18888 the home score file.
18891 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18894 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18899 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18902 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18903 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18906 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18907 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18909 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18911 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18912 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18915 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18916 Other functions include
18919 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18920 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18921 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18922 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18926 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18927 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18928 their own home score files:
18931 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18932 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18933 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18934 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18935 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18938 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18939 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18940 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18941 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18942 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18944 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18945 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18946 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18947 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18948 precedence over this variable.
18951 @node Followups To Yourself
18952 @section Followups To Yourself
18954 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18955 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18956 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18957 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18958 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18959 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18963 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18964 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18965 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18968 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18969 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18970 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18974 @vindex message-sent-hook
18975 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18976 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18978 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18982 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18983 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18987 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18988 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18991 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18992 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18997 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19001 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19002 is system-dependent.
19005 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19006 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19007 @cindex scoring on other headers
19009 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19010 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19011 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19012 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19013 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19015 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19016 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
19017 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
19018 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
19019 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19021 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19024 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19025 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19028 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19029 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19030 time if you have much mail.
19032 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19033 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19039 @section Scoring Tips
19040 @cindex scoring tips
19046 @cindex scoring crossposts
19047 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19048 the @code{Xref} header.
19050 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19053 @item Multiple crossposts
19054 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19055 more than, say, 3 groups:
19058 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19062 @item Matching on the body
19063 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19064 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19065 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19066 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19067 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19068 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19069 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19072 @item Marking as read
19073 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19074 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19075 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19079 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19081 @item Negated character classes
19082 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19083 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19084 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19088 @node Reverse Scoring
19089 @section Reverse Scoring
19090 @cindex reverse scoring
19092 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19093 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19094 like this in your score file:
19098 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19103 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19104 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19107 @node Global Score Files
19108 @section Global Score Files
19109 @cindex global score files
19111 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19112 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19113 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19115 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19116 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19117 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19119 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19120 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19121 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19122 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19123 files are applicable to which group.
19125 To use the score file
19126 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19127 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19131 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19132 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19133 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19136 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19138 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19139 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19140 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19141 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19143 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19144 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19146 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19147 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19148 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19149 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19150 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19151 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19153 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19159 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19161 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19163 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19165 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19166 lowered out of existence.
19168 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19169 articles completely.
19172 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19173 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19174 old articles for a long time.
19177 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19178 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19179 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19180 holding our breath yet?
19184 @section Kill Files
19187 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19188 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19189 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19191 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19192 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19193 files into score files.
19195 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19196 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19197 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19198 that isn't a very good idea.
19200 Normal kill files look like this:
19203 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19204 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19208 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19209 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19211 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19212 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19215 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
19220 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19221 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19222 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19225 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19226 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19227 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19230 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19235 @kindex M-k (Group)
19236 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19237 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19240 @kindex M-K (Group)
19241 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19242 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19245 Kill file variables:
19248 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19249 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19250 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19251 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19252 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19253 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19254 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19256 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19257 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19258 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19259 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19262 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19263 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19264 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19265 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19266 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19267 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19268 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19269 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19270 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19272 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19273 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19274 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19279 @node Converting Kill Files
19280 @section Converting Kill Files
19282 @cindex converting kill files
19284 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19285 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19286 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19289 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19290 You can fetch it from
19291 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19293 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19294 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19295 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19303 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
19304 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19305 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19306 news articles generated every day.
19308 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19309 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19310 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19311 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19312 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19313 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19314 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19315 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19318 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19319 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19322 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19323 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19324 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19325 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19329 @node Using GroupLens
19330 @subsection Using GroupLens
19332 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19334 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19335 better bit in town at the moment.
19337 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19341 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19342 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19343 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19344 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19346 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19347 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19348 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19349 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19351 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19352 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19353 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19357 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19358 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19359 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19360 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19361 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19362 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19365 @node Rating Articles
19366 @subsection Rating Articles
19368 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19369 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19370 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19371 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19374 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19379 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19380 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19381 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19384 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19385 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19386 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19387 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19388 threads in rec.humor.
19392 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19393 the score of the article you're reading.
19398 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19399 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19400 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19403 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19404 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19405 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19409 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19410 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19413 @node Displaying Predictions
19414 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19416 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19417 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19418 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19419 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19420 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19422 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19423 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19424 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19425 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19426 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19427 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19428 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19429 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19430 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19431 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19432 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19433 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19434 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19436 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19437 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19438 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19439 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19441 The following are valid values for that variable.
19444 @item prediction-spot
19445 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19448 @item confidence-interval
19449 A numeric confidence interval.
19451 @item prediction-bar
19452 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19454 @item confidence-bar
19455 Numerical confidence.
19457 @item confidence-spot
19458 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19460 @item prediction-num
19461 Plain-old numeric value.
19463 @item confidence-plus-minus
19464 Prediction +/- confidence.
19469 @node GroupLens Variables
19470 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19474 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19475 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19476 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19477 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19480 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19481 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19484 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19485 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19487 @item grouplens-score-offset
19488 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19489 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19492 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19493 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19494 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19499 @node Advanced Scoring
19500 @section Advanced Scoring
19502 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19503 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19504 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19505 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19506 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19508 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19512 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19513 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19514 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19518 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19519 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19521 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19522 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19523 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19524 non-@code{nil} value.
19526 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19527 operator, and various match operators.
19534 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19535 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19536 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19541 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19542 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19543 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19548 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19549 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19553 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19554 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19555 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19556 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19557 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19558 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19559 the ancestry you want to go.
19561 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19562 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19563 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19564 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19565 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19568 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19569 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19571 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19572 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19575 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19576 when he's talking about Gnus:
19580 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19581 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19587 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19591 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19598 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19599 really don't want to read what he's written:
19603 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19604 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19608 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19609 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19610 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19617 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19618 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19619 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19620 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19624 The possibilities are endless.
19627 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19628 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19630 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19631 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19632 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19633 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19634 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19635 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19636 @samp{subject}) first.
19638 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19639 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19650 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19651 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19657 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19664 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19665 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19670 @section Score Decays
19671 @cindex score decays
19674 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19675 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19676 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19677 use them in any sensible way.
19679 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19680 @findex gnus-decay-score
19681 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19682 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19683 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19684 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19685 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19686 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19687 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19688 definition of that function:
19691 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19693 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19694 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19697 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19699 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19701 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19704 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19705 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19706 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19707 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19711 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19714 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19717 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19721 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19722 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19723 the new score, which should be an integer.
19725 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19726 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19731 @include message.texi
19732 @chapter Emacs MIME
19733 @include emacs-mime.texi
19735 @include sieve.texi
19737 @c @include pgg.texi
19745 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19746 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19747 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19748 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19749 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19750 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19751 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19752 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19753 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19754 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19755 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19756 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19757 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19758 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19759 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19760 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19761 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19762 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19763 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19767 @node Process/Prefix
19768 @section Process/Prefix
19769 @cindex process/prefix convention
19771 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19772 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19774 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19775 command to be performed on.
19779 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19780 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19781 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19782 with the current one.
19784 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19785 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19786 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19788 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19789 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19792 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19793 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19795 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19798 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19799 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19800 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19801 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19803 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19804 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19805 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19806 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19807 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19808 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19809 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19810 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19812 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19813 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19814 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19815 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19816 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
19820 @section Interactive
19821 @cindex interaction
19825 @item gnus-novice-user
19826 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19827 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19828 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19829 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19830 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19833 @item gnus-expert-user
19834 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19835 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19836 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19837 matter how strange.
19839 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19840 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19841 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19842 is @code{t} by default.
19844 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19845 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19846 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19851 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19852 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19853 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19855 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19856 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19857 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19858 rule of 900 to the current article.
19860 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19861 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19862 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19863 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19864 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19865 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19866 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19868 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19869 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19870 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19871 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19872 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19873 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19874 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19875 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19876 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19878 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19879 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19880 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19882 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19886 @node Formatting Variables
19887 @section Formatting Variables
19888 @cindex formatting variables
19890 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19891 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19892 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19893 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19894 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19897 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19898 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19899 lots of percentages everywhere.
19902 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19903 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19904 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19905 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19906 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19907 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19908 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19909 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19912 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19913 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19914 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19915 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19916 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19917 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19918 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19919 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19921 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19922 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19924 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19925 @findex gnus-update-format
19926 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19927 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19928 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19929 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19933 @node Formatting Basics
19934 @subsection Formatting Basics
19936 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19937 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19938 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19940 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19941 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19942 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19943 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19944 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19947 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19948 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19949 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19950 less than 4 characters wide.
19952 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19953 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19956 @node Mode Line Formatting
19957 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19959 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19960 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19961 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19962 with the following two differences:
19967 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19970 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19971 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19972 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19973 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19974 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19975 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19976 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19981 @node Advanced Formatting
19982 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19984 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19985 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19986 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19987 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19989 These are the valid modifiers:
19994 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19998 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20003 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20006 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20011 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20014 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20017 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20020 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20026 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20031 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20032 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20033 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20034 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20035 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20036 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20037 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20039 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20040 last operation, padding.
20042 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20043 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20044 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20045 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20046 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20047 the look of your lines.
20048 @xref{Compilation}.
20051 @node User-Defined Specs
20052 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20054 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20055 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20056 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20057 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20058 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20059 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20060 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20061 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20062 should protect against that.
20064 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20065 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20067 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20068 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20069 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20070 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20074 @node Formatting Fonts
20075 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20077 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20078 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20079 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20080 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20083 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20084 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20085 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20086 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20087 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20088 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20090 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20091 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
20092 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
20093 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
20094 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
20095 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
20096 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
20097 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
20098 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
20099 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
20101 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20104 ;; Create three face types.
20105 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20106 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20108 ;; We want the article count to be in
20109 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
20110 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
20111 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20113 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20114 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20116 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
20117 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20118 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20121 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20122 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20124 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20125 mode-line variables.
20127 @node Positioning Point
20128 @subsection Positioning Point
20130 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20131 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20132 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20134 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20136 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20137 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20138 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20140 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20141 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20142 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20147 @subsection Tabulation
20149 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20150 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20151 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20152 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20154 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
20155 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20157 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20158 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20159 This is the soft tabulator.
20161 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20162 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20163 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20166 @node Wide Characters
20167 @subsection Wide Characters
20169 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20170 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20171 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20173 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20174 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20175 these countries, that's not true.
20177 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20178 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20179 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20180 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20184 @node Window Layout
20185 @section Window Layout
20186 @cindex window layout
20188 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20190 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20191 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20192 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20193 @code{t} by default.
20195 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20196 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20198 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20199 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20200 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20203 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20204 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20205 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20209 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20210 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20211 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20212 possible names is listed below.
20214 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20215 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20218 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20222 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20223 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20224 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20225 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20226 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20227 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20228 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20229 size spec per split.
20231 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20232 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20233 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20234 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20235 present) gets focus.
20237 Here's a more complicated example:
20240 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20241 (summary 0.25 point)
20242 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20246 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20247 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20248 occupy, not a percentage.
20250 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20251 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20252 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20253 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20254 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20257 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20260 (article (horizontal 1.0
20265 (summary 0.25 point)
20270 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20271 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20273 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20274 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20275 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20276 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20277 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20279 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20280 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20281 lines from the splits.
20283 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20287 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20288 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20289 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20290 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20291 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20292 size = number | frame-params
20293 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20296 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20297 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20298 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20299 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20301 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20302 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20303 @cindex window height
20304 @cindex window width
20305 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20306 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20307 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20308 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20309 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20310 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20312 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20313 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20314 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20315 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20317 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20318 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20319 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20320 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20321 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20322 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20323 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20324 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20325 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20326 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20327 configuration list.
20330 (gnus-configure-frame
20334 (article 0.3 point))
20342 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20343 @code{frame} split:
20346 (gnus-configure-frame
20349 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20351 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20352 (user-position . t)
20353 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20358 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20359 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20360 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20361 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20362 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20363 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20364 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20365 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20367 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20368 be found in its default value.
20370 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20371 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20372 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20376 (message (horizontal 1.0
20377 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20379 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20384 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20385 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20386 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20391 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20392 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20393 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20394 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20395 (name . "Message"))
20396 (message 1.0 point))))
20399 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20400 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20401 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20402 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20403 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20406 (gnus-add-configuration
20407 '(article (vertical 1.0
20409 (summary .25 point)
20413 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20414 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20415 Gnus has been loaded.
20417 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20418 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20419 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20420 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20421 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20423 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20424 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20425 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20428 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20432 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20433 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20448 (gnus-add-configuration
20451 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20453 (summary 0.16 point)
20456 (gnus-add-configuration
20459 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20460 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20466 @node Faces and Fonts
20467 @section Faces and Fonts
20472 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20473 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20474 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20479 @section Compilation
20480 @cindex compilation
20481 @cindex byte-compilation
20483 @findex gnus-compile
20485 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20486 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20487 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20488 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20489 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20490 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20491 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20492 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20495 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20496 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20497 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20498 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20499 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20502 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20503 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20504 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20505 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20506 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20511 @section Mode Lines
20514 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20515 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20516 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20517 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20518 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20519 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20520 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20523 @cindex display-time
20525 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20526 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20527 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20528 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20529 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20530 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20531 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20532 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20535 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20537 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20538 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20540 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20541 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20542 (length display-time-string)))))
20545 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20546 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20547 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20548 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20549 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20552 @node Highlighting and Menus
20553 @section Highlighting and Menus
20555 @cindex highlighting
20558 @vindex gnus-visual
20559 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20560 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20561 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20564 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20565 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20568 @item group-highlight
20569 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20570 @item summary-highlight
20571 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20572 @item article-highlight
20573 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20575 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20577 Create menus in the group buffer.
20579 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20581 Create menus in the article buffer.
20583 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20585 Create menus in the server buffer.
20587 Create menus in the score buffers.
20589 Create menus in all buffers.
20592 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20593 buffers, you could say something like:
20596 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20599 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20602 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20605 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20606 in all Gnus buffers.
20608 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20611 @item gnus-mouse-face
20612 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20613 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20614 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20618 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20622 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20623 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20624 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20626 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20627 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20628 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20630 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20631 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20632 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20634 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20635 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20636 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20638 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20639 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20640 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20642 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20643 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20644 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20655 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20656 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20657 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20658 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20659 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20663 @vindex gnus-carpal
20664 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20665 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20666 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20671 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20672 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20673 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20675 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20676 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20677 Face used on buttons.
20679 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20680 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20681 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20683 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20684 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20685 Buttons in the group buffer.
20687 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20688 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20689 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20691 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20692 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20693 Buttons in the server buffer.
20695 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20696 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20697 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20700 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20701 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20702 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20710 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20711 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20712 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20713 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20714 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20716 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20717 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20718 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20720 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20721 been idle for thirty minutes:
20724 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20727 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20731 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20734 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20735 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20736 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20738 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20739 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20740 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20741 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20743 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20744 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20745 @var{idle} minutes.
20747 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20748 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20751 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20752 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20753 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20755 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20756 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20757 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20758 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20760 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20761 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20763 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20765 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20768 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20769 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20770 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20771 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20772 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20773 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20774 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20775 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20776 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20777 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20778 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20780 @findex gnus-demon-init
20781 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20782 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20783 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20784 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20785 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20787 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20788 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20789 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20798 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20799 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20801 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20802 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20803 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20804 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20807 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20808 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20809 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20810 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20812 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20813 this will make spam disappear.
20815 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20818 @item gnus-use-nocem
20819 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20820 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20823 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20824 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20825 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20826 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20827 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20829 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20830 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20831 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20832 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20833 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20834 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20836 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20837 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20839 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20840 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20841 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20842 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20843 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20844 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20845 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20846 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20847 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20848 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20850 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20851 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20854 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20857 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20858 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20861 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20864 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20867 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20868 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20870 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20871 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20872 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20873 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20875 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20876 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20879 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20881 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20889 This might be dangerous, though.
20891 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20892 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20893 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20894 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20896 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20897 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20898 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20899 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20900 might then see old spam.
20902 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20903 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20904 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20905 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20906 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20909 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20910 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20911 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20912 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20916 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20917 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20918 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20919 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20926 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20927 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20928 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20930 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20931 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20932 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20933 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20934 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20935 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20936 @code{undo} function.
20938 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20939 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20940 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20941 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20942 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20943 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20944 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20945 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20946 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20947 never be totally undoable.
20949 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20950 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20952 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20953 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20954 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20955 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20959 @node Predicate Specifiers
20960 @section Predicate Specifiers
20961 @cindex predicate specifiers
20963 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20964 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20965 to type all that much.
20967 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20972 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20973 gnus-article-unread-p)
20976 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20977 functions all take one parameter.
20979 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20980 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20981 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20982 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20987 @section Moderation
20990 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20991 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20992 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20995 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20999 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21002 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
21004 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21009 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21010 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21011 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21014 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21015 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21018 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21019 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21023 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21026 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21027 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21031 @node Image Enhancements
21032 @section Image Enhancements
21034 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
21035 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
21038 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21039 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21040 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21041 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21054 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21055 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
21056 over your shoulder as you read news.
21058 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21067 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21068 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21069 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21070 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21071 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21072 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21073 @code{GIF} formats.
21076 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21077 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21078 point your Web browser at
21079 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21081 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21082 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21084 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21085 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21088 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21092 @item gnus-picon-databases
21093 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21094 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21095 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21096 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21097 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21099 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21100 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21101 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21102 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21104 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21105 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21106 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21107 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21109 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21110 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21111 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21112 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21113 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21115 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21116 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21117 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21118 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
21123 @subsection Smileys
21128 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21133 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21134 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21136 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21137 @file{.gnus.el} file:
21140 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21143 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21144 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21145 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21146 text and maps that to file names.
21148 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21149 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21150 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21151 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21152 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21155 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21160 @item smiley-data-directory
21161 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21162 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21164 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21165 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21166 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21175 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21176 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21177 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21181 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21182 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
21183 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21184 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21192 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21193 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21194 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21195 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21197 The variable that controls this is the
21198 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21199 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21200 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21201 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21202 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21204 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21205 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21206 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21207 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21210 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21211 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21212 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21213 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21214 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21215 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21216 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21217 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21219 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21222 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21223 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21225 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21226 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21227 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21228 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21229 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21230 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21231 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21232 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21233 header data as a string.
21235 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21236 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21237 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21238 randomly generated data.
21240 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21241 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21242 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21243 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21244 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21246 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21247 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
21250 (setq message-required-news-headers
21251 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21252 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21255 Using the last function would be something like this:
21258 (setq message-required-news-headers
21259 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21260 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21261 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21262 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21267 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21270 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21271 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21272 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21273 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21274 unusual directory structure.
21276 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21277 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21278 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21279 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21281 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21282 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21283 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21284 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21285 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21286 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21288 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21289 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21290 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21295 @subsubsection Toolbar
21299 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21300 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21301 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21302 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21303 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21305 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21306 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21307 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21309 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21310 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21311 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21313 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21314 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21315 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21326 @node Fuzzy Matching
21327 @section Fuzzy Matching
21328 @cindex fuzzy matching
21330 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21331 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21333 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21334 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21335 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21337 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21338 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21339 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21340 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21341 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21344 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21345 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21349 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21351 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21352 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21353 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21354 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21355 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21356 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21357 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21358 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21361 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21362 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21363 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21364 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21365 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21366 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21368 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21371 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21372 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21373 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21374 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21375 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21376 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21379 @node The problem of spam
21380 @subsection The problem of spam
21382 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21383 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21385 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21387 First, some background on spam.
21389 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21390 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21391 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21392 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21393 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21394 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21395 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21396 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21398 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21399 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21400 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21401 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21402 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21403 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21404 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21405 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21406 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21409 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21410 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21411 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21412 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21413 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21414 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21415 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21416 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21417 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21418 mail can be useful.
21420 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21421 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21422 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21423 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21424 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21425 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21426 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21427 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21428 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21430 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21431 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21432 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21433 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21434 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21435 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21436 because of the incident.
21438 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21439 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21440 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21441 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21442 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21443 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21444 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21445 to store the database of spam analyses.
21447 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21448 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21452 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21454 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21455 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21457 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21458 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21459 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21460 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21461 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21462 part of the mail address.)
21465 (setq message-default-news-headers
21466 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21469 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21470 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21475 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21476 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21477 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21483 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21484 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21485 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21486 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21488 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21489 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21490 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21491 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21492 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21493 your fancy split rule in this way:
21498 (to "larsi" "misc")
21502 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21503 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21504 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21505 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21506 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21508 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21509 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21510 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21511 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21512 cosmic balance somewhat.
21514 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21515 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21516 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21517 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21522 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21523 @cindex SpamAssassin
21524 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21527 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21528 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21529 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21530 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21531 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21532 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21533 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21535 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21536 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21537 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21538 Specifiers}) follows.
21542 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21545 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21548 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21549 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21550 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21553 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21557 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21560 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21561 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21565 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21566 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21567 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21568 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21571 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21573 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21575 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21576 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21578 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21580 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21581 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21585 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21586 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21587 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21590 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21591 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21593 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21594 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21595 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21599 @subsection Hashcash
21602 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21603 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21604 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21605 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21606 in smaller communities.
21608 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21609 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21610 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21611 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21612 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21613 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21614 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21615 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21616 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21617 one of them separately.
21620 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21621 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21622 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21623 header. For more details, and for the external application
21624 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21625 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21626 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21628 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21632 (require 'hashcash)
21633 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21636 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21637 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21638 development contrib directory.
21640 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21644 @item hashcash-default-payment
21645 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21646 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21647 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21648 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21650 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21651 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21652 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21653 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
21654 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
21655 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
21656 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
21657 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
21658 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21662 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21666 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21667 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21668 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21669 a useful contribution, however.
21671 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21672 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21673 @cindex spam filtering
21676 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21677 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21678 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21679 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21682 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21683 the following keyboard commands:
21693 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21694 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21696 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
21697 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21698 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21699 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21705 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21706 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21708 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21714 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21715 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21718 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21719 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21720 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21721 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21722 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21723 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21724 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21725 will be detected later.
21727 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21728 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21729 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21730 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21731 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21732 by customizing the corresponding variable
21733 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21734 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21735 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21736 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21737 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21738 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21739 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21742 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21743 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21744 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
21745 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
21746 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
21747 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21748 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21749 will study them as spam samples.
21751 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21752 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21753 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21754 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21755 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21756 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21757 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21758 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21760 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21761 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21762 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21763 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21766 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21767 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21768 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21771 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21772 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21773 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21774 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21775 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21776 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
21779 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21780 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21781 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21782 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21783 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21784 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21785 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21786 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21787 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21788 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21789 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21791 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21792 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21794 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21795 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21796 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21797 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21798 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21799 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21800 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21801 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21802 the spam articles are only expired.
21804 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21805 must add the following to your fancy split list
21806 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21812 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21813 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21814 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21816 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21817 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21818 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21819 but you can customize it.
21821 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21823 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21824 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21825 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21826 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21827 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21828 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21829 because it will slow IMAP down.
21831 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21833 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21834 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21835 longer spam or ham.}
21837 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21838 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21841 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21842 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21845 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21846 * BBDB Whitelists::
21848 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
21850 * ifile spam filtering::
21851 * spam-stat spam filtering::
21852 * Extending the spam elisp package::
21855 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21856 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21857 @cindex spam filtering
21858 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21859 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21862 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21864 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
21865 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
21866 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
21867 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
21872 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21874 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
21875 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
21876 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
21877 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
21878 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
21882 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
21884 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
21885 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
21886 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
21890 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
21892 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21893 customizing the group parameters or the
21894 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21895 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21896 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
21900 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
21902 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21903 customizing the group parameters or the
21904 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21905 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21906 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21907 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21908 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21912 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21913 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21914 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21915 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
21916 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21918 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21919 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
21920 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
21921 Emacs regular expression syntax.
21923 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
21924 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
21925 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
21926 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
21927 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21928 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21930 @node BBDB Whitelists
21931 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21932 @cindex spam filtering
21933 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21934 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21937 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
21939 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21940 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
21941 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
21942 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
21943 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
21944 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
21945 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
21949 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
21951 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
21952 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
21953 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
21954 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
21955 classified as spammers.
21959 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
21961 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21962 customizing the group parameters or the
21963 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21964 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21965 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21966 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21967 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21972 @subsubsection Blackholes
21973 @cindex spam filtering
21974 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21977 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21979 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21980 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21981 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21982 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21983 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21984 contains outdated servers.
21986 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21987 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21988 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21989 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21990 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21991 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21995 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
21997 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22001 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22003 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22004 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
22008 @defvar spam-use-dig
22010 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22011 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22015 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22016 ham processor for blackholes.
22018 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22019 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22020 @cindex spam filtering
22021 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22024 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22026 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22027 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22028 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22029 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22030 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22031 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22035 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22037 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22038 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22042 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22044 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22045 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22049 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22050 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22053 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22054 @cindex spam filtering
22055 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22058 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22060 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22063 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22064 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22065 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22066 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22067 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22068 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22070 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
22071 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
22074 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22075 processing will be turned off.
22077 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22081 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22083 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22084 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22085 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22086 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22087 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22088 installation documents for details.
22090 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22094 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22095 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22096 customizing the group parameters or the
22097 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22098 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22099 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22102 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22103 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22104 customizing the group parameters or the
22105 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22106 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22107 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22108 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22109 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22112 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22114 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22115 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22116 database directory.
22120 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
22121 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22122 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22123 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22124 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22125 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22127 @node ifile spam filtering
22128 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22129 @cindex spam filtering
22130 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22133 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22135 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
22136 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22140 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22142 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22143 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22144 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22148 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22150 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22151 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22152 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22155 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22157 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22158 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22162 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22163 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22164 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22165 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22168 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22169 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22170 @cindex spam filtering
22171 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22175 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22177 @defvar spam-use-stat
22179 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22180 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22184 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22185 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22186 customizing the group parameters or the
22187 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22188 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22189 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22192 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22193 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22194 customizing the group parameters or the
22195 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22196 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22197 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22198 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22199 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22202 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
22203 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
22204 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
22205 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
22208 @node Extending the spam elisp package
22209 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
22210 @cindex spam filtering
22211 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
22212 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
22214 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
22215 incoming mail, provide the following:
22223 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
22224 "True if blackbox should be used.")
22229 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
22231 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
22236 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
22237 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
22238 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
22240 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
22241 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
22242 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
22246 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
22253 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
22254 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22257 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22258 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22259 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22261 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22262 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22263 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22271 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22272 (spam-generic-register-routine
22273 ;; the spam function
22275 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22276 (when (stringp from)
22277 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22278 ;; the ham function
22281 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22282 (spam-generic-register-routine
22283 ;; the spam function
22285 ;; the ham function
22287 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22288 (when (stringp from)
22289 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22292 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22293 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22294 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22295 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22296 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22297 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22302 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22303 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22304 @cindex Paul Graham
22305 @cindex Graham, Paul
22306 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22307 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22308 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22310 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22311 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22312 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22313 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22314 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22315 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22316 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22317 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22318 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22321 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22322 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22323 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22324 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22325 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22326 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22327 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22328 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22330 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22331 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22332 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22333 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22334 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22337 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22338 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22339 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22342 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22343 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22345 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22346 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22347 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22348 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22349 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22351 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22352 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22353 per mail. Use the following:
22355 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22356 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22357 is treated as one spam mail.
22360 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22361 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22362 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22365 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22366 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22367 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22368 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22369 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22370 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22372 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22373 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22374 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22375 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22376 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22379 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22380 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22381 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22382 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22385 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22386 reset the dictionary.
22388 @defun spam-stat-reset
22389 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22392 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22393 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22394 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22395 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22396 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22397 only non-spam mails.
22399 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22400 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22401 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22404 @defun spam-stat-save
22405 Save the dictionary.
22408 @defvar spam-stat-file
22409 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22410 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22413 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22414 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22416 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22417 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22420 (require 'spam-stat)
22424 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22427 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22428 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22429 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22430 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22432 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22433 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22434 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22435 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22438 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22439 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22443 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22444 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22447 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22448 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22449 expression are considered potential spam.
22452 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22453 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22454 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22458 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22459 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22460 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22461 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22462 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22465 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22466 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22467 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22471 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22472 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22473 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22474 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22475 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22479 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22480 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22481 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22482 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22487 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22488 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22490 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22492 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22493 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22494 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22497 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22498 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22499 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22502 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22503 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22504 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22505 already been processed as non-spam.
22508 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22509 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22510 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22511 been processed as spam.
22514 @defun spam-stat-save
22515 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22516 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22519 @defun spam-stat-load
22520 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22521 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22524 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22525 Return the spam score for a word.
22528 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22529 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22532 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22533 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22534 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22537 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22538 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22541 (require 'spam-stat)
22545 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22548 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22549 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22550 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22551 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22552 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22553 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22554 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22555 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22556 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22557 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22558 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22559 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22560 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22561 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22564 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22567 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22568 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22569 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22570 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22571 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22572 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22575 @node Various Various
22576 @section Various Various
22582 @item gnus-home-directory
22583 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22584 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22585 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22587 @item gnus-directory
22588 @vindex gnus-directory
22589 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22590 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22591 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22593 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22594 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22595 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22596 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22598 @item gnus-default-directory
22599 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22600 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22601 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22602 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22603 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22604 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22605 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22608 @vindex gnus-verbose
22609 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22610 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22611 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22612 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22613 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22615 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22616 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22617 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22618 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22620 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22621 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22622 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22623 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22624 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22625 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22626 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22627 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22628 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22629 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22631 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22632 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22633 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22634 read when doing the operation described above.
22636 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22637 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22639 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22640 @cindex characters in file names
22641 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22642 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22643 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22646 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22650 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22651 Windows (phooey) systems.
22653 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22654 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22655 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22656 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22657 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22659 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22660 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22661 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22662 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22663 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22665 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22666 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22667 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22669 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22670 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22672 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22673 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22674 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22675 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22678 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22686 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22687 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22689 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22691 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22697 Not because of victories @*
22700 but for the common sunshine,@*
22702 the largess of the spring.
22706 but for the day's work done@*
22707 as well as I was able;@*
22708 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22709 but at the common table.@*
22714 @chapter Appendices
22717 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22718 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22719 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22720 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22721 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22722 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22723 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22724 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22725 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22732 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22734 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22735 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22736 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22737 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22738 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22739 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22746 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22747 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22749 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22750 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22751 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22752 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22753 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22755 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22756 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22757 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22758 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22759 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22760 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22762 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22763 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22764 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22765 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22768 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22769 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22770 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22771 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22772 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22773 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22774 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22775 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22776 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22780 @node Gnus Versions
22781 @subsection Gnus Versions
22783 @cindex September Gnus
22785 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22786 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22790 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22791 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22792 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22794 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22795 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22797 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22798 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22800 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22801 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22803 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22804 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22807 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22809 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22810 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22811 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22812 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22813 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22814 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22817 @node Other Gnus Versions
22818 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22821 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22822 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22823 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22824 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22826 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22827 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22828 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22829 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22836 What's the point of Gnus?
22838 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22839 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22840 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22841 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22842 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22843 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22844 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22845 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22846 keep track of millions of people who post?
22848 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22849 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22850 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22851 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22852 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22853 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22854 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22855 every one of you to explore and invent.
22857 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22858 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22861 @node Compatibility
22862 @subsection Compatibility
22864 @cindex compatibility
22865 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22866 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22867 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22872 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22876 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22879 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22882 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22883 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22884 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22885 important variables have their values copied into their global
22886 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22887 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22889 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22890 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22891 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22892 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22893 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22897 @cindex highlighting
22898 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22899 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22900 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22901 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22902 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22903 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22906 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22907 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22908 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22909 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22911 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22912 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22913 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22914 to stop doing it the old way.
22916 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22918 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22920 @cindex reporting bugs
22922 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22923 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22924 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22926 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22927 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22928 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22929 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22934 @subsection Conformity
22936 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22937 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22945 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22949 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22951 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22952 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22953 We do have some breaches to this one.
22959 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22960 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22961 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22962 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22963 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22968 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22969 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22970 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22971 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22973 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22975 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22977 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22978 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22980 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22983 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22984 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22985 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22986 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22987 decoding (verification and decryption).
22989 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22990 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22991 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22992 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22994 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22995 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22997 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22998 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22999 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
23000 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
23001 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
23002 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
23003 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
23007 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23008 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23013 @subsection Emacsen
23019 Gnus should work on :
23027 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23031 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23032 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23033 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23034 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23035 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23037 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23038 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23039 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23043 @node Gnus Development
23044 @subsection Gnus Development
23046 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23047 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23048 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23049 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23050 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23051 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23052 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23053 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23055 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23056 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23057 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23058 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23059 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23062 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23063 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23064 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23065 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23066 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23068 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23069 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23070 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23071 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23072 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23073 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23074 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23075 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23076 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23077 can't be assumed to do so.
23082 @subsection Contributors
23083 @cindex contributors
23085 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23086 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23087 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23088 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23089 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23090 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23091 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23092 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23093 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23094 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23096 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23102 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23105 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23106 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
23107 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23108 functionality and stuff.
23111 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23112 well as numerous other things).
23115 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23118 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23121 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
23124 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23127 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23128 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23131 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23134 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23135 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23138 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23141 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23144 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23147 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
23150 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
23151 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
23154 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
23157 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
23160 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
23163 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
23167 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
23170 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
23173 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
23176 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
23177 well as autoconf support.
23181 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
23182 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
23184 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
23193 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
23197 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
23207 Alexei V. Barantsev,
23222 Massimo Campostrini,
23227 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
23228 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
23232 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
23235 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
23241 Michael Welsh Duggan,
23246 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
23250 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23258 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23260 Michelangelo Grigni,
23264 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23266 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
23268 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23275 François Felix Ingrand,
23276 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23277 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23279 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23290 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23291 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23293 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23294 Thor Kristoffersen,
23297 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23315 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23316 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23323 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23328 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23332 John McClary Prevost,
23338 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23343 Christian von Roques,
23346 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23353 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23355 Randal L. Schwartz,
23369 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23374 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23390 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23395 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23396 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23397 (550kB and counting).
23399 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23402 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23403 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23407 @subsection New Features
23408 @cindex new features
23411 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23412 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23413 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23414 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23415 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23418 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23419 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23420 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23423 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23425 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23430 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23431 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23434 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23435 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23438 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23441 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23442 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23443 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23446 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23447 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23448 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23449 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23452 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23453 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23456 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23457 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23458 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23461 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23462 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23465 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23466 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23467 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23470 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23471 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23472 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23475 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23476 the @file{.emacs} file.
23479 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23480 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23483 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23484 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23487 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23488 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23491 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23492 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23495 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23496 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23499 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23502 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23503 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23506 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23507 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23510 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23511 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23514 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23517 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23518 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23521 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23525 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23529 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23530 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23533 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23539 @node September Gnus
23540 @subsubsection September Gnus
23544 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23548 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23553 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23554 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23558 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23559 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23563 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23567 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23568 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23571 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23575 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23578 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23581 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23584 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23588 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23589 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23592 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23596 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23600 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23604 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23608 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23611 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23612 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23615 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23619 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23620 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23623 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23626 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23627 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23628 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23631 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23635 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23638 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23642 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23643 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23646 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23647 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23650 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23651 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23654 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23655 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23656 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23659 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23660 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23663 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23666 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23669 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23672 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23675 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23676 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23679 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23683 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23686 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23691 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23694 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23698 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23701 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23705 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23708 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23711 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23712 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23715 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23716 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23720 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23721 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23724 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23728 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23729 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23732 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23735 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23739 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23743 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23744 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23747 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23751 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23752 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23755 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23756 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23759 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23763 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23766 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23769 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23775 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23777 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23781 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23788 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23791 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23792 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23795 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23796 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23800 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23801 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23804 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23807 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23808 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23811 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23815 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23816 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23820 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23821 Server Internals}).
23824 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23828 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23831 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23832 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23835 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23836 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23837 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23840 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23841 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23844 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23845 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23848 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23852 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23853 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23856 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23857 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23860 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23864 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23867 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23871 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23872 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23875 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23876 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23879 A new command for reading collections of documents
23880 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23881 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23884 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23888 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23889 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23892 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23893 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23894 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23897 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23898 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23902 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23906 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23910 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23915 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23919 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23923 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23924 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23927 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23933 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23935 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23940 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23941 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23942 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23945 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23946 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23947 group, which is created automatically.
23950 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23954 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23957 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23958 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23961 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23965 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23968 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23969 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23972 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23975 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section ``Symbolic
23976 Prefixes'' in the Gnus manual for details.
23979 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23980 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
23983 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23984 control over simplification.
23987 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23990 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23994 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23997 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24000 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24001 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24002 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24005 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24006 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24009 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24013 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24014 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24017 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24018 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
24021 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24025 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24028 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24031 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24032 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24035 A new function for citing in Message has been
24036 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24039 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24042 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24046 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24047 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24050 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24051 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24054 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24057 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24061 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24062 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24064 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24069 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24070 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24072 If you used procmail like in
24075 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24076 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24077 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24078 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24081 this now has changed to
24085 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24089 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
24090 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
24093 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24094 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24097 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24098 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24101 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24102 called to position point.
24105 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24106 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
24109 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24110 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24113 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24114 subtly different manner.
24117 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24118 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24119 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24122 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24130 @section The Manual
24134 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
24135 either @code{texi2dvi}
24137 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
24138 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
24140 to get what you hold in your hands now.
24142 The following conventions have been used:
24147 This is a @samp{string}
24150 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
24153 This is a @file{file}
24156 This is a @code{symbol}
24160 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
24164 (setq flargnoze "yes")
24167 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
24170 (setq flumphel 'yes)
24173 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
24174 ever get them confused.
24178 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
24179 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
24180 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
24181 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
24182 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
24183 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
24184 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
24190 @node On Writing Manuals
24191 @section On Writing Manuals
24193 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
24194 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
24195 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
24196 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
24197 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
24198 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
24201 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
24202 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
24203 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
24206 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
24207 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
24212 @section Terminology
24214 @cindex terminology
24219 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
24220 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
24221 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
24222 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
24223 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
24227 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
24228 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
24229 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
24230 not posting, and replying is not following up.
24234 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
24238 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
24243 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
24244 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
24245 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
24246 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
24247 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
24248 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
24249 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
24250 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
24251 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
24253 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
24254 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
24255 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
24256 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
24257 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24260 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24261 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24262 access the articles.
24264 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24265 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24266 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24271 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24272 default, way of getting news.
24276 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24277 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24282 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24283 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24287 A message that has been posted as news.
24290 @cindex mail message
24291 A message that has been mailed.
24295 A mail message or news article
24299 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24304 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24309 A line from the head of an article.
24313 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24314 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24318 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24319 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24320 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24321 normal @sc{head} format.
24325 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24326 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24327 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24328 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24329 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24330 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24332 @item killed groups
24333 @cindex killed groups
24334 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24335 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24337 @item zombie groups
24338 @cindex zombie groups
24339 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24342 @cindex active file
24343 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24344 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24345 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24348 @cindex bogus groups
24349 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24350 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24351 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24354 @cindex activating groups
24355 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24356 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24357 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24361 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24363 @item select method
24364 @cindex select method
24365 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24368 @item virtual server
24369 @cindex virtual server
24370 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24371 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24372 whole is a virtual server.
24376 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24377 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24380 @item ephemeral groups
24381 @cindex ephemeral groups
24382 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24383 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24384 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24387 @cindex solid groups
24388 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24389 group buffer are solid groups.
24391 @item sparse articles
24392 @cindex sparse articles
24393 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24394 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24398 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24399 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24403 @cindex thread root
24404 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24405 articles in the thread.
24409 An article that has responses.
24413 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24417 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24418 specified by RFC 1153.
24424 @node Customization
24425 @section Customization
24426 @cindex general customization
24428 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24429 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24430 for some quite common situations.
24433 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24434 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24435 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24436 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24440 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24441 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24443 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24444 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24445 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24449 @item gnus-read-active-file
24450 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24451 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24452 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24453 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24454 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24456 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24457 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24458 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24459 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24463 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24464 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24466 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24467 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24468 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24472 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24473 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24474 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24475 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24476 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24478 @item gnus-visible-headers
24479 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24480 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24481 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24482 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24484 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24486 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24487 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24488 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24491 @item gnus-use-full-window
24492 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24493 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24494 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24495 want to read them anyway.
24497 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24498 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24502 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24503 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24504 lines, which might save some time.
24508 @node Little Disk Space
24509 @subsection Little Disk Space
24512 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24513 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24517 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24518 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24519 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24520 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24523 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24524 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24525 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24526 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24529 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24530 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24531 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24532 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24533 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24539 @subsection Slow Machine
24540 @cindex slow machine
24542 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24543 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24545 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24546 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24548 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24549 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24550 summary buffer faster.
24554 @node Troubleshooting
24555 @section Troubleshooting
24556 @cindex troubleshooting
24558 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24566 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24569 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24570 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24574 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24575 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24576 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24577 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24578 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24581 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24585 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24586 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24587 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24588 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24589 something like that.
24592 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24595 @cindex reporting bugs
24597 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24599 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24600 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24601 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24602 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24604 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24605 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24606 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24607 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24610 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24611 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24612 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24613 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24614 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24615 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24617 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24618 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24619 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24623 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24624 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24627 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24628 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24629 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24630 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24631 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24632 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24633 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24634 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24635 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24636 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24637 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24638 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24639 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24640 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24645 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24646 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24647 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-j} when things are
24648 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24649 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24650 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24651 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24652 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24653 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24654 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET message}. Then perform
24655 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24656 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24657 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24658 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24659 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24660 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24661 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24662 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24664 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24665 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24667 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24668 @cindex ding mailing list
24669 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@email{ding@@gnus.org}.
24670 Write to @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24674 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24675 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24677 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24678 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24679 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24680 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24683 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24684 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24685 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24686 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24687 and general methods of operation.
24690 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24691 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24692 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24693 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24694 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24695 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24696 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24697 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24698 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24702 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24703 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24704 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24705 @cindex utility functions
24707 @cindex internal variables
24709 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24710 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24711 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24715 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24716 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24717 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24719 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24720 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24721 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24723 @item gnus-group-real-name
24724 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24725 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24728 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24729 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24730 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24731 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24733 @item gnus-get-info
24734 @findex gnus-get-info
24735 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24737 @item gnus-group-unread
24738 @findex gnus-group-unread
24739 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24743 @findex gnus-active
24744 The active entry for @var{group}.
24746 @item gnus-set-active
24747 @findex gnus-set-active
24748 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24750 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24751 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24752 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24755 @item gnus-continuum-version
24756 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24757 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24758 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24761 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24762 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24763 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24765 @item gnus-news-group-p
24766 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24767 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24769 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24770 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24771 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24773 @item gnus-server-to-method
24774 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24775 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24777 @item gnus-server-equal
24778 @findex gnus-server-equal
24779 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24781 @item gnus-group-native-p
24782 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24783 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24785 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24786 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24787 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24789 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24790 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24791 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24793 @item group-group-find-parameter
24794 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24795 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24796 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24798 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24799 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24800 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24802 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24803 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24804 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24806 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24807 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24808 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24809 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24812 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24816 @item gnus-read-method
24817 @findex gnus-read-method
24818 Prompts the user for a select method.
24823 @node Back End Interface
24824 @subsection Back End Interface
24826 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24827 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24828 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24829 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24830 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24831 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24833 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24834 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24835 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24836 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24837 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24838 been opened, the function should fail.
24840 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24841 name. Take this example:
24845 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24846 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24849 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24850 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24852 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24853 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24854 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24856 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24857 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24858 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24860 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24861 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24862 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24863 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24864 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24865 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24868 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24869 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24870 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24871 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24874 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24875 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24876 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24877 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24878 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24879 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24880 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24881 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24882 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24883 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24885 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24886 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24887 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24888 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24889 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24890 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24891 of numbers as long as possible.
24893 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24894 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24895 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24897 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24900 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24903 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24904 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24905 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24906 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24907 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24908 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24912 @node Required Back End Functions
24913 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24917 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24919 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24920 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24921 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24922 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24924 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24925 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24926 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24927 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24929 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
24930 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24931 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24932 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24933 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24934 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24935 number, do maximum fetches.
24937 Here's an example HEAD:
24940 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24941 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24942 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24943 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24944 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24945 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24946 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24948 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24949 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24950 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24954 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24955 these in the data buffer.
24957 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24961 head = error / valid-head
24962 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24963 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24964 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24965 header = <text> eol
24968 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24969 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24973 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24974 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24975 field = <text except TAB>
24978 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24982 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24984 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24985 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24987 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24988 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24989 server. In fact, it should do so.
24991 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24992 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24995 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24997 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24998 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
25001 There should be no data returned.
25004 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
25006 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
25007 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
25008 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
25009 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
25011 There should be no data returned.
25014 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
25016 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
25017 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
25018 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
25019 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
25021 There should be no data returned.
25024 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
25026 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
25028 There should be no data returned.
25031 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
25033 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
25034 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
25035 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
25036 it would be nice if that were possible.
25038 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
25039 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
25040 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
25041 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
25042 into its article buffer.
25044 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
25045 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
25046 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
25047 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
25048 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
25049 on successful article retrieval.
25052 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
25054 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
25055 making @var{group} the current group.
25057 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
25060 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
25063 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
25066 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
25067 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
25068 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
25069 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
25070 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
25071 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
25072 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
25073 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
25074 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
25078 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
25079 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
25080 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
25084 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25086 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
25087 a no-op on most back ends.
25089 There should be no data returned.
25092 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
25094 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
25097 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
25100 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
25101 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
25104 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
25105 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
25106 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
25107 and the highest as 0.
25110 active-file = *active-line
25111 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
25113 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
25116 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
25117 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
25118 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
25121 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
25123 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
25124 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
25125 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
25126 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
25127 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
25128 clear if the posting could not be completed.
25130 There should be no result data from this function.
25135 @node Optional Back End Functions
25136 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
25140 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
25142 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
25143 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
25144 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
25146 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
25147 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
25148 former is in the same format as the data from
25149 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
25150 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
25153 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
25157 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
25159 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
25160 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
25161 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
25162 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
25163 should return a non-nil value.
25165 There should be no result data from this function.
25168 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
25170 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
25171 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
25172 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
25173 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
25174 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
25175 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
25176 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
25177 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
25179 There should be no result data from this function.
25182 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
25184 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
25185 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
25186 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
25187 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
25188 propagate the mark information to the server.
25190 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
25193 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
25196 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
25197 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
25198 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
25199 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
25200 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
25201 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
25202 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
25203 possible, not limit itself to these.
25205 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
25206 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
25207 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
25208 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
25210 An example action list:
25213 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
25214 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
25215 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
25218 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
25219 mark on (currently not used for anything).
25221 There should be no result data from this function.
25223 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
25225 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
25226 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
25227 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
25228 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
25229 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
25231 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
25232 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
25233 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
25236 There should be no result data from this function.
25239 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
25241 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
25242 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
25243 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
25244 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
25245 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
25246 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
25247 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
25249 There should be no result data from this function.
25252 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
25254 The result data from this function should be a description of
25258 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25260 description = <text>
25263 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25265 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25266 groups available on the server.
25269 description-buffer = *description-line
25273 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25275 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25276 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25277 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25278 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25279 in the active buffer format.
25281 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25282 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25283 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25284 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25285 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25286 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25287 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25290 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25292 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25294 There should be no return data.
25297 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25299 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25300 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25301 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25302 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25303 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25306 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25309 There should be no result data returned.
25312 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
25314 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25315 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25317 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25318 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25319 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25320 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25321 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25322 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25324 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25325 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25328 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25329 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25331 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25332 article for that group.
25334 There should be no data returned.
25337 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25339 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25340 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25341 this function in short order.
25343 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25344 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25346 There should be no data returned.
25349 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25351 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25352 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25354 There should be no data returned.
25357 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25359 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25360 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25361 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25363 There should be no data returned.
25366 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25368 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25369 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25371 There should be no data returned.
25376 @node Error Messaging
25377 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25379 @findex nnheader-report
25380 @findex nnheader-get-report
25381 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25382 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25383 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25384 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25385 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25386 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25389 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25391 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25394 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25395 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25396 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25397 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25399 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25400 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25401 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25404 @node Writing New Back Ends
25405 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25407 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25408 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25409 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25410 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25411 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25414 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25415 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25416 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25418 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25419 package called @code{nnoo}.
25421 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25422 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25428 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25429 parameters. For instance:
25432 (nnoo-declare nndir
25436 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25437 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25440 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25441 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25442 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25444 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25445 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25446 a function in those back ends.
25449 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25450 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25451 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25454 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25455 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25456 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25458 @item nnoo-define-basics
25459 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25463 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25467 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25468 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25469 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25471 @item nnoo-map-functions
25472 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25473 functions from the parent back ends.
25476 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25477 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25478 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25481 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25482 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25483 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25484 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25487 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25488 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25489 haven't already been defined.
25495 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25499 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25500 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25501 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25506 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25509 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25510 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25514 (require 'nnheader)
25518 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25520 (nnoo-declare nndir
25523 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25524 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25525 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25527 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25528 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25531 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25533 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25534 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25535 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25537 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25538 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25540 ;;; Interface functions.
25542 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25544 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25545 (setq nndir-directory
25546 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25548 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25549 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25550 (push `(nndir-current-group
25551 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25552 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25554 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25555 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25557 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25559 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25560 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25561 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25562 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25563 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25567 nnmh-status-message
25569 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25575 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25576 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25578 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25579 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25580 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25581 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25582 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25584 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25585 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25590 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25593 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25595 The abilities can be:
25599 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25601 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25603 This back end supports both mail and news.
25605 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25608 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25609 articles and groups.
25611 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25612 true for almost all back ends.
25613 @item prompt-address
25614 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25615 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25616 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25620 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25621 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25623 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25624 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25625 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25626 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25629 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25630 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25631 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25634 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25635 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25638 This function takes four parameters.
25642 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25645 @item exit-function
25646 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25648 @item temp-directory
25649 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25652 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25653 performed for one group only.
25656 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25657 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25658 find the article number assigned to this article.
25660 The function also uses the following variables:
25661 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25662 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25663 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25664 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25668 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25669 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25673 @node Score File Syntax
25674 @subsection Score File Syntax
25676 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25677 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25678 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25680 Here's a typical score file:
25684 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25691 BNF definition of a score file:
25694 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25695 element = rule / atom
25696 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25697 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25698 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25699 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25701 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25702 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25703 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25704 date-header = "date"
25705 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25706 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25707 score = "nil" / <integer>
25708 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25709 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25710 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25711 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25712 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25713 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25714 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25715 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25716 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25717 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25718 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25719 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25720 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25721 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25722 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25723 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25724 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25725 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25726 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25727 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25728 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25729 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25730 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25731 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25732 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25733 eval = "eval" space <form>
25734 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25737 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25740 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25741 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25742 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25743 one looong line, then that's ok.
25745 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25746 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25750 @subsection Headers
25752 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25753 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25754 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25755 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25757 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25758 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25759 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25760 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25761 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25762 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25763 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25765 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25766 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25767 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25768 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25769 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25771 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25772 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25778 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25779 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25781 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25782 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25783 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25784 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25786 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25790 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25793 is transformed into
25796 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25799 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25800 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25803 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25806 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25807 is slightly tricky:
25810 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25816 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25819 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25825 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25832 and is equal to the previous range.
25834 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25835 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25836 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25840 range = simple-range / normal-range
25841 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25842 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25843 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25844 number *[ " " contents ]
25847 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25848 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25849 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25850 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25851 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25856 @subsection Group Info
25858 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25859 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25860 describes the group.
25862 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25863 second is a more complex one:
25866 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25868 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25869 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25871 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25874 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25875 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25876 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25877 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25878 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25879 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25880 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25881 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25882 this section is about.
25884 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25885 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25886 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25888 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25891 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25892 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25893 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25894 group = quote <string> quote
25895 ralevel = rank / level
25896 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25897 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25898 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25900 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25901 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25902 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25903 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25906 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25907 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25910 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25911 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25914 @item gnus-info-group
25915 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25916 @findex gnus-info-group
25917 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25918 Get/set the group name.
25920 @item gnus-info-rank
25921 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25922 @findex gnus-info-rank
25923 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25924 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25926 @item gnus-info-level
25927 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25928 @findex gnus-info-level
25929 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25930 Get/set the group level.
25932 @item gnus-info-score
25933 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25934 @findex gnus-info-score
25935 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25936 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25938 @item gnus-info-read
25939 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25940 @findex gnus-info-read
25941 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25942 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25944 @item gnus-info-marks
25945 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25946 @findex gnus-info-marks
25947 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25948 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25950 @item gnus-info-method
25951 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25952 @findex gnus-info-method
25953 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25954 Get/set the group select method.
25956 @item gnus-info-params
25957 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25958 @findex gnus-info-params
25959 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25960 Get/set the group parameters.
25963 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25964 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25966 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25967 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25968 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25969 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25972 @node Extended Interactive
25973 @subsection Extended Interactive
25974 @cindex interactive
25975 @findex gnus-interactive
25977 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25978 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25979 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25982 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25983 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25988 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25989 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25990 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25991 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25992 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25993 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25994 @code{interactive}.
25996 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
26001 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
26002 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
26006 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
26007 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
26008 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
26011 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
26015 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
26019 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
26025 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
26026 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
26030 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
26031 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
26032 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
26034 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
26035 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
26036 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
26037 Gnus, that's very useful.
26039 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
26040 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
26041 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
26042 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
26043 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
26044 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
26045 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
26046 following function:
26049 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
26053 (,function ,@@args))
26057 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
26058 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
26059 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
26062 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
26063 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
26064 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
26066 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
26067 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
26068 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
26071 @node Various File Formats
26072 @subsection Various File Formats
26075 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
26076 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
26080 @node Active File Format
26081 @subsubsection Active File Format
26083 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
26084 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
26087 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
26090 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
26091 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
26092 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
26093 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
26094 no.general 1000 900 y
26097 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
26100 active = *group-line
26101 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
26102 group = <non-white-space string>
26104 high-number = <non-negative integer>
26105 low-number = <positive integer>
26106 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
26109 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
26110 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
26113 @node Newsgroups File Format
26114 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
26116 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
26117 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
26118 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
26121 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
26122 Here's the definition:
26126 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
26127 group = <non-white-space string>
26129 description = <string>
26134 @node Emacs for Heathens
26135 @section Emacs for Heathens
26137 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
26138 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
26139 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
26140 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
26141 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
26142 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
26143 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
26147 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
26148 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
26153 @subsection Keystrokes
26157 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
26160 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
26163 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
26164 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
26165 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
26166 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
26167 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
26168 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
26170 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
26171 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
26172 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
26173 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
26174 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
26175 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
26176 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
26178 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
26179 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
26180 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
26181 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
26182 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
26183 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
26184 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
26186 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
26187 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
26188 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
26189 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
26190 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
26196 @subsection Emacs Lisp
26198 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
26199 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
26200 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
26201 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
26203 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
26204 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
26205 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
26206 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
26207 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
26208 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
26209 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
26212 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
26213 write the following:
26216 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
26219 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
26220 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
26221 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
26224 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
26225 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
26226 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
26227 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
26228 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
26230 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
26231 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
26232 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
26236 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
26240 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
26243 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
26244 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
26247 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
26250 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
26251 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
26254 @include gnus-faq.texi
26274 @c Local Variables:
26276 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26278 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26279 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26280 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26281 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26282 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref